Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1852-03-11
The Newspaper Press.
BY b IEy. J. TwIcI IELI-

knowledge, VIE look upon the news
= paper Dress hs one of the most i'm
pQrtant This is a newspaper age,
and the Anne erican people are char
y acteristically ne wspaper reading
: people. Lorll Brougham might say
7 the nelg8 8papea IS a5road 1t visits
every house and cabin in the land.
t With its Influence for good or evil,
: it permeates to eve ry individual Of
: every rank inIsociety lie who widlds
r the mighty power Of the pen and
, causes it to mould and fashion the
character of bis countrymen, is the
highest chiefdain and the invincible
"brave" Of the race and nation
The Influences of the press silently
and continuously fall day by day up
on society, lille the sunshine and the
dews, maturi1g9in the heart either
the flowers of virtue and the fruits
! of religion, Of breeding the carrion
worms ofvi&e and crime. liz no
other respect has the enlargement Of
our country ben more apparent than
in the increake in the number and
influence Of Newspapers, re views and
magazines
50 far as. We can ascertaih il the first
attempt to- establish in a newspaper III
the [. S. was made in Boston in 1890.
OF that paper only one copy is now
known to be jpn existence. 1t is de-
posted in thd State Paper Office in
London, and Is dated September 10Th,
1900. 1t il small sheet Of four
quarto pages, one Of which is blank.
But one number was pri nted; the
officers of tile English Government
suppressed il. From this small be
ginning the humber Of papers and
magazines Hive greatly increased.
In lT75 there were in all the colo
MES but 81 newspapers. In 1910
in the Unified States alone there
were 35S; in 1928 there were S02;
in 1889 there were 1555, and at
present it is believed that there are
over 5000, besides large number
ofable reviews and magazines. Hal
bridge Statistical Almanac for 1852
estimates che number of newspaper
sheets published in the United States
annually at ! i, 1000, being equal
to sixteen and a half copies a year
for every man, woman and child Of
the whole pppulatiqn.0 Although
we do not vo4ch for the accuracy of
this estimate aud are inclined to
doubt it, yet It is evident that there
, is far CREATE i number of newspapers
published in this country, in proper
, ton to the humber of inhabitants,
than is publid dhed in any other coun-
try in the world. In the British
Empire only one sheet is publish ed
:. for every 2,OpQ. of the inhabitant IS;
in Belgium b be to every $4,000; in
Russia only q ne to every million.
/ Who can dstimate the influence of
daily and " weekly press issuing an
l nually 112,S80,000 papers. From
this wide and oVerflowlng stream OF
5 intelligence the American people re-
f ceiye daily supplies Of useful al nd
: practical and religious knowledge, Of
6 the value and Importance of which
e it is utterly i'm possible to. form any
eaestimate whatever. The press in its
restless energy is the mightiest en-
gine Of the eage for moulding the
s moraL religious and political senti-
i ment5 of thq nj alton, and for supply
i Inc facts to the teeming millions Of
: this widespread land. The sleepless,
4 the unwearied, the eyer-hedying press
i -4unreposed, untireG, unclaimed, I'M
: conquerable- --can be compared to
1 nothing but the
G '.Grcat oqeanl Strongest Of ere ATOMS s.sons
t Unconqu{ {rable, unreposcd, undired.
.N1'hal r9lli the wide, profound, eternal pass
: In Narpr$.s an'h en- "-P0ll0ef'
t The press, like the ocean, dark
\ heaving, boundless, endless, and sub.
I, lime. bears upon its tide the destiny
: Of nations.
Burritt, the learned blacksmith
5 has beautifully pictured the power o
: steam in his song:
"Harness me down with Your iron bands,
BE sure Of your curb and rein,l
| scorn The power OF vour. puny hands,
Is the ocean scorns the chain.
But.it will require still bollel
effort to prod pce an equally approprI