Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-12-01

| Stiuc SdsiuSt IS lie CtIEtuL ueWS Ot Tue
day. The sans issue of morning jour
nal which gives the particulars Of a tempest,
fire, fooi, a snoxstorn, battle, an in
surrection, also gives the current commerce
al values of the orlds trali: from That Of
4 G 5vernment loan ID P aaut. Aud this
s-lf same issue viii annouuce tde dseOv-
cry Of the last plane the perfection of the
last invention il machinery, the lss essay
on ritualsm in tie Church, the last positive
p n rationalis;n, aud possibly HE very
latest, au heulic or Otherwise, from the
sd4dowy land O. the departed. The pro
srass Of Ibis dissemina ion Of knowledg-
IN ouch The press, its CO.. stantly incressil g
10 n,sutom aud power. is easily traced from
tie FIST artificial transmission If thought
from one person to another removed from
him By tine or space, Till both are annihi
aed on three-q Iar.ers Of the earyh's sur
facs-whel the Press is acknon ledged
throughout the world as the accredited We
hicle Of new thought, new enter prise and
further progress.
make this estimate Of the Press, Gen
tlenen, to convey to you my conception OF
its diguijy, aud It's responsibility. Upon
these who have the choice of its matter, its
manner, its tone andits temper, is imposed
tbs responsibility and the duty to sustain
its dignity. This is part Of its business,
aud a very important part Of it, since lis
pecunlary resources will generally cores
pond with popular favor. To the pecun-
iary branch Of the business; however, L
wish more particularly to call .yonr atten-
ton, aud to submit 6 few Suggestions.
It has been stated on what 1 suppose
good authority, tina. thousand newspa-
pers 6fed in 1911 take it Ios unreasoIi-
able that an equal mortality viii be SUM-
med up at the end of 1872. shall not un-
dertalze at present to explain why some
newspapers, launched by men Of high en-
sdowments aud culture, have only brief
and brilliant oxisieuce-hcw others seem
to be crushed By the very weight Of intel
Iact imposed upon them; or how it is, IS for
that matter, that Sill seule flourish without
an atom of plilosop1ic. merit, or g single
particle ofast2chmcnt 10 principle, or per-
c3ptibe real devotion o the public good.
Fee picture before US for contemplation is
nat mammoth catafalq ue Of dead neWspa-
pn,7.
believe 1 may say til II these thousand
or two thousand pewsp IpsIs, representing
A wasted capital Of from four tofSe mil
lions Of dollars, each and al died, Of the
same disease. II was consumption, that
aeculiar form Of The disss Sc that no pbysi-
clan ever cu,es-bIieay defined by Shakes
-aConsumption Of tls purse" ard
.haternineut authority, as If upon k@oRl-
edge gained b,- eSpe,ieucs, adds, @she dis
ease is Notwithstanding only fingers
it out" y nef 7spsper has Lot Yet been
known 10 wind up iJs affairs ard retire from
business because Of 2 plsab@ss ef cash.
Generally tie most pro; E45@4lS Ne sspaper
nen are moss stta( :hcdie3 re 3lQ95ess aud
stick 10 it lon.ssr. EYGE Base p9grrsl ex-
arcples of this trJt,a n Ysl1g5 221Go- without
ealing names. n 2. il, W 55955 on money
hat kills uees~sprr
The lack or abuniam g of lasoT 'fity de-
bends upon the whole 4v19gagel5,s- force
out mainly on the bnsA1pg9 or counting
room Inauag, mant. To E6s card among
ourselves, (4nd 1 put yoI rlPEu Danor Jiia5
chis statement is strictly e5lJGoe 49, de-
dare that ho rsoever sreasa tB @es Wee eaitor
may make Of bims If, the bEglE2zs will 60
smooth Y on if It Is managed AeTs59E o.
c1urss il The editor induces the EwsiEess
and makes fol Of himself these9ac Germ
: arts 20 . funeral st once. On The other
haId, if you have 4 very paragon editor,
and the business goes loose, i. is apQpexy
Instant daaJh--or paralysis co ltiGued
lie, not worth perpetua.ing-either worse
than consumption"
Some of The first inte'lects OF the present
age-men distinguished in literature and
science have dabbiad in newsp, lpers,
among whom DO not remember an in
stance Of success. 1 take it TO be-, and
think it should be accepted by every body,
as an axiom, that every person who, By
chance, has q scribbling faculty or literary
turn of mind and three thousand 3llars
10 cash, should not set up 9 printing office
at OuacEenbum's Y Roads, to make tame
and fortune. Bat there should be
sJme appreciable rsl5on why a news
paper with mora capi'al, mora intel
lectUsi effort, more selEsaericice and
less selGcomfoTt than uany other vocatisus,
fails when The others succeed. J mean, of
course, the average press for 1 frankly con-
fess, in & career Of fifteen years, I have seen
some that were not worthy al inf,aiteslmal
success-sPart from absolute want ofbrain
and apart from absolute want Of energy.
1 have observed, also, shat It sometimes oc-
ours that those who have the least brain
have the most energy, and rice UeySG. The
conuudrum is how 10 unite the two. Brain
is plenty enOugh--in soms cases we fad
sit lying around loose'-banking upon it.
self alone for a nights lodging sad morning
hash. There is also euPersbundance of
energy which can make a newspaper go,
even if it goes for nothing. This see-saw-
ing Of business and editing kills the paper.
Ifyou could stuff a subject Of this sort, af-
ter death, and exhibit it at a remunerative
admission-say $500, the price we charge
ourselves for coming into this Association
ard looking as each other-there mig-t be
something substantial in newspaper fune-
raj after all! But it does not turn out that
way. The newspaper death dries up foun-
tain; and It is never sainted,
Now: gentlemen, after these general o.
servationsL viii eudeavor to answer briefly,
| why tbers is such fearful mortality among