, 1876-06-12

i11fat !niffGAsNo u inhy bn nrT'tt1ilt 0t tIl@-
tnrIne In 1871. tho National WIS fl very
f'nnrshlng cn,litlnn, with an actual member
allip Of about eighty, mud, an thu principal oh
for all concerned, the natural conclusion must
be that the dignity u tlle press WIS not mitch
respected, especially When the Convention wis
held IN on. ot thc large cities, though u enurho
hllrl us wotlM attrnct pl,le attention. Tho
principal lnialncs. of tic AssocInt!on was tho
election ol n,w oillccre, a,i l,a9s,lH,x stMil!ng
o. eaRsr snn'l!t,ste1 w"lii q" credit To- Cais-
Gn1gcs ctc., wcrc the order of the ,|ay. nni ono
candidate, ut Convention held ut Philadelphia
n ls7s, vent no far as |" nlrr n pr!~Gssl"no d
n.cnlwr,, wtrc staying, each bearing n plaearl
inscribed "vntc for bcnuls" But cYen this
nPical wns Intellectual, ~ tile record afaws leu
| Ills to hnvc bcnn tlcfcutctl.
Though there were tlmca during convention
when h'lylah behavior Was tn,lu1EcA In, these
meetings nre now generally conducted with tile
| greatest pr3prety, md IN strict accordance with
S,Ms h9 Ss,s 1ss ass fa, e sHist T. say y
served regardless OF expense at tllc best hotel,
nttl pail for by the Association. At a conscr.-
tio,l In Chsrng1 In 18th tile Committee on Ar
each mcmhc. present.. though it nnst ho
| acknowledged slight uipr u cfuokrtlnrss was
| afterwards discovered.
IL, II 1871 Wi!I y; ll!lyer, son Of tho late Cen
plfssIrd nIhattur ctlitors, cn'icnyorel to OEgan-
| tee budy which wus to hc known as
THE AMATEUR coN0REss,
| The object ri 1t hc!nB to settle all difficulties
betwcrn Associations nnl individuals and to
investigate thc atasl too mn1,y cascs ni ping
snr!sn thnt arc constantly detected. This plan,
called the Congress acllcHc, excited great
deal Of ndyrrsc criticism, uni was nut adopted
operation. Delegates nre elected hy each AIun-
teur Press Association, an tlle Co'igrc.s selects
Its own oiccrs, tlle presiding, ofllrlal heing
styesl President o. tile United Sthtes Amateur
was nlko the advocate, through bin paper, the
rornueopia, III buy's suffrage, wl1Irl! he discuss
ell 10 ably ~ t0 attract editorial notice IN
several III thu New York datlcs III held tint
| boys Ut IL were competent, under tho restr!c-
tluns Ut Ill educational tWntlittun, to have the
elective franchise, and the question was discuss
II with great mol!cration, yet showing that
lillycr possessed tiuc appreciation Of tho true
merits Of the ease.
| Ono Of the most ..
HUMOROUS PHASES or AMATEUR JOURNALISM
Is thc frequent 9nnrrcls arising bctwecn t''o
comhatants In these guilty contcsts displaying
tint remarkable power of strung nvrrt!VG which
nude tle Ncw York Tribune so spicy uu.icr
Horace Greecy'B administration, and 80 using
| It lis to eycftG IL general c0tltlnt!On.
Probably the hcss known, ~ well as the most
disgravtdul Ut these quarreis, WIS the SPECIALIZED
san Francisco war, Which OCCURRED tu 1874.
TINT yeaT oeF v1 aEs psdf sri
changes ennslng otlensc 10 ono Or two youthful
9ulll-tlriyers opened The ba!l. I'll Il few months
ill the California amntcurs wero concerned In
sheets appeared, filled with the lowest and
vllest vitupcratiun. Several personnl assanlts
were nlale by lrnte editors, and tho matter was
finally entlc,l by Louis II. Llclsenstien, All In
| jured party, It seenla, cAusfhg tic arrest ut
three prominent amateurs oil \ charge Of llbcl.
| Tho ease wns tried before the United States
Court, but the whole affair wns 80 utterly rlie-
ulolls that II WIS dLsniIssrs! without judgment.
