Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1848-01-13
TO THE PEOPLE
SHENANDOAH COUNTY.

SHENANDOAH COUNTY.
We, the Editor Of the .'Sentinel of the Val
ley" have, for months past, contemplated
an address to the people Of this county. par
ticularly, upon subject, which, we hope to
be enabled to show, is not only of some i'm
poriance to us, but Of interest 10 them.
We lay it down as fair proposition, at the
commeRcement,-a proposition, the trnth OF
which has been sustained BY universal expert
ence,-lst, that in every enlightened commu-
nifty, the establishment of good family news
paper is indspensab'y necessary, both as a
medium of communication for business men,
and as chronicler of genera, newsstand ID.
that il is impossible, at this day of go-ahead en-
terprise and lightnng-rod speed, to establish
and maintain, in manner to meet the expecta-
tons of the times. respectable newspaper,
,Oithout the cordial AID hearty support Of the
community IN ,chich such paper is established.
Having now, as the preachers say, stated our
proposition in general terms, we shall proceed
to make personal application of the sub
ject."
The s:SENTINEL OF THE VALLEY" "a very
pretty name, isn't t?) was established some
twenty eight years ago. (Now, gentle reader,
don't get scared; we're not going to write the
history of the Sentinel for we should tread
on many a corned toe, and come down upon
many sore head, were we TO attempt it
Suffice it 10 say, that, like cat. it has already
had ''nine lices," and may have ga few more
left;' but We pray kind heaven they may not
be of the ''same sort y We say the "Sent-
nel' has lived, breathed, or tried to live, for
about % years. And we have no hesitancy in
saying, that, taking everything into considera-
ton, it has been as ably conducted as any other
paper in the country. That it might have
been more ably conducted, and presented a
more genteel appearance; than it has ever done,
had it been better supported than 1t ever has
been, we freely admit.
Now, fellow citizens Of Shenandoah, what
are the facts in the case? They are briefly
these. The "Sentinel,' as your county pa
per, has never since its establishment, received
that support to which it was entitled as mat
ter of sheer justice, at your hands. And the
result has been, that it has dragged out mise
rable existence up to the present time, yielding
profit very little over the amount necessary
to keep it in operation. Would you believe it,
when we say, that the Sentinel has not, at
this time. a circulation ef more than TWO
HUNDRED in the county Of Shenadoah2-
Yes, while our neighbors are prospering all a.
round us, issuing from 800 to 600 weekly,
in their respective counties, we are issuing to
you the immense number Of t,so h,nIred!-
Now, DONE laugh; it's as true as preaching
Now, at whose door does the fault lie. Have
we been delinquent in our duty? We may
have been in some instances; ifso, in future we
will endeavor to do better We think, how
ever, THAT we have at least tried to make our
paper as interesting and genteel in appearance
as the means conferred would permit US to do.
And we wish it to be distinctly understood by
our friends at distance, as well as in this
county, that we shall never relax our efforts to
keep pace with the times, as long as we are
enabled to keep above water. If we sink, it
will be because the people Of this county shall
utterly abandon us, as has been the case too
much already, 10 the mercy of strangers; for
we have received at least one half of onr sup
port from the surrounding counties.
We ask again, why is it that this state of
things exists. We willenumerate few causes,
which, it seems to US, have doomed the s.Sen-
tinel'' to SO hard a fate. They are:
l. The cheap literary papers have secured
the services ofall the postmasters IN the country
to procure subscribers for them. We have no
complaint to urge against these postmasters,
for they afe deeply interested'in forming clubs,
and getting as large number of papers sent TO
their offices as possible. For this we do not
complain; we only complain of those who en-
deavor to- persuade persons toquit the Sentinel,
by disparagings its claims and urging those of
other papers that arc cheaper. OF this we
complain, because it is both unjust and mean.
4 we have been too dilfident in placing
our Claims before the people heretofore, but
don't intend to be SO "mea]y-mouthed' for
time to come. We intend to throw ourselves
into the "disputed territory, 2 and fight against
the hard fate to which we have been subjected
by our mastery inactivity . in time past, un-
til we .sconque. peace"
-, Vrya e