--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Evans, John Henry collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 13 number: 12 published: 1910-10 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: "Evans, John Henry, “Some Men Who Have Done Things: XII. Charles W. Penrose,” *Improvement Era* 13, no. 12 (October 1910): 1098–1104." source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera13012unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera13012unse start_page: 1098 end_page: 1104 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1910-10) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera13012unse publication_year: 1910 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1910, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Some Men Who Have Done Things: XII. Charles W. Penrose EFFICIENT STAKE M. I. A. SUPERVISION. 1097 subjects that will be best fitted for your various conditions. Now, after we have done this, after we have stirred you up the best we can, by reminding you of what we are trying to accomplish, then we ask you to pass it along; and then it will rest, very largely, upon your class leader, the man who handles the subject which we have given you, and the men at the head, who get up those splended little programs. I attended a Young Men's Improvement Association in Idaho Falls, last Wednesday evening. They were taking up summer work. They had two or three of the nicest, tidiest little pieces of music, and then they took up a discussion of Robert's Rules of Order. It certainly filled me with enthusiasm in regard to the possibilities of our young people along this line. Now, I am satisfied that that question would be answered there. I believe that all you have to do now is to go out and get an intelligent young man, and get him to attend once or twice, and you would have him for the season, if all our associations were giving exercises of interest. We have had an example here this morning. Every member here sat listening attentively; we did not lose a single word. We were all pleased. You could see it on every countenance. There is not much trouble in getting up attendance, if we do good work. Member: One question more. Do you not find that the summer course helps the attendance by not letting the interest die out? That is my experience; I do not think there is any question about it. In the statistics furnished us at the last conference, by the bishop's office, it is shown that there are enrolled in the Sunday schools 46 per cent of the Church population; in the Prim- aries 19 per cent; in the Religion classes 10 per cent; in the Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Association 9.1 per cent; in the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association 8.8 per cent. We can well direct some effcrt toward obtaining a larger member- ship, and also a more regular attendance. Some Men Who Have Done Things. BY JOHN HENRY EVANS, OF THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS' UNIVERSITY. XII. -Charles W. Penrose. THIS ARTICLE TELLS HOW A POOR ENGLISH BOY, THE SON OF A WIDOW, BECAME THE HORACE GREELEY OF "MORMONDOM," MOULDING THE OPINIONS OF TWO GENERATIONS. Last year the Improvement Era ran to exactly ten hundred and eight pages— two good-sized volumes on my shelf. Suppose, now, you had ninety-seven of these ranged side by side. They would cover just ten and a half feet— more than twice the space of Eliot's five-foot library. This would fairly represent the Pen- rose editorials, if they were bound — the work of thirty -five years! And, mind you, this is a low estimate. I have only counted a column a day in the newspaper, and three hundred days in the year. Nor have I included hundreds of editorials for the English Star, articles during many years for the magazines and news- papers, and countless documents for the Church, let alone his tracts and books. No wonder he told me that newspaper work is not a soft snap! Nor would your ninety-seven volumes be thin ideas in ragged English. Charles W. Penrose has neither thin ideas nor ragged English. His literary code is extremely rigid. The journalist, he thinks, ought to write correctly, concisely, clearly, and truth- fully. And anybody who knows the first principles about writing is aware that all these qualities do not come always frr the asking. Whoever will take the pains to go over the writings of Mr. Penrose will find opinions plainly and strikingly put. SOME MEN WHO HA VE DONE THINGS. 1099 Opinions, mind! And this is a great point in our day, when a grain of wheat is hidden in two bushels of chaff .'Charles W. Penrose was not a pair of invisible scissors, clipping inaudibly, nor yet a pen, dipping itself in ink and writing merely because there were three columns to fill, besides the theatre announce- ments. Emerson distinguishes between the farmer and the Man on the farm, and the distinction is obvious. Similarly, there is the editor and the Man writing editorials. Mr. Penrose was the Man in the editorial room, thinking. Somebody, whose name is not worth remembering, has said that it does not matter any more whether or not we know who edits our daily papers— even the big ones. That is a mistake. The time will never come when it won't matter. Time was when Amer- ican newspapers were under the complete domination of the political party. But strong men, like James Gordon