The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-03-04
The Obituary of a Newspaper.
From the Louisville Courfcr-Jourrln.
rur ySp OF AN ENTERPRISE.

Tho Louisville Daily Ledger suspended
,,,.il;,-,,ion SATURDAY.. After an existence Of
E;,r over a year il died very natural and a
,.rv comfortable death---natllral, because In
o,,nyiapcc with the peculiar condition Of its
I:-.h and being; and comfortable, because,
Notwithstanding its constant loud and vali-
1,,>finr il Was not stricken down uneX-
rcrtrdlv. for it had sufficient time 10 make up
i, mind to meet the inevitable. ~
The fact is the Ledger lived ont Of its time.
ro~,v wears ago it would have been repre-
,.n.atiy,c newspaper. In the old days of log
l.,hfu. and the Leatherwood God, when
mrn,,apcr success depended so much upon
Tandcring to the prejudices and inllaming
tr,c worst passions Of the people; when
every brokcr-down schoolmaster, or lawyer.
cr doctor, or follower Of any profession
which reul,ired knowledge Of the alphabet,
took TO editing paper; when the name OF
n,,y>paper was a misnomer, and the times
cave no promise Of the enlightened and llbe-
,,,l Journalism Of the present day; when
.y,rv paper was the enslayed drudge of some
u,r;v. and most of them some particular
;.,Giician or set of politicians-in those dark
day~ Of forty or perhaps fifty years ago the
Louisville DAILY Ledger would have been q
Success
We write its obituary, feeling neither sad
nor lad II there is the slightest tinge OF
satisfaction in the heart it is not because the
Louisville Lcd7cr is dead, but because the
d,.ai,y. and honor, and honesty of the jour-
u,ii-m Of the present day have been vlndi-
c,tri. The Ledger has proved very conclu-
.ycly that paper started by set OF pchtl-
risns for the purpose of hoodwinking the
p.oplo and putting themselves in Office, CALI
MT live. The people, too, are now more en-
li.litcncd and liberal than they We're fifty
wears ago, and consequently have less time
and less patience 10 listen to the appeals OF
u.riudicr; arc more quick TO detect dishon-
r,:y and dclnagogucry, and are approached
more easily through the avenues of rational
reason and the appeals of plain, honest,
everyday common sense. They require their
newspaper To have some respect for their ILL.,
rrlligcnce, and not TO insult them by offering
them party prejudice for plain sense.
The people want, first, the news--the news
fresh. r,cy. and reliable. When newspaper
hes given that it has accomplished the main
l,:rt of its mission. But to do it satisfactorily
and successfully the paper must be free and
la;rammelIcd by private interests, private
I.yr>. or private hates. 1t must purge itself
Of al these before it is qualified TO state facts
Without vanishing them over in some par
t;,lIar interest. 4 newspaper must be ludc-
pendent if il would lead the people. So long
q, private interests govern it itsPcaks with the
Voice of only one man or one set of men; IN
d.isndenl. it may reflect the views of the
Whole people.
Adirtant J. \. Dawson was the originator
o! the Ledger, and from its first number has
been its controlling spirit. His experiment
lIa> cost his friends probably some thirty or
forty thousand dollars, but it has not been
wholly lost if its fate impresscs men ambl-
tioil, 10 lead the public that in these tunes,
when the cost of publishing good newapa-
per, i, 50 enormous, it is not possible for any
rutrrlri,e 10 succeed which is founded On
yindc,iycncSs or prejudice or personal dis
likes: that politicians and political juntaS can
not support newspapers; that the only way
lor paper to succeed is as Legitimate busi'
r,.>s rnlrrVri>e.