New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-07-11
THE RECORD OF FIFTY YEARS
"REMINISCENCES OF A JOURNALISM
BY CHARLES T. CoSGDoN.
XXI.
NEWSPAPER EXPERIENCES.


CONVERSATIONS AND ACTREssEs-.THE ABoMI-
NABlR pEyICEs-pEATs OF HETEROGENEOUS
PRoDuCrIoN-A GREAT CRITIC AND JOURNALIST.
/ suppose that there are few things OF which
most men know so little as they know OF tne
manufacture OF newspapers. IL Is ine puSi
ness Of those who edit to furnish the worlu
with readng-it is the business OF the Woiiu 10
find fault. / have sometimes wished that
could Introduce these constant critics and cen
sors to some better knowledge OF the dlfhcui-
ties, anxieties. and perpexihes OF the Jour
nalist's vocation-it is possible that ther hearts
might he softened, their tongues stayed and
their 1uerulous animosity subdued. AS 1t is,
most of mankind seem to stand guard over us,
ready to 3ounce down upon us at the slightest
alteration of memory, the smallest error OF
detail the mnutest possible mistake or mis-
statement of fact. They do not seem to under
stand that the most ardent desire OF the honest
journalist is TO be right Always he goes lhto
detail With fear and trembling. Generally no
lawyer preparing for nisi pr'aS or for terms
takes more pains, or subjects himself more en-
tirely to the diligence OF research; ana YET In
spite of all this, the Journalist sometimes mus
that he has Numbered into an awful depth OF
error and has been egregiously misled by
what seems to him to be authority. But
whether that error be large or small, ne IS sure
TO be instantly informed OF 1t. somebody at
once finds him out and just as surely as some
body finds him out, there comes letter, airy
with superior knowledge, or feroclous with
sense of personal injury, or fussy IN It's spit
ting of hairs. Alas we have so many critics,
each of them mounted either upon hobby
horse or a charger of personal Injury Every
human being, i'll my opinion, is pleased TO detect
any other human being in a mistake. 10 do so
proves his sagacity, knowledge, DISCRIMINATION,
virtue and morality. | have had excellent eVl-
dence OF this while the present series OF
papers has been passing through the press;
Scores of obliging persons have been go0u
enough to correct me- l frankly acknOwl-
edge that 1t was my own memory tnaI was
occasionally in the wrong; but quite as often
/ have been right. 1t is hardly worth. men,
tioning but surely it is not always the tagged
ana over-w orled journalist who bunders., For
the newspaper man who deliberately publishes
to the. world falsehe0d, OF even ices 50
through inexcusable carelessness, have no re-
spect and could hardly have much affection.
But between honest error and falsehood there
is q wide moral difference.
NV own experience of the senSitveness OF
mankind has been a long one. | was threat
ened with personal chastsement before was
out of my homage by an lrasclbe person who
when criticised his political party, thought that
j meant him. Although had not, Heaven help
me! spare penny 10 my pocket, there was
furious old gentleman who was scarcely re-
strained by his more prudent lawyer from
bringing an action against me for libel. TO this
day have never understood Low he expected
TO collect the damages which he might recover.
A country editor. as | was then, lives In an at
mosphere of deliberations. Everybody wants
to use his sheet for the purpose OF advertising
gratis either his goods and chattels or his 0pln-
ions. He wishes the smallest details OF his own
personal experience to be put upon record from
the birth of his first child to the raising OF his
last OvergrOwn pumpkin. schoolgirls send
poetry which 1t is impossible to print, and tell
the unhappy recipient that they are themselves
unhappy that they have yeaInlngs; ana that
their yearnlngs will be to. a limited extent
alayed by the appearance OF the lnclosed
stanzas in the Poets Conner OF "yOur aluabie
newspaper" Sometimes, IN my salad DAYS,
III. rim
something as VoltaiIe did that of Frederick
the Great; whereupon ELLA" or Minnie
would write to me in great wrath, and unmls-
takaDy say that they had nothing TO thank me
for-and perhaps the pretty creatures were
right. The worst condition of Journalist is
that into which he falls, when everybody knows
him; when any aggreved person can walk
straight up to bis desk and take BIN to task
summarily when all the subscribers remember
who his grandmother was, and can retaliate by
defing the grave of his grandfather. There
is no man for whom l entertain protounder
sympathy than the country editor and pub
lisher-gsuay they are GnefT WI would make
shelter himself under an incognitO; whose
ontgongs and iDcOmings are known OF all his
neighbors; who can hear himself brought TO
Judgment if only he steps INTO shop. Often
he has not the toerable consolation of pros
perity. He works hard for a mere pittance.
People who owe him money think, TOR some
inscrutable reason, that he Is the last man to be
paid The expenses OF the sta1iisnment are not
great. but on the other hand the income is
painfully small He hardly ever experiences
the ioy of making both ends meet, and much
less the supreme felicity of seeing them Yep
over Yet the toll must go on, and or the
trouble there is no end. Such are the pains OF
rural journalism and indeed of journalism in
places which would feel publicly aggrieved If
they should be designated rs rural
There Is journalism in some cities, count
ING their Inhabitants by many thousands, which
ffuI
classes of people who seem TO think that news
papers are printed entirely for their benefit and
behoof. Among these are actors, politicians,
and the writer's of small BOOKS together WIN
mistakenly think that they have invented
sometlline, when they have merely reproduced
some dusty and worthless model in the Patent
Office who feeling all up and down their spinal
columns that the world is all wrong, are
thoroughly sure that they were born to set 1t
right; VINO are always in labor like the noun
tam. and desire puff for the mouse before he
makes his appearance FOREMOST s among 'nes d
is the man who wants to run fol- Congress- and
who yearns for the glory of the candidacy
albeit he has not the ghost OF chance OF being
returned. Many unhappy mortais afflicted by
this mania have seen in my time, and hereby |
deliberately declare them to he the most stupen-
dous bores upon record. have known at least
half a hundred affected by this disease. and
perhaps two OF them have succeeded IN
their hearts desire. know the symptoms
of this mslady as well as a doctor knows
those of the whooping cough: l have seen |
number of patients afflicted by it even i'll |
cities, though / believe that it is even less
manageable in the country. The man who |
wants TO run for Congress begins by |
cultivatng the friendship of the news
papers. If he makes a speech in any little |
meeting, he brings it written fairly out and
quite ready for the composition He calls |
frequently upon the unfortunate journalist,
and he stays a great deal longer than he is |
welcome lie dribbles his "views" into un-
willing ears, and pothers away at a great rate
until you wish that the gods would suddenly
strike him dumb-or dead He subscribes his
m0ney--f he has any or can borrow any-fOr
everything the orphans home, the public
library, the temperance society, the church
III a,A had b.,h hue