New-York daily tribune., 1844-08-28
THE TRlsSlJl N l.,
The German Press.

su con;aiEs an interesting article On the News.
,.,sr Press of Germany, from which we make
,,ms ex,rscts Trey show in striking colors
,or different an institution become, the Press
r,der monarchcal and despo;ic Governments
1 and in free Republic such rs ours. Although
The advantages are mostly on our side, as may
| vel be supposed, vet there are certain features
of,he Continental Press Of Europe-such for IN
instance as lis freedom from personalities and It's
vsy extensive and able foreign correspon-
dence-wh;ch must command oar admiration
After few pertinent general remarks on the Press
in Germany, the Reviewer says:
We DOW come TO par,icularize the politics of
heeading journals, commencing with the 'Augs
burg Gazrtic,' which, as far as regards crcula-
ton, editorial tact, and the ttlents and position
,i It's correspondents, is perhaps, next to the
Tines the foremost paper IN Europe. 1t was
is, started in The year 1873, at Tubngen. bv The
ia,her of the present Baron DC Gotta, Of publish
jngnotoriety, under the some cvvhat comprehensive
lille Of Neuestc WeItkunde, or, The Latest In.
fnnation from all Parts of the Universe The
proprietor seems TO have been exceedingly dcsir-
Gus of securing the services Of the poet Schiller
i,r his embryo undertaking, and pressed thc poet
u accept the cditprship. The latter, however,
either from distrust OF the ultimate success of
the speculation, or strong feeling of his own ir-
aptitude for political controversy, resolutely de-
cined the baron's hattering proposals, and con-
caded the letter containing biS final rejection of
the office Of editor with these words: You (Cn,-
Ia expose yourself 10 the extremely probable loss
oiserera thousand forms. cndanger my health,
nd Irararv {'ntfp I'm.
whoprobaby based his calculations on other nun.
bers and figures, than those over which the pGct
exercised so complete It mastery, did rot allow
himself to be d,sSuaded from his original design ;
and the Weltkundc' appeared shortly afterwards,
uuder the cditorship of Ludwig Possclt, a person
Of no mean historical information. The journal
was at first published on alfquarto sheet, ana
appeared bat twice week A year hao.
however, hardly elapsed, before the title Welt
kunde was abandoned. for its present head
Ing, and Ludwig PosscIt was succeeded in the
edltorship by ii person of the name of Huber,
whose literary reputation rested on several trans
itons of English and French works. Huber
died in 1905. and The Gazette was thereupon
entrusted to Charles Stegeman, who had till then
acted as sub EDITOR and contcmpuraneOusly with
this change, considerable Improvements and en-
To the extraordinary tact, sound judgment, and
high administrative abilities of this later person.
who continued to edit the Gazette up to the
moment of his dcath-a period ot thirty years
the journal is mainly ind,h'ed for its high Eupo-
pean reputation and vast circulation. Under the
guidance of this sklilu pilot, the Gazette was
seercd clear OF the many rocks and shadows, and
ouiode the tcrupests which broke over the po!Itl-
Cal face of Germany. 1t was he who gave sta
blty To the undertaking, and clearly marked out
The course which the journal has since then pur-
sued with such distinguished success. The Ga
zettc,' like most of It's predecessors and conicm-
potarirs, lln.,,ed itself at first to mere extracts
from ore'gn papers, or Dry record oil such events
as came within It's notice.
The reader will in all probability. have re
marked that each of the journals named IN the
heading Of this article, inakes Il prominent dis
play OF the word universal anu tins desire to
preserve cosnopo!itc character is one of the
most striking features of The German Press, as
compared with that of England or France -
Lending arucles-are rare, and though becoming
somewhat less so o late, arc altogether modern
innovation. a German editor rarely inrrutes
his private opinions on his readers; and his polt-
ical feelings and sympathes are only To be rccos-
n'zed in the matter he extracts from foreign jrur-
mails, or the tone which he permits his foreign
correspondents 10 assume. Taken in come XloD
with this fact, 1t will nc readily understood that
the term uniuerSaL is meant, in most instances,
10 convey not only desire Of being universally
read. or universally communicative, but To insin.
uate the determination of being universally i'm.
partial. Intnis latter respect il must be acknow.
ledged that the Augsburg Gaze'ie' has always
.o1
of It's heaoing, as far as circumstances would al
all permit. In its columns we find the most op.
pos,te and extreme parties represented from time
totime; and the internal mechanism of the Jour.
nal admits of an advocacy of any set of political
ractcr ofthe journal. The events passing in each
country are extracted from The respective foreign
journals and presented 10 the reader in the shape
OF short notices, and in the greater number of CD.
SIS, without note or comment. These gleanngs
arc made IL purely historical spirit, and the rcd-
der IS lett 10 draw his own r, feciions from the
events recorded. Then follow the letters OF the
correspondents from The different capitals; and IL is
IN The selection and maintenance Of wel!.iniorm-
ed and intelligent correspondents that the real ri.
valry amongst the journals Genes III play. 1t is
here that the vast resources and high literary
connexions OF the great publisher, Gotta, arc
made subscrvient to the interests Of the Gazette
and in point of carly and correct information, es
pccialy III matters directly affecting qucs
uons of domestic pol,cy, this Journal has long
Stood precminent, if not alone, amongst its Eu
ropean compcers. There seems also 10 be a taci,
understanding between the greater number ot
cabinets of Europe to wink at certain breaches
Of official secrecy, which, in other journals, would
be punished as the highest lndiscre,ions. Official
documents find their way into the columns O.
this Gazette, perhaps without the sanction, but
certainly without any apparent murnur on tht
part OF the cabinets from which they emanatc.
In return for this indulgence, the WIDE circula
ton of the Gazette is frequently taken advantage
otby the respective Governments, 10 work upon
the minds oi Their sutjecis, and sound the state
ofpubl'c feeling in reference to projected inca
suses. This influence however, would neces
sdriy defeat ITS own end, were II not extremely
subtle, and 50 indirect as 10 escape general obser
Saiion. Fer this reason, the enforcement OF any
government view must be made to appear as the
spontaneous impulse of perfectly disn,erestcd in.