Columbus Democrat. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 18??-18??, 1849-07-07
From the n. y. Ercning Past.
Preservation OF Newspapers.

DlIl mas JUST PaSseu thc LeEis'aule ~ Atoa-
nv requiring each county clerk throughout the
State to subscribe for and preserve the files Of
twonewspapers 10 be printed 1--WE presume) with.
in their respective counties.
The Legislature have not probably done a
mother thing as wise as this during the whole scs.
sion. No historical monumen, that has ever been
devised has half the value for future reference
tina, belongs 10 ! newspaper, aud Nc record Gin
be made in current events nearly as trnlhin', as
minute as systematic, or as accessible as the
.'happy pages which no critics crtcise" of a Pc
riodica! Journal. But for them, in this country
we should soon lose all evidence Of events not
strictly legislative, and fifty Yer hence our pos
lery would be as much at Sss to trace the M
terror history oflhis generation as We are in at
tempting 10 recall the more delicate lineaments
Of social life inthc ages Of Elizabeth or the Ed
wards.
De Tocqucvle, we think has somewhere spo.
ken ofhe difficulty to be anticipated, at some ill.,
turc day, by those who may wish to trace the his
tory Of our people for the want Of durable monu
ments or records Of their current lille and achieve
ments lie said the newspaper was almost our
only historical rcpositoiy y, ard that was usually
while our writer's were loo busy, writing History,
to sit down aud write il rh. was arrbsena-
ton worthy o'ihc philosophc saeacity q him
who made i and, 4n.sf ,lsks p.islras histor,-
cal reposivft ~ Y I'll De-. ode vile aIudcds
arc preserved by soiatstonTrten authority we
shall leave 10 postgSiha No evidence Of the s'rug
giles, the priyaiinr4z7ssdsssb through which we
have passed. in winning our way to the promi>
nent place we now AslaAamong The nations oftae
! earth
five understandable law. just passed, of which,
however, we Ary1nay yflt has been commu-
.eDNgee by telegraph, Il is designed TO provide, q,
sssefsaacal issues tEsloca journals, the noSf
ia ffsfInd ample chronicle @rfch can be found
Of the daily concerns ofeach county inthe-State,
written on thespo, in the presence of living
witnesses ready % scfuthze il statements.
and interested in exposing its errors
Pdf~ togrtSar, .skbis great library OF about
one hundred and TWdntys volumes fora given
year, would present more complete and IN
s'ructye history Of the period ard the people to
which i, might relate than was eys.mad4hazAihi
A err means, Of any people, silee the deedssot III
J were thought Igl Arsco'dEE /. {
Il The newspaper Rthe common repository ofev
cry thing Of general concern tbat Is donaNs9d
Thought, and suaereds within is range or acNye
circulation. n bears recors0f fR peoples tlSes
and ofthe means enjoyed ior satisfying themS FOL
their Industry and It's results; Of their opinions
and the processes by which they are formed, mod
lied, and changed; Of their politics, their reli4 on
their social relations and habits,thcr vlTiuesI nd
and their vices; in word, Of their swhole ELS
tence as a community ofmen. We think weNre
not speaking rashly when we say that the adSer
tsemens alone Of a popular daily newspaPp'
like the Times Of London, or some OF our mos
prominent contemporaries in this city, for hiIJ
years. possess intrnsically a higher historical
records which are embodied in the literature .
ancient Greece assuming Of course,that the civil
cation of England and otGreece, lcr thaeap od
were Of equal interest TO the world. In them w
1 see from day to day, what people buy anc
what they sell what h make, VIVA
ftheyea:. and what they wear; what they enjoy
where they 'trave, andswhere they send; whel
they are born and when they die; when am
whom they marry, when and why they are pun
ished, and whaLAre their rewards; what book
are made and what books are sold; what law
are enacted.and what laws are violated; sgha
god ass.worshipped, aldWkat new religllc1 y
+. tsug h'. and how d Vs5HI aaDds how.the face
the earth is Travelled. and the great deep naviga
. ted, and the wings Of the wind made 10 carry buI
a dcns. All those things, and many more, al
u ,.ughl BY the advertisements Of daily jonfna