is a wonderful process to see. I have a great admiration and
respect for a fine newspaper, anyway. When one considers how widely it
is read and the influence it possesses for good or evil, one cannot but
take off his hat to it. No agency in the community can more quickly stir
up or allay strife. Public opinion to no small extent takes its cue from
the papers. They are great educators, great molders of the minds of the
rank and file. Let the papers whisper war or national calamity and the
stock markets all over the world are affected. And that is but one of
the vital influences the paper wields. The temper of the whole people is
colored by what they read. Whenever the editorials of reputable papers
work toward a specific goal, they usually achieve it. Have we not had a
striking example of that during the present war? The insidious power of
propaganda is incalculable. Fortunately our national papers are
high-minded and patriotic and have directed their influence on the side
of the good, quieting fear, promoting loyalty, encouraging honesty, and
strengthening the nobler impulses that govern the popular mind. For
people are to an extent like a flock of sheep; they give way to panic
very quickly. What one thinks the next one is liable to believe. Much of
this opinion is in the hands of the newspapers. At the same time, the
minds of the greater thinkers of the country are often clarified by
reading the opinions mirrored by the press. One cannot praise too highly
the wisdom and discretion of our newspapers during the perilous days of
war when a word from them might have been as a match to tinder, and when
they held many important secrets in their keeping. The great dailies
were loyal to the last degree and the confidence that was placed in them
was never betrayed. It was unavoidable that they should possess
knowledge that the rest of us did not; but they never divulged it when
cautioned that to do so would be against the national welfare. The
sailings of ships, the departure of troops, the names of the ports from
which vessels left, the shipment of food and supplies--all tidings
such as these the press withheld."

"It was bully of them!" Paul exclaimed with enthusiasm.

"Yes, they rendered a great service. And you must remember that it was
especially difficult since there is always a keen rivalry between papers
and a tremendous eagerness to be the first one with the news. Whenever a
paper gets inside information of an interes