Bennett and Horace Greeley, broke away and said what was in them, without consult- ing the politicians, and we had a period of independent journal- ism. Now, again, except in a comparatively few cases, political parties are in control and the vested interests speaking through the counting room. The editor in the editorial room speaks only when nodded to, and says only what he is told to say. But the Man in the editorial room is of a different stripe. He will not be muzzled. He will speak the truth as he sees it. The attempt was made once, by a political daily in Salt Lake, to put Mr. Penrose in leading strings. But the thing could not be done. And so it does matter whether we know who writes our editorials. There is no hiding the fact that an editor is in the room, or a Man writing editorials. For more than twenty years Charles W. Penrose was an authority to the "Mormon" reading community. Was there a knotty theological question? It went to him, and knotty in- deed would it have to be if it had no answer from him — and a clear one! Was there a dispute on any subject, or a point on which information was wanted? It was confidently forwarded to the editor of the News. Apostle Penrose himself can never approximate how he both shaped opinions and directed modes of thinking in the young men and women of the Church. I personally know of a raw youth who lived on an Idaho farm, in 1100 IMPROVEMENT ERA. those days, in what was then a wild and lonely country. During all the years running between nine and nineteen, in this boy's life, almost his whole source of education was the Deseret News, which he read with the most religious devotion— advertisements and all. But always the most vital thing to him was the editoral page. This he read and reread. More than to anything else, he owes to those editorials whatever of clearness of vision he possesses, and intel- ligible expression, if not actually a controversial turn of mind. And this Mr. Penrose must have done for boys and girls and men and women over all the Church, especially where books were scarce. It is no small thing to have done this. But Charles W. Penrose was once a poor boy himself, of whom no one would hazard a prediction that called for a long life like his, and of such usefulness. He was born nearly seventy-nine ¥years ago, in England. Fond of books, he read a great deal, including poetry and the Bible, which he could understand at an unusually early age. At eighteen he joined the Church, and then began his long career of religious activity. Almost immediately he was ordained an elder and sent on a mission, which lasted ten years. When this ended he came to Utah, living first at Farmington, then at Logan, next at Ogden, and finally at Salt Lake City. He has been a farmer, a store-keeper, a legislator, a high councilor, one of a stake presi- dency, and now is deservedly in the quorum of apostles. All this in addition to a foreign missionary and editor. His journalistic career began very early. While in England, in his first rrissionary field, he wrote for the Star. These early articles were mainly controversial. Besides, he answered attacks of ministers and others in the English papers. He wrote some verses, too, during these years, which were printed in the Star, among them being the famous hymn, "0 ye mountains high." . These activities in writing it was that led to his appointment, in 1866, as assistant editor of the Star. During two years and more he wrote all the editorials for this excellent little magazine, besides many articles for newspapers, in defense of the faith. Returning home from this second missioD, he was offered a place in the editorial rooms of the Daily Telegraph, published by the brilliant journalist, T. B. H. Stenhouse. But he refused the SOME MEN WHO HAVE DONE THINGS. 1101 offer to enter into business at Logan. Later, the Ogden Junction was started. Franklin D. Richards, who had presided over the European mission while Mr. Penrose edited the Star, induced the future journalist to accept the assistant editorship of that paper. Presently it became a daily, with Mr. Penrose as editor and manager. But the work was too much, even for a man of the enormous vitality of young Charles W. And so the Junction had to get a business manager. After seven years, however, President Young asked the young editor to come to Salt Lake to work on the News. For a time he was sub-editor, but later, in President Taylor's day, was made editor-in-chief. With the exception of two years, dur- ing which he was editor of the Herald, and a brief period, during which he was assistant Church historian, he occupied the chief editorship of the News, till he was called to preside over the European mission some three and a half years ago. The opinions of such a man— a man with extraordinary natural endowments to begin with, and a wide and varied experi- ence such as he has had— ought to be of considerable weight. "What qualifications," I asked him, "do you think a young man ought to have who looks towards journalism for a career?" And his answer was, "Keen and quick perceptive powers, love of the truth,concen- tration, punctuality, firmness and industry. He ought to have the ability to get to the bottom of a question rapidly, almost intuitively, and to examine exactly and swiftly both sides of any question that may come up for treatment. The journalist should have the