# The Story of the House of Cassell/Part 2, Chapter 7

CHAPTER VII
THE FIRST HALFPENNY NEWSPAPER, AND SOME OTHERS
The House of Cassell has been concerned in the publication of only one daily newspaper, but that one was a portent. The Echo, started by the firm in 1868, was the first halfpenny evening paper, and will have a permanent place in the history of journalism.
The scheme originated with John Cassell himself, but it was not materialized till three years after his death. Then, with Galpin superintending the arrangements, the new paper was launched on December 8 just as Gladstone was forming his first administration. The editorship had been offered to Moncure D. Conway, but he was unable to accept it, and the place was given to Mr. (later Sir) Arthur Arnold, while Mr. Horace Voules became the first manager. It need hardly be said that the political outlook of the Echo was Liberal, but its Liberalism was not hard-shell partisanship. It gave support to Gladstone and his politics—when they happened to be in accord with its own views; but it was always an independent mind. In its first number it "hoped for much from Mr. Gladstone"—but promised to criticize him impartially. There is more than a touch of the Cassell spirit in the first leading article:
"With regard to all our institutions, we shall fearlessly try them by the question, What are they worth?—not being ignorant of the great value of tradition, or of influences that refine and elevate a people; but in the government of England tradition will not henceforth be accepted as a good title to stability. . . .
"As the greatest of our national needs, we shall look to Mr. Gladstone for the immediate establishment of universal education. . . . Hitherto the State has insulted ​moral conviction by seeming to promulgate the doctrine that it might wilfully neglect an alliance with education while it must teach some form of dogmatic religion. . . . We wish that every child should receive religious training, but we maintain that the State has no rightful claim to select a particular form of faith. There are good citizens attached to every form of Christianity, but the fulfilment of duty to the State is impossible without mental cultivation, and as the State demands this duty of everyone, it follows that it is the function of the State, if necessary, to educate all children to the ability of fulfilling this requirement.
"These and many other measures of internal reform await the attention of the new Ministry, and abroad we look to them to consolidate the policy of non-intervention. . . . The territory of Europe is not yet apportioned with one regard to the interests and wishes of the people . . . but it is evident that the interests of the governed will in future exercise more sway than any dynastic considerations, and we shall best further the surest safeguard of peace by permitting its development."
The first office of the Echo, from which this proclamation issued, was in Catherine Street, Strand: the building had originally been the Pantheon Theatre. Arnold thus records the reception given by the public to his first number: "There was a small crowd in Catherine Street where I had placed a trusty friend to catch the first criticism. 'It ain't 'arf as big as the Telegraph,' was the earliest comment. This sense of inadequacy was just, and on January 12, 1869, when the Echo was little more than a month old, the size was doubled, and the journal, though differently folded, attained the bulk it ever after preserved. Our first difficulty was sale; the railway stalls were unfriendly; the penny postage prohibitory. We started with a brigade of boys in Echo uniforms, but their tunics were soon disposed of without regard to our interests, and the Echo boy dressed as he pleased. . . . The trade absolutely declined to have ​anything to do with a 'halfpenny rag,' as the Echo was euphemistically called. Regardless of every persuasion, of every temptation, including the delivery to them of the paper in a manner that evening papers had never been delivered before, they said, 'No; we make little enough out of the penny papers, and we are not going to ruin ourselves and give ourselves double work by selling halfpenny ones.' And sell the Echo they would not. The public, too, who had never been accustomed to recognizing the value of halfpennies, did not seem at all anxious to assist us by persisting in having the paper. Matters looked serious, but buoyed up by the belief that there was an opening for halfpenny papers in London, it was decided to fight the matter out. At last the Echo caught on; public opinion turned in its favour, and on this account the trade were obliged to supply it."
"I may, perhaps," says Mr. Voules, in an article relating to his share in the enterprise, "take a little credit to myself for having thus overcome the opposition of the newspaper trade to a halfpenny paper. I know that it is a great responsibility to feel that one has been, to a certain extent, the originator of the newspaper street boy, but this feeling is greatly modified by the satisfaction of knowing that one has been at the same time associated with the originating of the halfpenny daily paper in this country. . . . During the Franco-Prussian War the machines were kept running day and night, and the sale of the paper extended not only through the whole of London but throughout England. For instance, in Birmingham alone we often sold 40,000 copies in the course of the day."
Naturally, this state of affairs soon brought competition, but competition in this instance was useful, as it assisted in educating the people to understanding that a trustworthy, readable, and interesting paper could be produced even at a halfpenny.
By the close of the first half-year a very pronounced success had been attained. Soon afterwards the ​newspaper postage was reduced to a halfpenny. Apropos of this, Mr. A. J. Mundella related, at a Cassell meeting in 1889, how twenty-one years before, when he entered Parliament, he was advocating the reduction of postage for printed matter, and, ignorant as he was of the rules of the House, held up to the gaze of the Speaker a copy of the Echo. His argument was that, now that at the very doors of the House an excellent and admirably produced newspaper was sold for one halfpenny, it was absurd to charge a penny to transmit it from one side of London to the other. The next year this reform was carried.
