New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-04-11
tSGLusa AND AMERICAN JOURNALS.

Next TO despotism, with its rigid censorship,
and its imprisonment Of refractory editors AMI
the destruction Of their presses, there is no
means so efficient toward keeping people 10
besotted seniiity and ignorance as the newspaper
stamp. This resource of oppression has been
rigidly adhered TO in England, aud the result Is
that the daily journals are beyond the mean, of
the ma. of the community, who have to put up,
for the most part, with twaddling wseklis.; or
when tbey DO see daily paper, they fod in it
as rule, the necessary sfiinities Of highpriced
journal with an sristocratic structure of society
and government and hence no eIpositor Of popu-
lar feelings or needs.
The dull compliance of the English in this
regard has recently been changed into vitality,
in the proposal Of the Chancellor of the Ex-
clequer TO modify the stamp-duty, or, ia one
sense, to abolish it-Damely, to take it of all
newspapers which do not go by mail, reserving
stamp of one penny simply, as p)ssage-the
stamped sheet being allo we'd to circulate freely
through the mails withou, further charge.
This sudden fit Of liberalism--if it DO no. end
in a sober second-thought, bringing back con.
tervatism to lie original vews-is to be ascribed
to the temporary detection, we presume, Of IT,.
London Times Newspaper to the interests Of the
aris,ocrscy. So long as that journsl was true to
tie hereditary mufs, there was not breath in
favor of stamp reduction or destruction but now
that events in the Crimea bsve caused it to show
up the sristocrscy to contempt aud CRATE harsh
thunder sgainst their very existence, We perceive
a contemplated change 10 the s.amp-d duty. Take
Of the duty, and the resul. will be that chea,
rivals to The Times will spring up, and the
Government will no longer be under the lash of
single powers sort Of mighty dueuns that
guards Queen and Court, Army and Navy. But
the strength Of sris'ocr4tic institutions, 90
fsr from beipg increased by thu charge, will be
speedily diluted aud destroyed They cannot
stand the fire Of cheap press They must fall
OF this fact Mr.. Glsdstons aud his successor, Sir
G. c. Lewis may be insuffcien.y cognizsnt but
il is nevertheless certain.
tn. Examiner sadly forebodes the declsnsion
The talent snd rank Of the press when stamps
have been removed. 1t will then BIO re-
duced down to the low Amsricin STANDARD, Tie
Froming thinks. This ia simply very ignorant
and rather iDsolept. The American standard is
that of some three thousand local newspapers,
which are better than the English local newspa-
pers, stupid to the LIST degree though issued
weekly only; for up to this moment there Is, on.
Of London, no daily paper in Great Britain, save
one or two whose infancy aud feebeness render
their names unknown to fame. Bat throwing
s,ide tie merely local press Of this country we
brd jOuInsls which msy be compared with any Ia
Epglsnd. Our range Of topics is different; We
do not quote Latin so much-it ia not The fashion
IN this country, with all its fe,hDess and distance
from antique Rome and her offshoots, the English
Universities, but for the instruction Of the people
and TIE diffusion Of ideas and Of knowledge, our