Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-07-19

shuAC NAf Slt'pt- ~ a - SSOhi Va
tensive mail exchanges they are put IN
possession Of every diversity of opinion
and statement concerning public af-
fairs in State and country. The astute.
politician, watching his own chances,
may read dozen papers The consci-
entious journalist reads hundreds every
day.
So in the local field, We employ ac-
tive and experienced short hand wri-
tiers to collect and collate the state
ments and opinions of every differing
class of the community. An individ-
ual may know the views and versions
of his friends, his set, his class. The
local editor moves among all sets, all
classes. 1t is his business. He leaves
the brilliant wedding parlor to visit
some jail bird just captured. He leaves
the fashionable concert-room, with dull
Get intonations ringing in his ears, to
detail the violent death of some unfor-
tunate in the jungles, and to
hear the statements of the I'M
fortunate creatures who witnessed
the deed Of blood. The statement that
he makes and the views he expresses
are not so much his own, as of those
from whom he collects them. Probably
his story does not accord fully with
any one that he has heard. He collates
them all, judges of the comparative
reliability or bias of each, reconciles
contradictions, and reduces the medley
to something ike intelligent shape.
From this it is evident that thenews-
paper enjoys the facilities of an or
gained system, more or less perfected,
for laying before its readers a
correct report of current events
at home and abroad. Yet
it does not claim infalibility. 1t is
liable to errors of fact or of judgment
Such errors do sometimes occur in the
best conducted journals, and they gen.
orally result from misplaced confidence
in outsiders. They are, however,
promptly corrected, because the repu-
tation and usefulness of the journal
demand it, whether the aggrievedparty
does or not. No newspaper can in
dulge in false or slanderous statements,
without destroying its own influence
and patronage. 81
Improbable as it would be, a news
paper has no right to SANDER any man,
be he public official or private citizen
preacher or prisoner. The laws against
libel are stringent, and should be made
more so. But when men appear before
the public as candidates for public Of
fee, it becomes the Office of the press,
on behalf of the people, to discuss
their merits and demerits-to watch
their course of procedure, the princi-
pies they advocate or dodge, and the
straight forward or devious paths they
take Factious malcontents and Sc
cret intriguers with the political enemy
should especially be exposed.
When an indIviduaI reels aggrieved
at any statement in a public print, the
one solitary means of repairing the in
| jury is to obtain correction by the
same public print. This places the
correction before the same readers that
were misled. This is the surest and
only possible means for redressing the
wrong done. A great many good men
do not perceive this, and hasten to
some other newspaper Office, for
getting that such correction viii not
reach the same readers, and that the
suspicious of many new readers
may be aroused. Other men rush into
print with a card over their own sigma
lures, pitting their personal veracity
against the newspaper. Such a man
labors under a terrible disadvantage
Where he may bebeieved by hundreds,
the paper will be believed by thousands.
From these considerations it is plain
that the one mode o. reparation to an
individual is a correction In and by the
same paper that made the mistake.
But suppose the paper has made no
mistake. Then it must have the cour-
age of its convictions. In this it must
be sustained by the community, in
whose service the exposure was made,
and by its contemporaries, who may to-
morrow have need Of similar moral
support. The press should be a unit
in its bold and firm stand against all
brow. beating Of DULLES, from Ben But.
Ter on the floors of Congress down to
the hireling bloodhounds that would
muzzle Tie press with the pistol. The
freedom of the press is precious to
freemen. Ben Butler and other
ours Of low degree, play at losing
game. Here and there they may kill a
man, who offends them merely because
he represents the power of the press.
His place will be promptly supplied by
a freeman equally fearless. A corps of
hired assassins may massacre a whole
Office. But the journal will appear
next morning all the same, manned by
spirits more bold under the inspiration
Of the crisis. Men die; deserving insti-
tutions live. The American people
will not willingly let die the hard
wrought elimination of Anglo-SaxOn
suffering and struggle for seven centu-
ries-a free press.
INDEBTEDNESS OF VARIOUS CITIES.