American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1869-02-13
Wisttllaneous,
THE NEWSPAPER PRESS.
AN ESSAY BY J. A. SIGNAIGO.

| AN ESSAY BY J. A. SIGNAIGO
| cannot but consider it unfortun-
ate for the press association that /
should have been designated as
Essayist for this interesting occasion.
And, should be more diftident and
distrusttul of myself, were 1 not
aware that there is no one among
you who has not experienced the
pressure and claims upon his
thoughts, his ingenuity and his forti-
tude, upon whom devolved the " all
work of his establishment. With
this brief explanation, / throw my.
self on your indulgence for any short
coming, and proceed as well as
may, to examine subject in which,
however hackneyed it may be, we
are all more or less interested.
The newspaper press is the great
lever of society. Itsleaves are strewn
as thick as those in "Vallambrosa'
shade" Its influence permeates the
great arteries of trade and commerce,
and returns to invigorate and refresh
community through the smaller
channels of industry and art. Genius
has not so dear u friend, and without
its aid would be shorn of more than
half its power of flight, and would
be restricted to a comparatively lim-
tied orbit. The mind, in it's out
pourings, may reach a multitude of
OrlN hn CT FOL
ty of the newspaper, which otherwise
would be confined to a single audi
ence, or, at best, be transmitted
through the medium of a still small
voice" Deprive the pen of the con-
venience of the press, and it might
as we'll have remained "a grey goose
shaft" or left the wing of that amia.
BILE biped to whose gobble was once
attributed the salvation of ''the queen
cities the metropolis of the world"
Nor could the great Cardinal have so
truly described it as mightier than
the sword.
Perhaps in no department of art
or science. or literature, and they all
are intimately associated with, and
measurably upon it, have there been
greater strides toward perfection, fill
ing space that else would be bar
rem waste, if not useless, monoton-
GUS vacuum, than the newspaper
even within our own day. 1t has
become a daily record of transpiring
events in every quarter of the globe,
on sea or land. 1t reflects the sa
gacity of the Minister. the determine
tion of Parliaments, Chambers,
Diets, Cortes and Legislatures, as
soon as expressed; and no occur
renee can transpire, of the slightest
general interest or Importance but it
is transmitted on the wings of the
lightning and made subservient tc
the uses of the newspaper. Ephe
neral it, to a certain extent, must
be, because events tread on cact
others heels with such rapidity, il
must be fast to keep pace with the
age, and its columns require al
amount of ability and tact unknown
to former times, when numbering heb
domadals won fame and renowr
through the instrumentality of {
Spectator" a Rambler" a " Tat
tier" or the many other vehicles o
thought which brought to light uht
brilliant essays of ADDISON and his
Il contemporaries. The division of tim,
and labor among a half-score of edi
tors distinguished for literary, scien
tific and political attainments, will
the aid of score of reporters, man,
of them not whit behind their so
called superiors in requisite qualifi
cations, is now deemed necessary tc
complete and finish off the freight
age of the well ae-led columns, so thai
all is as clear us demonstration O
EUCLID, and "one who runs ma,
read"
True, this elaboratcness is not visi
BILE throughout the whole newspape
press. 1t is, for the most part, re
stricted to first-class cities where re
muneration for enormous expendi
- lures may be confidently anticipated
Il 1t would be the hight of folly ant
the extreme of madness to attemp
an enterprise on so grand a scale
le outside of a populous city, or wber
is the wants and requirements of tn
community are less universal. Blu
such is the tendency of the age, an,
uu n there is not newspaper in a cour
~ try village, needless OF the universe
sa spirit, that is not speedily know
Y: and voted on all hands, 'as "a slo'
Ter COACH"
of The newspaper press is a power
md the land. 1t has power to build Il
as well as tear down. One of I'll
first principles acknowledged in tt
great magma chdrta of American fire.
dou was the independence of I'll
press, and it's protection by guar(
placed around it's unquestionab
prerogatives, while a libellous an
scurrillous press was to be depreca
ed, the fathers wisely determine
that the truth could be no libel, al
that the press should be free and u
constrained. If, under one plea
another, different doctrine h
been practically enforced, it W
plainly departure from the edic
of the great fundamental rule, an
was an offshoot, if not legitima
offspring of despotism. There we
SO many encroachments upon t
true Interpretation of that legacy
the fathers, which they themselv
revered and venerated, it is not !
markable that the newspaper pre-
should come in for it's full share
the overhauging cloud.
No neighborhood, where one cnr
be maintained, should be without
local press. Through its column
hose the neighborhood news should fir
ly circulate. Let it not be imagin
that because an inter esting fact IN
be familiar to five or six or dO2
persons, that it would be stale a
fiat in a newspaper paragraph.
While neighborhood gossip sho1
Dbe carefully avoided and eschew
as calculated to provoke ill-feel
and difficulty, the condition of
trOpS. the prospect of planting,