The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1876-04-29
THE COUNTRY PRESS.

The CUUNIh1 fnLoo'
Thus 6iscourses the Ottawa Republican:
The Cincinnati Times hits the ruth when
it says the city papers are inflated win a
"prOdigious sense of their own Importance,
because of their large circulation, and think
their opinions outweigh in the aggregate all
the country papers. 1t shows further tha''
while the Cincinnati dallies do not reach one
| in twenty of the 100000 voters in Ohio the
inhueace of the local papers is felt by a large
majority of the voting population. AS an IN.
stance in which the city papers showed their
want of influence as seen by the result OF a
state convention, the nomination Of GOV
HAYES is cited. He was supported by the
country weeklIes, while his competitors had
the unanimous support Of the city papers,
And thus the La Crosse Star:
JOURNALISTIC HARLOTS.-Thcy don't live
in the country-the air is too pure-they are
not found in rural sanetums-there is too
much virtue there; but deck themselves with
lmeretrIcious ornaments, and dwell in their
frescoed and gilded palaces in the cities Our
meaning is this: The country press is com
paratively pure and sympathizes with The
people and strives to promote their interests,
and are not in the market to take brides. In
the estimation Of men behind the scenes, the
majority of the great city dailies are bride
takers, systematic advocates of special inter
ests, and pursue course antagonlsuc to the
interests of the people. Their editorials are
written and manipulated in the interests OF
the oppressive and corrupt monopolists OF
the country.
There is some truth in the above. The
metropolitan press has become an institution
of such magnitude that it naturally attracts
all the corrupt rings in politics, finance or
speculation, and as publishers arc no more
vrtuous than other people, they seldom hest
tate to dispose of their influence at the big
gest price Metropolitan presses OF this grade
however, are comparatively few. Chicago
has two or three, New York half dozen,
Philadelphia four or five-and so on, less
than half a hundred in the whole country
While the rings can thus undertake to, and
as a rule DO, buy up and own and run these
journals, the number Of country papers is so
enormous, and though in the aggregate their
influence is unquestionable, individually the
influence of each is so inconsidcrable, that
the publishers are virtuous from necessity
there being no one to buy them.
There is nothing more striking, however
in this connection, than the fearful deteriora
ton within the last decade or 80 of the coun
try press. Thirty years ago Illinois had less
than fifty newspapers-ofte but two or three
in whole congressional district But com
pare the editorial ability and standing of
these papers with the Illinois local press Of
to-day Where have we IN Illinois today, IN
city or country, for that matter, weekly pa
pers that can vie IN editorial ability, manli'
ness, and true worth with the old Peoria Rag.
lister, edited by the venerable Davis; or the
Alton 7elegroph, by Judge Bailhache and G,
n. NJ. Davis; or the Peoria Press Webbers
paper; or the Galena JefersoHtdn, Quincy
Herad, under the Brookses or Quincy Whg
&c, &c? Then the local press of Illinois
welded an influence that the politicians both
respected and feared. But where is that In
iluence now, Out of the two thousand little
country papers in Illinois what ring OF poll
tcians would give five collars a piece to buy
up five hundred of them? We "run through
a hundred or two of these papers every week.
Rarely do we find in overhauing nifty OF
them, one respectfully constructed, thought
full editorial. Ninety nine in hundred OF
these papers are "patent insides, y with clrcu'
lation of from 500 to 500, confined to single |
village or at furthest one or two townships.
Merchants use the twelve or fourteen avalla- |
BILE columns to blaZon their wares, and the
remaining columns are filled with local
"swash" There are some honorable excep- !
tions, but in the main this is the character of
the Illinois country press today And for
this deterioration we see no help while the
patent inside nuisance lasts 1t is the kel-
log Campbell infinite paper money imitation
system applied to newspapers,-hc stock or
milk watering system-and to appearance
as Irremediabc as it is emascula6ng and de
baslng.