The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-03-26
LETTERS ON JOURNALISM.
Parliamentary Reporters - Penuy-n-liBcrs
snecinl CnrrespondcnIs.

special Correspondents.
In the course of these letters no mention
has yet been made Of the secondary workers on
the newspaper press mean secondary not In
regard to the Importance Of their labor, but only
to the subordinate position which they occupy
toward the editors and tho members cf the edi-
torial staff Truly speaking. the work OF col
Letting news is Tor the mass OF the public in
business community OF greater value than the
arrangement of news and the comments on II.
But on the same principle on which the cook IL
cons iered to be more important person IN
getting no meal than the butcher or the gro
Ger who supply the provisions, the labor OF edi-
tors and leader writers are considered 20 be OF
more moment than the work OF those men who
supply the material for the daily preparation Of
newspaper.
Reporting, az It has established itself now
adays. Is n very rAmihed kind OF work II com
prisos all the grades of searching activity which
are included between the highly delicate duties
Of a special correspondent tracing out some
diplomatic relations at foreign court, to the
sad drudgery of relating Coruners' inquests and
polce-cOurt cases.
IL would not be easy TO find out the precise
time at which reporting became areRular branch
Of the newspaper press. The British Parliament
for a long while objected to it, proceedings be
ing recorded by the papers. ana not quite hun
dred vears ago many London editor was sub
jected TO prosecution and imprisonment for at
tempting to give TO the people even a faint idea
OF what it' legislators were discussing. by and
by, however public opinion compelled the
House OF Commons to give mp ali hope OF keep
ing It's debates secret, and from the beginning
Of the present century every daily paper Of Lon
don had a regular reporter summarizing In the
strangers gallery the debates OF the House.
Fun and verbatim reports OF speechc., however,
are of a much more recent origin.
Alongside OF the development Of parliament
tary reporting progressed also the reporting OF
general news. In 1884, the Times began to ap-
point correspondents In an the great towns Of
the United Kingdom and In the leading capitals
of Europe. while In the METROPOLIS itself body
Of young men, who could not nnd better EN-
ployment, began to collect local news, and thus
laid the foundation 81 what Is now known AS
the penny-a-liner brotherhood.
The rapidly with which the various branches
Of reporting DEVELOPED themselves Is 700 well
known to he dwelt on here. Suffice N 70 say
that In forty wears time there Is not place left
on the face OF the globe whence newspaper in
formation Ia not obtained the moment any
thing occurs worth knowing by the world at
large As the institution was growing up. a
division OF labor naturally took place In II. and
four distinct branches Of reporting are now 1rm-
" established: a. Parliaman tary reporting; co.
Local news reporting o. Special correspond
ence; and a. Teiegraphic agencies like Reuter- 5,
the Associated Press. &c.
Parliamentary reporting Il most perfectly de-
veloped In England. In no o'hcr country are
the debates OF the Legislature recorded with
such care aud fullness as In England. There Is
scarcely any morning paper In London that has
less than twelve reporters engaged every night
In the gallery Of the House Of Commons. When
debates are going on In both Houses their num-
Der il still increased. The Times has sixteen re-
porters, two summary writers. aud one parlia-
mentary slh-edtor engaged exclusively on the
reports of the debltcs They take the speeches
down in what are called turns" OF nfieen OF
twenty minutes each. and as oon as the slips Of
each of the successive reporter. are written out.
they are despatched to the ONCE. so as not to
keep the c)mpositors waiting for copy. In
this way every word OF debate. which last.
sometimes til three or four clock in the morn.
ing. "a printed and di.triouted u ths puJlc bv
SIX O'Clock.
Most Of the parliamsn tary reporter. write
short hand a few however, have kind OF con-
tracted long hand Of their own aud IL appears
that the latter are not always the less precise.
As a body the paramc ntary reporters stand
in very high esteem In tho profession. A large
number of them are Cambridge ana Oxford
graduates. mostly lawyers, and many dlstin-
guished man began his career In the gallery OF
the House OF Commons. Or. johnson, Charles
Dickens, SirJanes Mack lntosh. John Payne Col
ler, and Bull Run" Russell were all once p r
lamontary reporters and a still longer list could
be given of lawyers who, aft n haying saent "A
few years on the benches Of the reporters g,I-
lery left IL for the benches of the civil and
criminal courts, and rose subsequently 20 the
highest positions as Judges, either In Great
Butain OF IN the colonies.
The salary Of parliamentary reporters varies
from I've to ten guneas a week. aud makes a
very handsome addition To the income OF
young lawyer whose profession has not vet be-
come remunerItvc. II Is especially 50 with
those engaged on thu Tim $, which Keeps them
on tlll pay all the year round, though the ses-
sion lasts but few months. Most 0. the other
papers either discharge their parliamentary re-
portcrs during the recess or give them some
other Occup alton.
On the continent OF Europe the provisions
made by the newspapers for record NJ the pro
cecilnes OF the legislature are incomparably In.
ferior. The newspapers seldom publish more
than a brief, and mostly very fanciful, summary.
even when the debate Is an importa Mt one (;
while st'ings which do not present any
special interest are not recorded at all. II Is
left to the Official organ to reproduce the
speeches IN eri,HsO the work being done by
governmental stenographers especI ally appoint
ed for that purpose. similar system is adopt
ed in tho United states, but It has hers a justin
cation which It does not possess In FIR nee, q err
many, Italy, or Spain, and which consists In the
fact that in many cases the public has more
practical intercst in the procea sings OF its State
Legislature than In those Of Congress.
Next 10 the parliamentary reporter stands the
reporter OF local news. This branch OF report
ing i far better organized IN America than IL Is
In England, or anywhere else in Europe. Every
leading paper In this country has a regular stan
OF reporters engaged In rccordn. the daily oc-
currences In the city, and though but few Of
them are salaried employees Of the paper, never
theless even those working by the piece seem TO
have a sufficient amount of work to do 10 keep
them from the necessity OF working for several
papers. In England this kind OF work is done
almost ex lusiyeY by the penny-a-lincrs. A
few Of the leading papers keep regular reporters
IN the various courts, but the rest OF the local
nows IL collected in a kind OF haph,zard man.
ner by set Of men whose occupation reminds
one OF that Of rag plckers. The poor fellows
alI dau Ia, 10, 0nH 4.