nrct,,lnts Ut the trial, and some editorial re-
,nnr1is were nlade to the elect that thcse boy
ish troubles should be settled by the paFtici-
Ilnts' naotlscrs, ansl nut the Court, Tbs atlhtr
! wus sincerely regretted, rs 1t served to fhow
aslMteltr journalism to the public IN false
light, and one entirely foreign to Its general
cum1uct-
Science IL thu latrst subject the amateur editor
lis undertaken tn cnri.latc, a,,l II number OF
the most advanced thinkers, youths w!'soe pa-
pess to not rylnec any esllrncc Of the pro.
iun!ity 0f their intellectual culture, Will nnu
are discussing the subject. This
EGOT,srlcAL ASSUMPTION
mny be Justly attributed to tho miscellaneous
trentmcnt tlic topic has Of late received In the
professional prcsH, ind not to \ natural pre-
sumption Of the Iisputants. The discussion,
hnd its rise Iii an editorial by "a MsuncGpnlts edi-
tnr, spending q scyernl anltGlFa Of Wtlmlng-
s e s pcs Of s e sss stf lid i1 .etde ssss
:hat ridiculous ttssuc Of fnlsul.ools known as
the Bible. Uf course ts reu,ark was rnt!,er
warmly commented on by the friends Of the
parties ussailcl, anil lately tho author Of the
abuys sentiment ils Issued I,nper na'ncd tl.c
iiationalis, III which articles intended to reiute
the popular notions Of tic "Superlnn,anitv af
Chrfst' anil "Ada,h not the first 1nann oc-
l,uwcyer, that general dispute will arise OH the
subject, rs the minority Ut amateurs col!lcInu
the presumption tn prrtcnslons to knowlclBc
~ much hcynntl the eaparity of the dispntants
Another, nn probably tue greatcHt eontru-
vcrsy tilat has excited the youthful etlitor, ts
THE so.CALhED POLITICAL WAR,
which las ragcl with M extreme bitterness
that cln nnly os compared with tlG style of the
tiun reached tts grcntcst Intensity during tho
campaign Ut 1874 when every paper either ar-
gucl for u uga!nst the admission Of the
4ssuss1 "f "tss IN Aat'ur 4a pSss
uf the subject gnvc practical argument "
placing the nan,cs uf tho editors fayurtc ea'.dl-
dates ut tho head Ut their editorln columns,
iu,ncnted tiia "dcgeneraey" Of amateur Jour
nalsin, and asserted the unsultablllty III the
subject to literary papcrs. This laht argument
seemed To be the most wc'ghty, though tho
probability IL that tllo discussion will ho toil-
tinucl as long aR all nbsosbing interest in
politics ari1,atVs thu American people, and re-
tcives its prcscnt attention III the professional
| press, ...
Another form IN which amateur Journalism
Is represented Is tho publication Of bucks, unl
there are n few very cscdttablo spcc,eils Of
boys wurk among. tho VOLUMES which haYe
appeared within the past three years.
l'hcse Lt,oks, VI which there hayo bcvn utout
$50 published, range in size fro1n eight pages to
$50, n.ti comprise I'LL classcs Ut literature The
general price ts III cents, but some particularly
luTgo uud fine oncs have sold NJ high rs 81.
! HOOK ruHLlalIsN0
has been reduced ,nuru u d professional stand
ar.l than editorial work. at.1 there several
companies who make regular announcements VI
Forthcoming publications, uni work oil Us largo
MI clitun is mAuy Of our popular books OI,e
1rn., thu Gcstellu Publishing Company, has Is.
aue,l two bucks, by "y0ung ind talented
uuthor," ctc. The III ut wasth aDoy Convict"
volume Ut twonty.stx Iaycs, sold ut 10 centa
prE cuIy, as,I ii, cditkpn Vi 1900 was disposed
of; tho seeuHd contafnctl seyenty. puges, aild ut
tho price of 9lc puch 100 were sold.
Recent developments have brought ta
light the fact that tho "young Md tairntotl,"
WIN WIS 40 mneh at!snircl, l'ml purchased Ills
stories ready niule, anl It ii not pro'ah!e TINT
uNr1, 1nPtru 6n1p4 INN h rtfItfp1 itf h1A t,nxf