disposition to get at the truth of a thing promptly, in regard either to circumstances, principles or policies. And then, of course, he must acquire the habit of expressing, directly and clearly, his honest convictions. If he perceives a weakness in an opponent's argument or statement, he has done only half of what is necessary. He must also point that weakness out in such a manner that others will see it. He must, therefore, guard against such weakness in his own statements, so they may not be open to question from the other side. There must be accuracy in every statement that is made, whether it be of occurrences, dates and figures, or as to the position taken by the other side in the 1102 IMPROVEMENT ERA. controversy. Then he must have what I may call a positive condi- tion of mind, with firmness to hold to a given point and, at the same time, a willingness to look at and fully consider the claims of the opposition. Tenacity of purpose in holding to a position, once taken, until it is shown to be untenable — not, of course, to the point of not being willing to correct mistakes — that is necessary to an editor; but vacillation is a mark of weakness, and renders writings of little value. Then he must have activity, continuity, perseverance, and a willingness and the ability to work, work, work! There are no soft-snaps in journalism. If there are, I have not found them. ' 'The journalist, moreover, must have a wide range of informa- tion. His mind must be open to receive present impressions and grasp current events, taking a world-wide view of happenings, theories and public opinions. He must form the habit of catch- ing hold of news items from every available source rapidly, but with entire concentration. That matter of concentration, let me say, is vitally necessary— the ability to give one's whole attention now to this, and now to that, without afterwards confusing ideas about them." And let me stop long enough to interject that, without doubt, Mr. Penrose's ability to put his mind quickly to a thing and wholly to it, without diversion, is one of the secrets of the extraordinary amount of work he has been able to do. A wonderful quality of mind, which it will pay any young man to cultivate. He does not believe in trying to do two things at the same time. Intense con- centration on one thing at a time, no matter how small, tends, he says, to clearness of thinking. Besides, Mr. Penrose, according to all accounts, has a phenomenal memory. The secret of that, too, is his power of concentration, his habit of considering one thing at a time, and putting his whole mind on it. "Newspaper work," he continued, "requires promptitude, industry, and dt votion. No cne can succeed, either as a reporter or an editorial writer, without these characteristics. Temperance in all things, avoidance of stimulants is absolutely necessary to permanent success." In answer to a question as to the prospects of any young man who entered upon journalism, he said: "It is not lucrative, com- SOME MEN WHO HAVE DONE THINGS. 1103 pared with most other professions. High-class journalism, of course, is vvell-paid — in the large cities of the nation. In the newer parts of the country the remuneration of the journalist is comparatively small. The supply of capable journalists, like the supply of capable teachers, is small, yet, strange to say, the monetary rewards are small, out of all proportion, in both profes- sions. The cause fcr this, in the case of the newspaper writer, lies in the large number of newspapers in our western country and the consequent limited circulation of each." "What, then, are the rewards of journalism?" "Well, there is a certain fascination in gathering news, nar- rating events, and commenting on the questions of the day. The fact that one's writings exert an influence on others, increases this fascination. And then, of course, the journalist has a desirable standing in the community. The real reward of journalism is the dissemination of correct principles, which build up good society, and those who engage in it have their compensation in the influ- ence they carry and the good thev effect. "All this, however, applies only to decent journalism. But there is a sort which any aspirant for journalistic honors should avoid. Many persons engage in newspaper work for the pay it brings, and for the evil they can do in the way of retaliation for injuries received or imagined, and to break down that which they dislike and wish to destroy. Yellow journalism, as it is called, is one of the most ignoble of occupations. It begets and encour- ages a disregard for truth, honor, equity, justice and mercy. The bogus interview affords one illustration of the evil of that kind of journalism. Sometimes it is manufactured entirely by the reporter, giving, as the views of some prominent person, ideas that he never entertained, in language that he never used. In other cases the reporter deliberately misinterprets the opinions and perverts the words of the person interviewed, to his personal injury and the deception of the public, just to suit the bias of the paper that publishes them, or to play into the hands of political or other opponents. Such libelous articles are deserving of the most severe public reprobation, and their authors should be denounced and punished, while the paper that encourages them ought to be shunned by all readers."