New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-10-25
A DE.AMATIST on JOURNALISM
MIR DION e,nUCICAULT AND THE LONDON
PRESS .'i


"a "a. sa,,,, =, RE rrfovns OFT
SIR: The just udienat'.n OF your london corfe-
spondent has been provoked D., some kindly remarks
made by Mr. Watterson. who sccSsed me OF mis-
placing various talents that If employed on journal
ism. might have raised TO the position Of editor
of The London Times. Your correspondent retorts
that DIR. WattersoD can know very little Of London
journalism il he thinks iesdy 30 reckless.
| Bohemian mind a. mine could aspire 10 discbsrgp
such important and serious functions. Obliged
10 play the ungracious part Of adding my OVID sip
cere convictions TO those Of your correspondent.
| acknowledge Mr.. Watterson to be greatly mistaken
| IN me- have neither the ability nor the conscience
TO direct the great English newspaper. for
| it requires tho ability to adopt and snstan
any set of opinions that may be popular and saablo
at an, given moment, and the conscience to recon
ellie the art of tergiversaton with character for
sound Judgment. moral steadiness. and sense Oh
responsibility. This ability and this art The J''n"
possesses TO such perfection that its stateeSs u
mistaken for responsibility its selfshness for self
esteem, and it maintains an unstained reputation on
demeanor alone. regard this great mental power
Of which am incapable with sincere admiration
| and repuRnance. But if Mr.. Watterson be mistaken
in my qualifications he is correct in the description
| he gives of the writers the London newspapers.
Had he lived beside them for the last thirty years.
as have done, he could not have defined them more
clearly and truthfully-ths. with the greatest re-
spect for the views of your correspondent 10 whoso
peadngs 1 demur, for being included in tho in
dictment he ia not entitled to sit IN judgment On s
own case.
| The London Times started in life % years ago.
very small sheet. II became indisputaby Che lead
! ing member Of the English Press IN The ton years
| extending from 1877 10 1891 During this period u
swung round to every point Of the political compass
A aVf.F IA hat
no rival journal had the courage to initiate. Thus
| A. has contrved to become the universal champion
by representing at one time another every shade
of opinion When its great manager. Mr.. Barnes.
was reproached with the versatility Of his paper ho
! replied by pointing to it's title. The NRes" In
other words The Tines is a commercial concern.
dealing in opinions and suitiDg the article u
the wants of the market. L. employs heads
az other factories employ hands IL pays wages AMI
sells brain produce But what great service. poiti-
| cal social or municipal has this journal ever CT
| fected ? What reform or amehOmilOn has II ever
initiatedi What man has it ever discovered and
promoted TO what monument can 1t pant with
honest pride and say That is my work r. II can
only point to Que itself !Ee 1i@os Let Us admire
its steadiness of purpose ITS sense Of personal re
sponsibilty. its sound Judgment, and above all, is
economy of power for who point to a single al
tiele wasted on any progress except its ownf
The circumstances Of this century erected u into
apotent moral engine: the first institution under
which men of letters could have been organized and
intellect could have been incorporated This IL not
visionary for at the same moment the Journalists OF
Paris rose into political eminence. Timers and
GuilOt were obscure pressmen; they wrote their
way TO the ministerial throne OF France. raradol.
Hugo. Louis Blanc. and thousand Others Their
name i, legoul became leaders of men BY marching
tl..tr trtgftn
What representative man has ever been made
ont of lie Tmesf Only onel Mr. Walter.
the proprietor an obscure member Of Parlia-
ment, who faithfully represents there the inn
personality of English journalism Let 1t not
DO forgotten that the Press is the invention oil
the present century-its development its power IA
of this time. 1t is the Steam Engine OF the lnteec-
tual World 1t obliterates all the old roads OF
thought. Il manufactures opinions 10 cheaply that
there are none homemade now il destroys our
appetite for reflection by Cutting the brains with
ready views.
Such was the opportunity offered by Providence
to The Tunes when called to the command of ths
English Intellectual Phalanx. Its vocation was
above and beyond all other considerations to guard.
constitute and elevate the great Literary Estate by
which it has lived and on which it has thriyed. 1t
has been false to that vocation, and Mr. Watterson
is nobly in the right when he pointed out the con-
! temptibe subOrdinatOu of the English journalist
| He nnderstated the case The London Press. in
spired by and in imitation of it's leading journal has
! constantly opposed the elevation Of literary men.
| If literary men such AZ Thackeray, Stuart Mill or
Fawcett offered themselves to represent coustitu-
| ency in Parliament The Times saluted the attempt
with derlson if they succeeded in getting into the
House. it followed their speeches with ridicule BY
a steady adherence to sefconservative policy this
journal conducted to its present proud position
| Your London correspondent is quite right when ho
saws that man Of my reckless aspirations vain con-
victions and Bohemian love of intellectual progress
would have mismanaged the concern. Perhaps Mr..
| Watterson does not know what an improvident per-
| son have been through life. When entered the
world of letters dramatist 80 years ago. found
my fellowauthors in the condition described in Gil
Bias living on the pittance doled out to them by the
managers Of theaters, who drank their wine like
| the warriors of Odin out of the skulls Of their
yictims-the dramatic authors. received just $500
sterling for my comedy London Assurance"
| Mr.. Farran, an actor, received E3,0OO year for
playing in il. Douglas Jerrod received El0o
| for Black-Eyed Susan.D Mr.. J. Z. Cooke, who
PLAYED in it. made 100000 out of his performances.
| Sheridan Knowles received, l believe. GOO for
| william TellD and Buwer received $500 for his
| comedy Money! Mr. Macready was pald CID a
week for playing in these plays IL appeared to mo
that the literary element ought to be placed on
equal footing with the artistic and set myself tho
task of raising my profession to the only standard
| which the English mind applies to everything-the
standard of money. My plan was this: waited
and watched the London managers until one OF
them found himself on the verge of ruin Il did not
wait long, then | offered him play on con-