Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-07-26

f1uence of the great company was thrown
in favor of the great monopoly. 1t would
be far wiser, we think, for Mr.. orion to
serve three or four newspaper associations
than one; but he does not seem to
think so.
The Associated Press is composed of
seven newspapers-the Herald, Times,
Tribune, World, Sua, Express and Jour
nal Of Commerce. Such a partnership can
only benefit three papers-the Sun, Err
press and Journal Of Commerce.
The Sun, forinstance, has the aid
/ of the four great dailies to collect the
news. and then is allowed to sell that
news at one-haif the price. In other
words, the great dailies say-"We viii col
lect this news at large cost, and while sell
ing it ourselves for o Il cents will allow
you to sell it at two cents and protect you
against all competition" The Journal Of
Commerce makes a feature of markets and
for ship news. tt is aclass paper-oflarge
and circulates among the mer-
chants. Yet the our great dailies virtu-
alIv surrender TO this one newspaper
nearly all of the downtown financial
and commercial trade, and de-
bar themselves from that circu-
lation and business by protecting it
against every competition. A merchant
in Broad street has but to pay two cents
for the Sun and five cents for the Journal
/ OF commerce. anu III lbGu Only Itdu INC
great dailes for editorials and correspond
ence. These two papers answer his neces-
sites; the other newspapers are mere lux
uries. And should any Ofthe great dailies
desire to extend their influence and util-
ize their business material they are pre-
vented, because they have agreed to pro-
tect the Express even against themselves.
Thus the editor of the Herald, who prints
a light, lively evening paper, the Iete-
,,,yv1 i not a11OWn6 IN give II m the Assn
ciated Press news-because the cypress
paws a comparatively small sum every
week as its bonus. 1t does not even share
the expenses. The generous dailies allow
it to have the monopoly without really
paying for it as much as they do them
selves.
So We have the TriBsae, Herald. Times
and World joined in a partnership which
Injuries themselves, protects competing
journals, and prevents their " growth.
If the Associated Press ceased tomorrow,
these Journals would not be injured. They
are safe from competition because they
themselves answer all the purposes Of
competition. 1t would not be so with a
cheaper press. There is room for two or
three distinctive cheap newspapers. That
demand is so great that We see the Star
struggling into success in spite of the
Associated Press. And only recently Mr..
Pomeroy abandoned his attempt to found
his morning paper. In the afternoon press
we have the Wdu, Telegram, Meas and
Democrat, all enterprising, prosperous
and growing. in defiance of this ~restric-
ton. Remove it, and the Express and
Post would be compelled to sell more
cheaply, and Mr.. Dana would have an Op-
pOrtunity of showing his journalistic re
sources by having some newspaper in
competition. The Associated Press Yir-
tually brings journalism to a stand-still.
The animating motive of newspaper
owners is to make money, not to make
great journals. We miss the old days of
swift and earnest competition. The As
ISOLATED Press virtually prohibits competi-
ton by insisting that all news shall be
shared iii common Thus, Mr.. Bennett
may send a man to Russia at great ex=
pense and Mr.. Greeley may have his
emissary in Cuba, and any news they send
must be given to the Sun, World and
Times for a little more than the share of
tollsl All expense of outfit, time, salary
are borne by themselves. The edvantage
is shared all around.
Under any circumstances there are
grave defects in the Associated Press
economy. But when it becomes virtually
a department of the Western Union Tele-
graph Company and the great dailies are
merely an expression of the wishes and
the fears of Mr.. Orion and Mr.. SimOntOn,
it assumes the shape of a national calam-
ity, We thipk the great dailies make a
mistake and do not truly see where their
interest lies. The Associated Press GER
tainly leads to sluggishness, inertia, mo-
notony, want of enterprise, stagnatiOn.
The dominion of the American press rests
with Mr.. Orion mt Mr.. Simonton, and
under their domination it cannot be called
free,
From the Philadelphia Morning Post-ad-
nnTwHgHrnfTnr NHN- Tn J
The article entitled d" The Great Monop-
Oly," which we reprint from the Spirit Of
the Times, ought to be read. 1t treats of
q subject which should interest every
thoughtful mind-the monopoly of the
Associated Press and the telegraph-and
discusses it with moderation. We do not
expect from a New York paper more han
a half reluctant admission that the Asso-
ciated Press is a curse TO American jour
nalisn, and that the Western Union Tele-
graph Company is a tyranny in league
with it, This article is perhaps more val
liable because Of the evident fact hat the
SPIRIT condemns these monOpolies uuwil-
lingly and without any private cause for
complaint. In its peculiar sphere in jour
nalisn it is altogether unconnected with
telegraphS or news agencies.
Newspapers may be what DIR. Rush
called them, teachers of d~isiointed think
ing" and may do great harm as well as
good. The newspaper is for the day only,
1t springs up like JOnah's gourd, and fades
as quickly, Yesterdays paper is a
dead leaf. Thus ~perpetually dying
the is necessarily inn
mature. imperfect, crude. Its news is
often gossip, its deductions unsound and
based on false statements. Nevertheless,
il is the intellectual power of the country,
and the great political, social and religious
instructor of the people. The public
schools teach certain established facts; the
newspapers discover new facts and give
ideas, The pulpit is conservative the re-
ligious press gives progress to the
churches. And politically the newspa-
pers determine what Congress shall do,
what laws shall be passed and who shall
be President Or,GOYernor. This tremen-
dous power is not their own; they derive
1t from our many minded people, whose
contentious stTiVings, virtues and faults
are embodied in the American press more
than in any other power. Whatever such
scholars and dreamers as Dr.. Rush may
think, the papers Of this city rave done a
thousand times more tOrits education, in
tellectual development and prosperity in
a single year than the Philadelphia Lii
brary has done in its whole existence.
If newspapers, then, have this upmeas=
Vrable value to the public, any system
" ~ N4eLAH AAtb AAbN VI VI JUL AGllSlAi
must be a general evil. The Associated
Press, leagUred with the Western Union
Company, strives to prevent the establish
ment of new journals, and to keep for the
benefit of a certain number the MONOPOLY
of the news of the world. 1t is a society
for the suppression of newspapers, and
its ~disgraceful system has grown like a
poisonous vine all over the land. till there
is not a single large city from California
to Maine in which newspaper enterprise
is not crippled by Mr.. Orion, Horace Gree
ley, Manton Marble, Erastus Brooks. G..
A. Dana and their half dozen companions.
We except Mr.. Simonton, because he is
only a paid agent, and James Gordon
Bennett, because though the founder of
the Associated Press he has the public
spirit to desire the overthrow of its tyran-
nical monopoly.
Fortunately all tyranny results in revo-
luton. For years the Associated Press
has grown weaker, while the newspapers
outside of it have grown stronger. indie
pendent news agencies and special tele-
grams have superseded its routine reports.
Take the Bulletin and Telegraph of this
city for instance; they buy the Associated
Press news, yet although that company
has agents in Washington, New York,
etc, these papers almost entirely depend
pom their own special correspondents for
important news. The Post last winter,
by the employment of a special reporter
and an arrangement with the Bankers and
Brokers Telegraph line, obtained a better
report of Congress daily than that fur
nished by the Associated Press. Our re-
port was not as long, but it was more
readable and more accurate. Recently
Mr.. StOut'S news agency in New York has