New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1876-07-08
THE PRESS IND ITS CRITICS.

II was, OF course, Impossible lOf an acute
and philosophical observer like Mr.. EyartS 10
| disregard the newspaper press while cnumc-
| rating the conditions under which the nation
| enters upon its second century. 1t is crafty
! ing to find this distinguished gentleman upon
| such an occasion keeping his mind free from
! the cant, the plattudes, and the solf-compIa-
| cent contempt with which persons OF bis class
/ and standing frequently permit themselves TO
/ sneak and write OF American journalism. 1t
/ is easy to ccnsuTe faults which are upon the
/ surface; to detect flaws which the very nature
/ of the newspaper renders unavoidable; or from
| the vantage ground of elegant literary leisure
! 70 pick ont solecisms, AID to imputo to design
those errors which are fairly to be attributed
! TO unavoidable haste. Mr. EyartS has happily
! discussed the relation which exists between the
! newspaper universally read and the suffrage
/ which is also universal He shows how tie
one would languiSh and w0uld be subJo-
/ gated "by the power of lcgl0hS OF place
/ men without 1.-THE watch:u!, OmrlprcScut,
and iadonitablc energy" of the otncri and
| hc also completes his view ~ admitting that
the impressions of newspapers upon the
! opinions and passion OF the people might re-
suit i'm the mischief Of bariicadrs and bat
| te ics. if the suffrage did not afford Il settled
and ready mode Of satisfying the pub.ic dis
! pleasure. Il is in this way that nea of under
! standing speak of things which they under
stand. il j. in quite another way that the cgotls
| even of cunSid, r.blc knowledge, may make the
! mistake of believing that he knows every thing,
and having found much IN iOuraii'm not at
! all TO his taste may proclaim It's utter barren
| ness or II, fruitiulnes, only OF evil. Thus Mr.
| David Dudley Field. in The international he
,c,r presents an iE,licimcn, of the press, " the
supreme motive" of which, he says. Is " to
feed the appetite, flattcr the scflove, satisfy
" the curiosity or catch the whlm OF ia" InTg-
4" est number of readers at the passing mo-
"mcnt" Newspapers print only what VIII
| procure the most buyers. They are made M
:. not for the cultivated Jew, but the unculti-
waited many" They "ahouud in personal
| obu,,." "It seems 10 be almost il point of
honor" says Mr.. Field, with an editor
that what he has once Published he
will never retract.n Mr.. Fields remedy
for these evils is characteristic. He Is for lii
dieting, trying, conyictng, and furnishing. lie
/ is for new laws of libel and for stronger ones.
! He would allow q verdict 10y given ma
! iurity, say two-thr,ls He would give libel
cases preference upon the calendar OF the
| courts. He would fix the damages at GER
! tain sum, unless the jury should agree upon II
! larger one. He i for registering the RESPONSE
| bic individual publisher OF every newspaper.
! He would compel every writer to sign Ills
| articles. There j. something very ancient and
! fshlke about all these suggestions Mr..
| Field is sufficiently verscd III history to know
! that MI these expcdient>, and even stronger
| ones have been tried, and that when they
| have not failed the remedy, SO far rs public
| liberty and good government were concerned, has
! proycd worse than the disease. Ill Mr.. Fields
wholesome Influences have been again and again
brought TO bear by governments of unlimited
power upon the press of Paris, with what result
! let the annals of three revolutions answer!
We have before lis another example of the
easy way in which men of certain class fall
! into a tone of dlsparagcmcnt when speaking
of newspapers. Here are the words OF Mr..
| Henry Ward Bccchcr ut Pcekskill on the
| Fourth of July: "Then Gn 1870 there were
twenty newspapers in the United States.
Alas how have they increased since then
"They are said to be the leaves of the tree
for the healing of the nations; and often,
in this regard, that comes to pass which
comes to pass in sickncss-that mch who
4" take the leaves are made SlckCr Than they
"ware before" Does Mr.. Baechcr mean to
| say that we shculd he better of without news
| papcrs than we are with them If he does
not mean to say this, of what possible use is
! il for him to sigh out "AlaSm Such inteTjec-
lions should be reserved for more deplorable
occasions, of which there are plenty III this
unfortunate world. We quote this only rs
| another instance of the cant of criticism into
which some sensible men suffer themselves
| to bo betrayed when speaking of newspapers.
We turn with satisfaction from these some
what prejudiccd views to the more genial
opinions of Mr.. Evarts. We admit with him
the license which has been given to " the agi-
tations of the press" We understand its
faults quite as well rs any man can, and we
just az heartily desire that these faults may be
corrected bat until we are ready to abandon
the general theory of political liberty, until we
see the necessity of suppressing freedom OF
discussion, until we are rcconcllcd to censor
ships and to imprimaturs, we shall listen with
distrust to all suggestions Of restraining news
papers, except in clear cases of criminality
We would hold the publisher the editor, the
writer of newspaper to strict accountability
but we think that the forms aud methods Of