National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1875-08-14
APOTHEOsIs OF ISLANDER.

Charles A Dana is the apostle of SANDER
Gus journalism, and Aleck Mcclure is his
disciple. The former edits the New York
Sun; the latter the Philadelphia Times.
Dana started with his newspaper intending
TO be independent, and Mcclure aped his
example. They both gravitated after
time to the despicable level of common
scOlds, and won the reputation Of Billins-
gate fishwomen by their aptitude in I'M
truthfulness, blackguardism and disregard
of the character of others as we'll as their
own. Not an issue of their journals for
months has contained a word in approval
of anything or anybody, for they have been
conducted on the assumption that the pub
lie delights to read ISLANDERS of everything
and everybody. To some extent this as
sumption is correct; but it is not applicable
to the masses of respectable, intelligent
and thoughtful people. The class Of citi-
zens who are directly influenced by read
tremely limited, while the number who
read them "just to see what the lying
scoundrels have to say is daily decreasing.
There is, however, sufficient patronage left
for this kind Of journalism to support it, as
the plague is kept alive by the pariahs of
decent communities, or as the smallpox is
generated and developed by contagious filth.
fits effects could be circumscribed to those
cases of actual infection, or if it could be
fenced in as the sanitary officials inclose
the spotted fever" it would soon sufiocate
to death in its own rottenness. But, under
the lenient customs of our people, bred of
a belief in the freedom of the press,
amounting to the federation of unrestricted
license, and sustained as it sometimes is by
a corrupt judiciary, it retains sufficient
strength and badness Of character to faint
the political atmosphere of the whole
country. This faint shows itself in the re-
production by more respectable journals
of ISLANDERS against public men. As the
public men who hold Office under the Gen
eral Government are Republicans, the
result is that the ISLANDERS rebound more or
less to the injury of the Republican party.
The Democratic press repeat them with
vigorous zest. The so-called Independent
press of the style of the New York Tribune
frequently enlarges upon them. In this
way the country is daily flooded with ma
licious misrepresentation regarding public
men and their acts, apd superficial pres
ence of a widespread lack of integrity is
falsely asserted. There.are but few persons,
however who do not penetrate this thin sur
face of SANDER to find beneath it the solid
virtues which go to make up the foundation
of American citizenship. If it were not for
this fortunate fact, mutual confidence
among the people would disappear, to be
replaced by general mistrust. All venera-
ton for official dignity and consequent rev.
ence for the executors Of the laws would be
at an end. In short, the bottom would fall
out of our social fabric, the pariahs would
come to the surface as the leaders of pub
lie immortality, which would become all
pervading, and the apotheosis of putrescent
SANDER would be realized.
But Dana, Mcclure & Co. are not re-
sponsible for the failure of their efforts to
demoralize the body polite. They devote
themselvesto that object with all the energy
and intellect at their command, and If il
were not for the intrepid integrity of the
people they would succeed. They are not
to be forgiven, therefore, any more than
the foiled burglar is who is captured by the
thief.takers as he is attempting to break
open his neighbours house. Their ofeRse
is consequently as objectionable as it would
be if their desires were crowned with sue.
cess. But how shall we teach such mis-
creants, and how can they be punished
| Can we afford TO overlook their misdeeds
simply because they are comparatively
fruitless of evil, or shall we measure them
by the intense wickedness of their motivesi
So long ss human nature remains as weak
as it is, and prone to the qualification Of
morbid sppetites for sensational hmpoons