The Sun.
London, England, 1855-03-23 00:00:00

NI _A .E.O H '23, 1855.

BILL.

TEE NEWSPAPER SPA,III

-,'Jg.---

(Froth the Morning Chronicle of
The mere we consider the qu'estiou d
Newspaper Stamp, in the ,partial maun,
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the in
is to regret the tendency of the age to ii
rather than to practical men. If those N
resolution agreed to by the House of Co,

leis day.)
repealing the
r proposed by
!a.e reason there
4 ten to theorists
?he prepared the
nmons took the

trouble to consult the persons best acquainted with the
whole working of the existing system, they certainly do
not seem to have profited much by the_ opinions they
elicited. It would have been difficult, .'"not impossible,
to put into any one enactment regulati . more calcu-
lated to create obstructions to trade, or pore injurious
to the best interests of the community, titian those which
are embodied in the bill about to be pressed on the
House of Commons.
The opinion opinion of all persons connected slth the produc-
tion and sale of . newspapers presents a 'kems.rkable una-
nimity on this subject. If a mere trade prejudice had
been manife,ted, the Chancellor of the Exchequer might
have been justified in disregatding it. such, however,
is not the character of the resistance offered to the pro-
posed change in the Newspaper Stamp law. The ab-
stract question of abolition having been decided by the
House of Commons, no mere outcry was raised by those
who might have hien supposed interested in maintaining
"a monopoly." On the contrary, they whited to see what
were the particular enactments proposed. When the
first was abandoned, from its inherent complexity and
impracticability, they gave the Fame patient considera-
tion to the second—that which thR Chancellor of.
the Exchequer is now about seeking to have made law
of the land. Only when its working was seen to be
absolutely impossible was resistance 041-2 red to it ; and
even now that resistance is of the most temperate cha-
racter. Thus much is in justice due to the proprietors,
conductors, and vendors of newsDapers,that the public
may see that they have not been actqatta: by anymerely
sordid views of their own interest. ..

A great mistake is committed by a•legislator when
he seeks to make or to change a law, without consult.
ing those who are practically acquainted with the sub-
ject to which it relates. Of this we have .a strong proof
in the convincing arguments offered last night against
the measure of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, at the
meeting of the News Trade in St. Martin's Hall.
Without disparaging Sir -George Cornewall Lewis or
his advisers, we must say that more sense was there
uttered on the subject than is to he found in all
the
,arguments that were used in the House of
Commons in support of the Bill, The speeches
had reference, not merely to the practical working of the
proposed change, but also to its general policy ; but al,
though those who addressed the meeting were naturally
more acquainted with the former than with the latter,
the tone of their remarks on the abstract question evinced
so superior an appreciation, as to reflect back importance
on the objections which they made in their capacity of
vendors of newspapers.
Haste is one of the inevitable accompaniments of all
newspaper work. From the original collector of news to
the vendor of the printed newspaper extreme rapidity
is the law of adieu. Of the extraordinary energy and
facility required to get a newspaper. together, every pur-
chaser has abundant proof. Few know, however, the
difficulties attending the actual publication, transmission,
and general circulation. Upon this head the members of
the news trade, assembled last evening at St. Martin'a
Hall, were,pecirliarly qualified to speak. The Chairman,
Mr. Wild, explained to the meeting—and we hope his
remarks will not escape the notice of . the Chancellor of
the Exchequer—the extreme hurry in which the opera-
tions of the newsvendor are carried mi. The distinction
made between the stamped and unstarnred papers will
render the ordinary operations of the newsvendor almost
impossible. At a late hour—before post time—and un-
der an extreme pressure, how are the newsvendors t 4 be
able to examine the thousands and tens of thousands of
copies that will pass through their hands, in -order to se-
parate the stamped from the unsfamped papers? Again,
when the bags arrive at the Post-office, how is the same
process to be renewed there ? If the reader has ever been
present at St. Martin's-le-Grand about five o'clock he
will be able to form sense idea of the difficulties with
which the Post-office authorities are menaced by this
measure.

Mr. WILD also showed with great clearness that there
could be no analogy between the case of papers like the
Atheneum and Punch, and that of papers like the Times
or Chronicle. The stamped edition of Punch is printed
one day, the unstamped another ; there is, therefore, no
difficulty in regulating the proportions. But a daily
newspaper must publish its stamped and unstamped
copies continuously, within a few hours, and all on the
same morning. How can the demand fur stamped, as
compared with unstamped papers, be known beforehand?
How is the perpetual confusion inseparable-from each
an intermingling to be avoided 1 There are practical
difficulties which peculiarly affect the newsvendors. The
public may not be aware that the practice of exchanging
one paper for another prevails throughout the trade.
Thus a person who has more Herat& or Posts than
he wants fcr that day exchanges theta for Chronicles
or for the Times. But under this 14,w bill, the dif-
ference between stamped and unstamped papers will
practically interfere with this usage, and by go much
deter the newsmen from buying papers which they
jrzniolnt
so!f
itsh,
rsT'hobe
is,
in
fact, fatal to' the operation of the measure. Such difil
tmhaeylibraecctiocmalppelalretd
of
fO ltcheee pn
newsvendors'
sav loss.endo
culties may be scoutei by mere theorists, but in a busi-
ness where minutes are so valuable they are exactly the
objeetions which ought not to be despised.
The newsvendors have not lost sight of the higher but
scarcely more important considerations involved. They
poin • t out the impolicy of abandoning at such a time a
tax pre-eminently voluntarily, and paid by the public
without demur. They show that, as cheap newspapers
will be sent by railways to the larger towns, the rail-
ways will gain at the expense of the Post-office. Nor
will the loss be made up by increased paper duty— be-
cause the same agitators who have got up this cry
against the stamp are also pledged to abolish the
Excise duty on paper. Another practical evil these
shrewd and experienced observers have pointed out.
The publishers of unstamped papers being under
no obligations to- give securities for good conduct
cheap libellous papers may be 'published. Against
the: consequences of actions and proPecutions those
parsons would protect themselves by running away; and
the newsvendor would then become the person liable to
punishment, however innocent of all knowledge of the
Contents of the papers he passes over his counter. This
is no imaginary evil. It actually occurred when papers
like the Age and Satirist were in existence. The stamp,
besides acting itself as• a guarantee of respectability,
does, by the accompanying securities, protect the news-
men against such an injusVce. Surely suggestions of
this kind thus offered in the name of the news trade
would have had their weight with either the present or
the late Chancellor of the Exchequer, had they conde-
scended to ask the opinion of practical men.
The measure is one of centrAliPation. Papers published
in the metropolis may go by rail to the large towns, or
those published in the large towns !nay be distributed by
hand. But the rural distriots—precisely those most in
want of sound political information—will be left without
newspapers. At present, by the ref ransmissior4hrough the
post, they get these papers,
as has been ably shown, at a
cost of less than one penny. With an evening contem-
porary, we ask, why not leave well alone ? The public
do not ask for this change, the proprietors do not ask
for it, and those who are responsible ft;r the revenue
must in their secret minds see the extreine folly of such
an objectless sacrifice. ' The deterioration and degrada-
tlon of the press will result fr.-mi the labours of the agi-
tators, if it be not their object. We mean no slur'un the
more intelligent inhabi+ants of the great capital of ma-
nufacturing industry when we recall the exclamation et
one of the newsvendors present. last evening. Alluding
to the promoters of this movement, he cried out, "They
dislike the Landon press. It is
.too respectable for
Manche.iter!" As regards the secret object of the
is no small amount of V:utb.
egitat Ire, we have little doubt that in this charge there