Before accepting the editorship of the Echo, Arnold had contributed to journalism only as an outsider; but his aptitude was soon evident, not only from the articles he himself wrote, but from the discrimination with which he chose his staff. Save for a suggestion now and again from the proprietors, he was given entire control of the paper. George Barnett Smith was for some time the chief sub-editor. Among the contributors and leader-writers were the Rev. H. R. Haweis, one of whose articles on Mr. Bradlaugh began, "There is no God, and Mr. Bradlaugh is his prophet"; William Black, the famous novelist; John Macdonell, later a Master of the Supreme Court; and George Shee, a son of the distinguished Judge. "One day there came to me," said Sir Arthur Arnold, "a tall young man, whose card bore the undistinguished name of 'Mr. Bottomley.' He asked for work as a writer. Both himself and his introduction interested me. I said my leaders were sufficiently numerous, but he might take up some special subject, and suggested the Government of London. He said he knew nothing of the subject—an advantage upon which I sought to improve by letters to John Stuart Mill, then engaged in Parliament upon the first London Government Bill, and to Mr. Beal, the Regent Street auctioneer, a well-known authority at this time. Mr. Bottomley, who soon added Firth to his name, and was afterwards well known as M.P. for Chelsea and first Deputy-Chairman of the London County Council, ​presently sent me a copy of his great work on 'Municipal London,' inscribed not only with his kind regards, but 'with further remembrances of the fact that the work is due to a suggestion made by you.'"
In its earliest years the Echo owed much to a woman of great literary power, endowed with a splendid enthusiasm for humanity—Frances Power Cobbe. She had acted as correspondent of the Daily News while in Italy, and was well known as a contributor to the Spectator, the Academy, and the Examiner. She was invited by Mr. Arnold to write leaders three days a week, and she accepted with alacrity. "To be in touch," she wrote, "with the most striking events of the whole world, and to enjoy the privilege of giving your opinion on them to 50,000 or perhaps 100,000 readers within a few hours—this struck me, when I first recognized that such was my business as a leader-writer, as something for which many prophets and preachers of old would have given a house-ful of silver and gold. And I was to be paid for accepting it! It is one thing to be a vox clamantis in deserto, and quite another to speak in Fleet Street, and, without lifting one's voice, to reach, all at once, as many men as formed the population of ancient Athens, not to say that of Jerusalem!
"But I must not magnify mine office too fondly! My share of the undertaking was that on three mornings of every week I should write a leading article on some special subject after arranging with the editor what it should be. For the seven years of my engagement I never once failed. Sometimes it was hard work for me; I had a cold or was otherwise ill, or the snow lay thick, and cabs from South Kensington were not to be had. Nevertheless I made my way to my destination; and when there, I wrote my leader, and as many 'Notes' as were allotted to me, and thus proved, I hope, once for all, that a woman may be relied on as a journalist no less than a man.
"My first article appeared in the third number of the Echo, December 10, 1868, and the last in March, 1875. I ​wrote, of course, on all manner of subjects, politics excepted. One day, just after September 29, I wrote an article on extreme Ritualism and 'topically' gave it the head-line 'Michaelmas Geese.' Next day, to my intense amusement, there was a letter at the office addressed to the author of this article, in which one of the 'geese' whom I had particularly attacked, and who naturally supposed me to be a man, invited me to come and dine with him, and 'talk of these matters over a good glass of sherry and a cigar!' The worldly wisdom which induced the excellent clergyman to try and thus 'silence my guns' by inducing me to share his salt, and his idea of the irresistible attractions of sherry and cigars to a 'poor devil' (as he obviously supposed) of a contributor to a halfpenny paper, made a delightful joke. I had the greatest mind in the world to accept the invitation without betraying my sex until I should arrive at his door in the fullest of my feminine finery, and claim his dinner; but I was prudent, and he never knew who was the midge who had assailed him.
"I wrote on the whole more than a thousand leading articles, and a vast number of Notes, for the Echo during the seven years in which I worked upon its staff. There were, of course, subjects on which a Liberal like Mr. Arnold and a Tory like myself differed widely; and then I left them untouched, for (I need scarcely say) I never wrote a line in that or any other paper not in fullest accordance with my own opinions and convictions, on any subject great or small. The work, I think, was at all events wholesome and harmless. I hope that, now and then, it also did a little good."
On the first anniversary of publication day, the editor thus addressed his readers:
In 1875 the paper was sold to Mr. Albert Grant, commonly known as "Baron" Grant. It was said, of course, that the Echo was got rid of because it was not a financial success, but this was publicly denied by the firm. On the conclusion of the purchase Mr. Arnold resigned his editorship, and for about a year Mr. Horace Voules both edited and managed the paper. Presently Mr. Grant disposed of it to Mr. Passmore Edwards, who in turn sold a two-thirds share of the property to Mr. Andrew Carnegie and Mr. Samuel Storey, and soon afterwards bought it back. It was then disposed of to a syndicate, and finally, in 1901, the controlling interest was acquired by Mr. Pethick Lawrence, who edited it from 1902 until 1905, when it was discontinued.
