The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1859-03-17
End of Volume il.

volume of the Guardian, and with it ex-
pire quite number of subscriptions
which we hope to see renewed. The
financial pressure of the past yesr has
horne hardly upon newspapers as well as
other enterprises, and many have with
cred and died from the influence of the
contraction. In many cases this was a
legitimateresult. inasmuch as a great deal
Of the journalism of the West, especially,
was a concomitant of that speculative
mania which ragged so violently here, and
the death of one necessitated that of the
other. AS has been the case with every
thing else. journalism has been overdone,
the supply has surpassed the demand, and
as consequence newspapers have both
lesseaed in number and deteriorated in
quality.
Ii seems to US piece of the grossest
folly for any community. whose wants
could be readily supplied by one journal,
TO attempt the support Of an additional
one. But few towns or counties in Iowa
have business enough 10 keep life in more
than one good newspaper, and in attempt
ing to do more. they but injure them
selves. Will one or all of half a-dozen
small, dry. i'll printed. poorly edited pa
rers, gain consideration abroad for any
communty-rehect credit upon the taste
or intelligence of any people--or be in
any sense instrumental in directing emf
grafton or capital towards the town and
county where printed Do they tend to
concentrate and unite the efforts OF the
people in any given direction I? or do
they not, rather, have tendency to Gre
ate and keep up discussions, divisions,
chickering's. jealousies. and bad feelings?
Does not each draw around it party, or
clique, or sect, whose organ it sensibly
or insensibly becomes, and whose views
it advances by the dsparagement of some
other clique Or sect, thus engendering
party animosities that soon become social
and PERSONAL These, and other disa-
greeeble effects, always have, and al
ways will, result from needless multi
pllcation of newspapers, and we there
io!o think that it is the poorest policy in
the world for a community to thus en-
courage their establishment. Oftentimes
men take paper for months aud years,
the general tone and doctrines and APP
pearance of which are to their mind and
TASTE; but some day the editor conscien-
tiously advocates what they deem the
wrong side of some incidental question, |
and. behold! the many here; ofore &C
eep'abIe features of his Journal are for
gotten. or weigh as nothing when com
pared with tllis one, to them, displeasing
position; and tl-ey instantly form com
blnstion to put him down, and another
paper is raised up to perpetuate this dis
Ike, 10 keep up division, to divide the
patronage, and to effectually prevent the
community from ever having a good pa
per.
The province OF a country newspaper
10. rs we understand il, to chronicle To-
asl events, make public local resources.
and guard, as best it can, local interests.
A paper poorly supported seldom accom-
plishes these results. Where a publisher
is forced TO the strictest economy in or
der to get TIE means TO purchase Ills pa
per, and where an editor is forced to turn
composi,or, doyil, etc. &C., and SO on,
i. would be strange if they could or
should issue a sheet respectable either as
regards appearance, ability OF usefulness.
II will be Of Tie smallest size allowable,
and must of necessity lack mechanical
finish and editorial interest. And when
il is sent abroad. it does not tell the
stsans ser of an enterprising, intelligent,
prosperous community, but speaks to
MIN of the reverse. and instead of inyi,-
ing. repulses him. Men do look to the
local journal for an index Of the business
and character. Of = community, aid ii
they lind a large, tasteful, ably conduct
ed Journal, breathing enterprise and in
telligence, they become prepossessed in
favor Of that community. This is not
only logical sequence, but one which
we have ourselves several times seen
practically demonstrated.
We have here, in Buchanan county,
three papers. There is enough patron
age in the county to support ore good
respectable journal, aud only one. Di
vided among three, it furnishes barely
sustenance enough to each to keep them
from starving TO death. The result is,
instead of having, as Buchanan county
should have, large, good looking. able,
Influential! iournal-onn that woilId ra