The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-03-30
Where Resides the Influence

W.. ~, ynrt herald, IN one W fts sapit
and ;singlcrious editorials scts up = sls'
c,a;o for that paper to power ana nm inhuenc'
in the political affairs of this vast country
r saws tina. there was time when nationa
,o,;,i,.s were controlled by the press Of Rich
mond, and Washington, and Albany, when
vcr,, true; but that pow The power OF III
rrcss Of those cities Is gone and Is not felt II
nublic matters. That Is very nearly ""e
But that the power has been lost to ''T i"es
Of those cities through any absorption o,
nv the Herald is absurd. The he'"'a ne
no more control over public opinion, 80 80
ing In respect to the nation 'n'" ~ Tho
nsner edited hy A. II. SrsrilESs III sD.
Georgia village. Tie her"'a - and
which achieved It's great fame ny ,." w.. -
frccdom with personalities, and sun ns's ,'s
run though it has drilted away ioia ~.
,..n,,d where It grew TO unprecedented s.e
o. In notifies it has no influence. we
rsvcr sum,c>rd it thought it had tof 'hei'
has been 50 little consistency as wen ~ Si''-
,.,,;,v IN is course-its opinions ana snggeS'
,;ops have always been so volatile, so capri
cio,,s. 50 oyer-done, so suspicious anu q'l1~t
al,-that they could not possibly A''N'
impression OH the pubic m'.o. l. A.,
The Tribune has exerted hnueice III 'n
,o,;,;ca, world, Yet, take even that paper
what effect has been wrought oy II oi ,"'s'
,yo homo. much. But the signs arc not ell
couraginS. .;o
The fact is the whole genius Of the nat'oh
j. changed, mainly by its growth and expah-
sion aud partly by the war and the s"s'iio"-
inc I'M Of old issues and policies In that great
struggle. The old papers with their o'l,
editors in Richmond, Washington, anu
Albany, would have 10 more power no"
over public opinion than the Herald OF New
York or apv other New York paper. feo-
rle are not guided by papers now IN their
politics. They are organized and disciplined
bv marty machinery, and they move by the
stratesies of the parties evolved and worked
Nv the local organizations. The whole mat
ter of struggle is numbers. There is hardly
anv such thing as principle. The State
organizations take their cues from the
national rings, and the congressional
and some local districts follow the State.
The sectional party papers are guided pretty
much bv the same authorities, and they are
only the drums that beat up the forces.
They indeed may increase the number o.
forces on one side or the other by the vigof
and perseverance of their drumming. Buf
there are no great things done now-a-iayf
by sound argument, and the force and i'm
pulse Of party movements have become too
sordid AID self-willed to be checked by the
feeble persuasion of newspaper logic and
homiiies about political economy.
There gre nevertheless leading papers stu
in the country. They arc prominent ia
great sections Of the Union, and they do eN-
ert influence, though not to the extent Of
that influence once possessed in Richmond,
Washington, and Albany. The Cincinnati
Commercial is an example, and 1t exelts an
influence fully equal to that Of any New York
papsx, The st. Louis Democrat and the St
Louis Republican may also be named i'm the
list, which may be still further extended by
one or two Oh icago papers and the Courier.
Journal of Louisville. And the tioulishin2
condition of these journals shows a great
point in this discussion, and that is the i'm.
mc,lse growth of the West, to which the
political power las been passing and is now
travelling with accelerated speed. The great
western political glacier has spread out and
disrupted those Of the east. They are crack.
ing and breaking up by its pressure, and will
be overwhelmed by it in time. Is.
The day of newspaper dictation in politics
is gone, and with it the strife about princi-
pics. Numbers now arc everything. There
is no heart, no soul, no enthusiasm, in the
Republican party. 1t has no principles,
What has kept it together? The public
plumber and the fear of being in the minor.
1ty. Whenever there is 4 good sign of loss
of strength by the Republicans that fear will
make the people go in masses over to the op-
posite side.
People read newspapers for the news.
They contine themselves mainly to the tele-
grams, and pay no attention to political dis
cussions. Very few read an editorial as long
as this, and very few editorials make an i'm
preston upon the public mind in this busy,
rushing day of enterprise and physical de-
vclopment. When the elections come every.
body is excited, but chiefly in personal
sense. The caucuses and the partisans dc
the thing up, and the localities, taking thcil
cues from the partisan head-centres, cobpe
rate with one another. This state of things
will probably continue until the Government
is subverted altogether. But Capitalization
OF newspaper political influence any more is
impossible. Party struggles are as much the
work of numbers and force as the conflicts
of real war, and, like many wars, they are
for the "spoils." Results may be affected
The skill of leaders and the tricks of secret
oS 49, hut still the resemblance to
ofganizatiohs' ''"ined. The whole
INC a." W "'A =, 1T, 1T Of &C
ton and force foreign to the uses Of journal
ism, and it is therefore that the power Of the
press is not cent1alized, but local and limited
Times have indeed changed.
ERIE.--lt appears that an attempt is to be