The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1868-08-13

a." nquoasioh VI the debt incurred by Eng
land through means Of the damage done to our
commerce during the civil war.
The Murine News and the Quarantine and
Telegraph Jobbers.
For the past fifty years the marine reporters
connected with the New York press have been
in the habit Of visiting the vessels arriving in
the harbor and collecting the news for publ
cation in the papers. In that whole time they
have never abused their privilege; and so i'm
portant and valuable have been their labors to
the commercial community and to the public
generally that while laws have been passed
under various pretences restricting the right
of boarding inbound ships no one in authority
has ever thought of interfering with the duties
Of this useful class of reporters. Thirty years
ago the HERALD gave new impetus to this
| branch OF the newspaper business, which had
been heretofore conducted without much in
dustry or enterprise, and the marine news has
ever since formed one of the leading features
in New York journalism. In November of
last year, actuated by desire to lay before
our readers the very fullest and latest intelli-
| gence from the shipping, in which 80 many and
such vast interests are involved, and sensible
that the system of collecting the marine news
then prevailing was susceptible of great i'm
provement we organized a harbor force of re-
porters, with two steam yachts for constant
| service, and were thus enabled to furnish the
public every day with complete and correct
1ickO IF oil fho orriu IN a. in bo
morning and with every item of ship news
worth recording. Prior to November, 1867,
no vessel could be obtained below the old
| Quarantine grounds at Staten Island; but under
| our new and costly arrangement our steam
| yachts have boarded homeward bound ships
when fourteen or fifteen miles outside Sandy
Hook thus enabling us to publish their arrival
many hours before they reached the lower
| Quarantine. This was an advantage our mer-
chants and shippers had never before enjoyed,
and they soon discovered that in this, as in all
matters of enterprise, the HERALD beat the other
city papers out of the field We claimed no
new privileges, however, and did no act that
the whole city press had not done for the past
half century. We simply extended the
sphere Of operation, and by liberal investi-
ture of money and labor did more completely
and efectually the work that had been imper-
fectly done before.
With these arrangements of the HERALD for
the collection of ship news so serviceable to
the public, DR.. Swinburne, the Health Officer
of the port, and the two per cent philosophers
of the Western Union Telegraph monopoly
seek to interfere. melted by jealousy and by
q sort OF Albany lobby itching after small
jobs, the great combination of quackery and
electricity is endeavoring to put down the enter
prise of the HERALD, and to deprive our mer-
chants and shippers of all news except such as
may be furnished them by gracious permission
of an intriguing official over the wires OF the
Western Union Telegraph Company. The
telegraph company agree to lay a cable wire
to the Quarantine ground, over which the
Health Officer, his family and friends are to
be perpetual deadheads, and the Health Officer
guarantees to the telegraph company mono
poly of all ship news, for which the papers
are to pay, and promises to shut off the HERALD
from obtaining intelligence by straining the
meaning and the authority of the Quarantine
laws. What other little side bargains there
may be and in what shares the paltry profits
of this job are parcelled out it is needless to
conjecture.
DIR. Swinburne now attempts to justify his
share in the job by pleading that, as the guar
dian of the public health, he is bound to prevent
any person from boarding or visiting vessel
arriving at this port until she has been ex-
amined by the Health Officer, and he goes
into an extended statement to show
that he anticipates great deal of danger and
annoyance from large number of imaginary
steam yachts, all Of which will, he imagnes,
desire to visit the Quarantine grounds for every
city paper, and so he determines upon giving
the Western Union Telegraph Company o mo-
nopoly of half the shipping news and deprive
the public Of the other half This is all bal
derdash, the claptrap of small Albany lobby
list who is more conversant with political tricks
than with pills and potions. For fifty years
the same system of collecting news has pre-
vailed in this port, and Its danger to the public
health has not been discovered until now. DR..
Swinburns does not dread the spread of con-
tagion from fifty or sixty stevedores who wan
der over New York and Staten Island at night
after working all day dischargng the cargo Of
vessel into his own lighters, for which he
pockets the pay. DR.. Swinburne will stake
his medical reputation-he does not object to
small bets-that there can be no danger to the
public health from his practice Of stopping
California and Havana ships in the Lower Bay,
transferring the passengers to his own steamer
and carrying them up for two dollars head
to New York, where they generally arrive after
their own vessel has reached its dock. But
DR.. Swinburne does suppose that It is hazard
GUS to the citizens Of New York for steam
tug to go within hailing distance Of q ship