The Echo was the earliest of a multitude of halfpenny dailies, morning as well as evening, and until the War came to bring about unthought-of changes, nothing ​seemed less likely than that the day would ever return when no newspaper could be got for less than a penny.
In 1874 the House started the Live Stock Journal as a paper for breeders and keepers of farm stock, etc., including poultry. For the first three years the editor was Lewis Wright, who had been added to the editorial staff at the Yard in 1871 to write a book on poultry. Under his vigorous control the paper was a decided success; but the animation which he threw into controversial questions led the firm to desire a "safer" editor, and he made way for John Hamer, the Publishing Manager, but maintained a connexion with the paper as a much valued contributor. The arrangement worked satisfactorily, and the paper continued to prosper, but it was felt that so specialized a publication could not be run to the fullest advantage by a general publishing house, and in 1883 it was disposed of.
The Boy's Newspaper was started in 1880 in the faith that boys could be interested in public affairs. There were, of course, stories of adventure and school life, and ample space was found for athletics and school news, as well as for informing articles on general subjects likely to be interesting to boys; but a genuine attempt was made to supply information and guidance concerning the events of the day. George Weatherly was in control, while the "outside" editor was Thomas Archer, a singularly lovable littérateur who had kept much of the spontaneity and freshness of boyhood. As a courageous attempt to break quite new ground the experiment was an exceptionally interesting one. The hopes built on it, however, were not realized. The first number was published on September 15, 1880; the number for May 4, 1881, contained the announcement that the paper had been sold, and no great while afterwards it ceased to be.
While the Boy's Newspaper was running, a more ambitious scheme was being elaborated. In the late 'seventies the land question in Ireland had led to violent social convulsions, and the agitation in that country had ​repercussions on this side of St. George's Channel. The time was therefore considered suitable for launching a sixpenny weekly to record and discuss matters affecting the proprietorship and tenure and management of the land. It was started in 1881, as Land, a title which at any rate had the merit of brevity. A non-party organ, with a temperate bias in favour of things as they were, it was admirably written and excellently produced. Mr. Hamer, as has been mentioned, exercised a general supervision over the paper, and threw himself into the work with enthusiasm; he had an efficient collaborator in Mr. Penderel-Brodhurst, able pens were engaged in the service of the paper, and its only defect was that the public did not want it. So, after making a brave show for three years, it unostentatiously dropped out of the race.
The Speaker, the famous Liberal weekly review, was established in 1890 by Sir Wemyss Reid. Though published by Cassell's, it was not, as has been mentioned in an earlier chapter, one of their ventures, for the proprietor was the late Sir John Brunner. No money was spared to make of it a success. The Foreword in the first number was written by James Payn, Mr. Gladstone contributed to this and to several later issues, and the editor now, or later, had able editorial coadjutors in J. S. Mann, "Q," Barry O'Brien, and G. H. Perris. Many brilliant pens, such as those of Lord Acton, Henry James, Joseph Conrad, Augustine Birrell, James Bryce, Principal Fairbairn, Dr. Wm. Barry, Herbert Paul, J. A. Spender, Sidney Webb, A. B. Walkley, H. W. Massingham, J. M. Barrie, L. F. Austin, Richard Le Gallienne, and Barry Pain, were at his command. The paper, however, lacked unity and never carried weight, although every number contained much delightful reading. It remained under Sir Wemyss Reid's editorial control until 1899; Sir John Brunner then sold it, and neither its first editor nor the House of Cassell had any further concern with it. Enough to say that after a gallant struggle, in which its format was changed, it went the way of so many other ​sixpenny reviews. Some of the names that have been mentioned will suggest that Sir Wemyss Reid was quick to encourage fresh talent, and many authors still look back gratefully to the hospitality which the Speaker gave to their fledgeling efforts.
The story of the newspaper activities of the House would not be complete without reference to the department known as Cassell's General Press. More than half a century ago—to be precise, in 1861—Cassell's Country Newspaper Department introduced the idea of partly printed papers for localizing purposes, and many journals which started in this way are now most successful country newspapers. In addition to these news-sheets, Cassell's General Press makes available a great variety of special articles on all kinds of subjects, sending them out in proof or stereo for the use of the enterprising provincial editor. The most popular novelists of the day have contributed to the General Press service of serial and short stories, which has enabled newspaper readers throughout the world to enjoy fiction of the highest class. In the course of sixty years the Country Newspaper Department of the House of Cassell has developed to such an extent that "the World's Newspaper Agency" is not a misnomer for it but an expression of fact. Cassell's General Press owes much of its success to the editorial nous and business ability of Mr. B. Whitworth Hird, who has directed it for many years. Extensions of the department determined the firm in January, 1921, to transfer it to a special building in Fleet Lane and amalgamate it with the Riverside Printing Works.