Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1844-09-24
TIE PRESS i rs POWER-lTS UTI-
lily 10 TIE LABORiNG CLASS.

1t has been remarked that within few
wears the influence and notifications of the
daily Press have been extending in man
neI. beyond all precedent. 1t may be said 10
be the great Power of the Age.
1t was graphically said by one of the
greatest Of American orators, at addresses
mankind daily. Not valley, nor a noun
tain side, not a village, nor hamlet, not a
home, nor man, but has its h1ppncss, lis
knowledge, its moral sentiment, more or
less affected by the Press" What power
can be greater or moro comprehensive than
that2 Ii welded forlnst and noble purposes,
its power for doing good is beyond compa-
rison.
Bat it seems to rs, in nothing it is inllu-
ence more conspicuous than that the differ
ent classes of society fnG themselves under
the necessity of having a press devoted TO
their particular interests. Without This ac-
tive and efficient ally, they justly begin to
feel that they cannot run fair race ofcom-
petition with tho other trades or profess ons.
As an illustration of the tide Of The times,
we notice the following paragraph:
1.-The Shoemakers of Lyn publish news
paper called the Awl,' which advocates the
claims and supports the rights o that exea-
sive class Of operatives"
| 1T is hu; few years since the merchants
established their Magazine. This has been
gradually followed by a paper or periodical
devoted 10 each peculiar trade or profession
in this country. The talors have theirs;
the shoe-makers theirs; the ion-mongers
theirs; the Lowell factory girls have their
Offering" and right worthy is it of the
honest industry AMI independence of Amen-
can labor.
We hail the appearance of these papers,
because il has tendency to strengthen and
elevate the laboring classes. They have
their organs ready to speak at all times, for
their Interests and their rights. In this way,
we have the strongest hope, that though our
country may become as populous as Eug-
land, and engaged largely too in manutac-
tories, that LABOR here will maintain It's
rights and dues against tho grasping en-
croachments of CAPITAL. The Press with
It's daily power OF exposing abuses and fer
reting out oppression upon the poor aud
/ lowly, must be the most effective barrier 10
to the laboring classes Of our country: If
tncy nave BIiclS dlu WioueS, tiiouSn tiioSC
channels they find vent to the public sym
pathy, and if the cause arises from the laws,
there is but little apprehension that they will
not soon corrected. How different are the
operatives of Europe placed? They hare
no Press The higher, and the weather.
classes have, but the poor have not. They
are previously dependent upon the COM
passion of their oppressors, for the means of
even expressing their griefs, and the fearful
wrongs which grind them 10 the dust.
Does not this simple fact speak volumes
respecting the difference between the pres
ent condition and the future prospects of
the laborers of Europe and America2-
Here, wrong NAV be done, and oppression
may be suffered, but how soon viii it be ex-
posed through the sloopless vigilance of a
Press which, in measure, daily lives upon
articles exciteing public sympythy and
arousing popular feeling. While in Europe,
there is that vast amount of deep, silent, and
unrecorded wrongs and cruelties against the
laboring poor, which never can be redressed
because they are not known aud held up by
the daily Press, TO the public scorn and in
| dignalon of the world. Albany Argus.