New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-08-28
JOURNALISM IN ENGLAND.
"THE LONDON TIMES.n


to which II can be compared with any approach to
accuracy. In France there is nothing like IT, nei-
ther is there in the United States, nor in Germany
There is only one way of accounting for the position
of The lines and that is by ascrbng It to It's an
tiQuity and TO the jogtrot spirit OF Englishnen III
is tue that there are papers quite as old as inc
Times but they have never assumed any prominent
attitude. The oldest newspaper in London Is 'aa'
oracle OF Mincing Lane popularity known as INC
Ledger but The Times Is the senior OF the Journals
which have exercised an influence on puohc opin-
ion. II was already in vigorous existence "no"
Macaulay snecred at the notion OF any human oeng
fighting nybody connected with me MormHo . oS',
and the latter journal even when 1t was the o,l al
organ of Lord PalmerstOn, could not be compared
in influence with The Times. Owing partly TO the
enterpriSe with which it was conducted and partly
TO the narrow party spirit OF other organs The Times
gradually acquired the proud position OF " the
leading journal"
During the administrative career eff those able
editors Barnes and Delane, The Times unquestion-
ably distanced The Morning Post, The Morning H1dm
md The Morning ChrOpicio the two latter OF when
after much tiickerng died out, while me Ios' I'1
all importance except such as II derived from ne
ing the social moutbpiece of the upper classes Al
though The Morning Post had the merit OF invent
ing the Special Correspondent at the Seat OF war
IL was soon beaten i'm that direction by me ItmeS'
whose prominence once established, secured it for
long time an excellent selection of correspondents.
i'm this depar tment however. as in Others, its clam
TO the first rank has been rudey challenged by the
penny daihes, whose acknowledgements ana
descriptive writers have for several years past Sc
riously DETECTED public notice from The Iims.
Still despite its sorey diminished circulation,
GJupiterr as the leading journal was once
called retains large portion OF Its influence among
the upper and mOneyed classes 10 them, hcoh-
ceivable as il Inay SEEM ii remains The Newspaper
TO read winch is a duty and in which the births,
deaths and marriages of all who claim 10 oe any
body are duly advertised Everything has been done
tn deter the public from cngng to this department
of the paper For many years AFTER every Other news
paper had adopted the rational plan of putting the
names of the persons married first IL the announce
ment, The Times clunG to the system OF mentioning
first the date then the church. next the names OF the
officiating clergymcn and then the Christian names
of the bride and bridegroom as daughter ana son OIL
" Y. or Il. that IT became sort OF Chlnese
puzzle to make ont who it was that was married
Fven NOW the same absurd order is pres rived, only
the Eames of the principals printed IN capitals
sothat the reader has chance of seeing what II Is
all about. Despite this cInging to ObsOl te ana
unintelligible ways. perhaps because oil IL, Ior
this Is curious country The Times is prec sey tie
4'"'''
list of births deaths ana marriages. In another re-
spect The Times is always far behind the age as TO
prnt critical articles on the theatres several days
after new pieces have been prOduccd-a downright
obsurdity In only two respects does 1T retain Its
sometime superiority over other journals Being
tbrcepenny sheet, it is printed upon very superior
paper 10 that used for the great penny daiics and
il is consequently very comfortable to read 1t also
retains monopoly of letteT-wrtcrs, and IS stll the
national vehicle for the ventilation OF such grew
ances as can he explained i'll episile of moderate
length Despite these advantage, however, is CIR
culation is declining. 1t now varies, according 10
the season. from % 600 10 10000 per diem.
The presiding genius of The Tins is its part pro
prietor MI John Walter VI. p for Berkshire. This
great agricultural county is bless d with what is
called here cooked hat" constituency. that is, II
retnrns three members. 1t cannot therefore, be-
come "stulUfedD as Mr. Bright declares is tie case
with the constituencies returning one ConserVa-
five and one Liberal and which he opines are there
fore unrepresened in the House OF Commons, one
vote canceliug the other. This Is logic. of course,
but ms a grand old toXhunter said TO me yesterday,
"Thai,k God, battles are not won and Kingdoms
are not governed 10y logic" From the English
point of yiew il would be a great injustice II, III
Mace where parties are almost equally balanced
bare majority should give Il clear vote 10 either side
and leave an immense minority unrepresented. In
the North Riding of Yorkshire, for instance there
are nearly twenty thousand electors and the Con-
servatIve generally gets couple OF huhurcd votes
more than the Liberal personal and territorial III
fuence securing the return Of one Liberal against
the whole Conservative tone OF the agricultural
party, This people think, is fairer than that
majority of one per cent should dslrancmSe nearly
the half of the electoral district. In Berkshire the
return is also, on paper, cOnsonance with these
rhapa ara
who il must be recollected are another guess sort
of persons" from borough members, and divided by
a whole world from Irish members County mem
bers must be persons Of substance and repuie, and
should either dwell or be largely inter
ested in the county they represent. Mr.
Walter lives at a place called Bearwood. near
Nottingham. country house with lake in which
his son was drowned few years ago while skatng.
Berkshire, which has a Conservative majority
elects as a third member there are only two votes
in this country by virtue of the Liberals around
Reading, Mr.. Walter. not because he is newspaper
man but on account of his wealth and Importance
in the county. He is what is called weak kneed"
Liberal aud would loose his seat if genuine can
didate opposed him. HIS family connection with
The Times is of long date for his grandfather pub
Ished the first number in l7oS
Since the retirement and death Of Mr. Dcane Mr..
Walter has intcrfcred actively with the manage
ment OF his newSpaper,t 10 its manifest deterioration.
As politician aud as a literary man he is by no
means in the first rank and the vaciiatng policy of
The Times has become matter of public amuse-
mcnt Since the worship OF ST. lingo was first ID
stituted his journal has been jngoistc in tendency.
Sometimes however, it i happy in catching the
tone of popular feeling just recently il has come
round to the ultraRaacal doctrine of soizing AND
occupying Egypt rs the real solution. 50 far as Eng
90 81 =
has invited attack, but apprehend that the gen
eral feeling of the country Will be with The lines.
Englishrnen like "a bow-wow" policy, and the
Rnd,cals nre natnrally delIghted al q nrospect OF