The Sun.
London, England, 1867-06-01 00:00:00

THE ATLANTIC CABLE : ITS PERVERSION.

_minded people it would seem a very
easy thsiingtioc send the current news of the day across
the Atlantic ; to collect, that is, the straws of in-
telligence that float constantly in well-informed
circles in New York and London, and transmit
their substance by the cable. There are, however,
disturbing influences at work which interfere with
the discharge of a duty which appears so simple
and demanding only a moderate degree of ability.
Without imputing
direct corruption, it is obvious
that the temptation to distort facts so as to
suit a particular purpose must be very great.
We all like exciting news, and a spice of the
marvellous never comes amiss to the American
public. To please your audience, to satisfy ) -
our
employers, is no doubt very proper, and it may be
that no worse motive prompts the sensation reports
we are daily treated to. But, after all, our sober
judgment prefers the strict truth, we are more
than satiated with a daily rechauy
e" of falling dy-
nasties and shattered thrones. Take, for instance,
the report of the press of May 7th, and look at the
gorgeous dress relative to the Hyde Park Reform
meeting, given in the first report, a report which,
by-the-by, started the gold market, and caused the
tongues of the malicious to wag. We are told first
of a " vast army, say a hundred thousand people,
of every class, age and sex, being assembled—that
the troops were under arms—that the police were
hidden away in a secluded corner of the park, with
cabs in readiness to carry them quickly to any
scene of action." A decided improvement on the
mounted police, and combining the advantages of
the ancient war chariot with the rapid evolutions of
modern light infantry. But the excitement, is only
beginning. " Fifteen separate meetings are orga-
nised"—we have seen four in Union-square for not
over five thousand persons—" revolutionary cries
are uttered as the police pass by—not in their war
chariots it is to be presumed—" the Tory and Re-'
form press are violent in their denunciations of one
another and of the Government, and all London is
intensely excited." And, as if to prolong our agony
into the next day, the account winds up with—
" The meetings are still in progress, and will con-
tinue until a late hour." There certainly is excitement
enough. IVesee dimly a vision of anarchy reigning in
London, of the Government overthrown by violence,
of the Times and Punch office being torn down by
the mob, and the New York Herald offering Queen
Victoria an asylum on the banks of the Hudson.
The postscript, however, of the evening calms the
fears of the timid and crushes the dawning hopes of
the Fenians ; its sententiousness forms a charming
contrast to the wordy gabble of the morning :
" London, May 6 (Evening).—The great Reform
meeting which has been in contemplation for some
time occurred in llyde Park to-day. As was ex-
pected there was a vast crowd of people in attend-
ance, though but few speakers. There were no
riotous demonstrations whatever, and the services of
the police were not required. Not one of the extra
policemen who had been sworn in for this occasion
was present. The meeting was of very short dura-
tion, and the multitude dispersed without disorder."
We may well leave the special reporters to reconcile
these conflicting statements, but the public very pro-
perly asks if this is all they are to get from the esta-
blishment of instantaneous communication With Eng-
land. If such false reports are transmitted for stock-
jobbing purposes alone, no reprobation of such abuse
of our confidence can be too loud. But we rather
incline to the belief that they originate in a love of
the marvellous, and a desire to pander to a morbid
craving after excitement which exists here ; and
though in either cam a culpable misrepresentation