National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1884-07-11
THE ENGLISH PRESS.
PecuIIHritics OF the Great London
Daiiics-An Entire Neglect Of Homo
News--Fsbu1ous sums spent Tor
Foreign Intclligcnce-Good Points


Dailics-An Entire Neglect Of Home
News-Fsbulous Sums spent Tor
Foreign IntcIIigcmcc-Good Points
MS Well ss Defects.
LOrdon Correspondence Tntsr.Ocedn
About the most foreign institution tho
American visitor finds in England is tho
English daily newspaper It differs from
the typical American in almost every
feature. Tho first familiar things you
miss are tho display headlines. From
these in your own country you have been
able ct q glance to inform yourself Of tho
salient points of tho days intelligence
In England you can DO sure that you
know all only whom you have waded
carefully through tho whole paper. The
next thing that strikes you strangely is
the preponderance of mere opinions over
news. The occurrences Of the day before
are related, for the most part. in the
baldest manner. There Is no straining
after effect in these recitals, and but little
attention to details. When, however, you
turn to the editorial page you find an
exhibition Of enterprise and talent that is
amazing. There will DO probably five
dEbiolNoi thth OObhPy lhE hbOub - NViuhhht
some, perhaps, divided into not more than
n couple Of paragraphs, and oil written in
the labored and grandiloqucnt style of
the most ponderous reviews, No economy
of space in this department and no atiec-
tation of modosty but the news item for
which you are looking you will find, after
disheartening search, hiding itself away
in some corner like q bashful spring
flower under heap of dead leaves. To
use another smile, the English news
paper is almost MS much of q monstrosity
in this respect as would BIO a human being
whose head was bigger than its body.
You will also be struck in the nows de-
partments of the English dailios with the
excess Of foreign over local matter, and
with the greater show of enterprise mado
in the foreign field. In city like London,
where so many things happen every day
and every night, you would naturally
expect about half the paper to be devoted
to a description of those occurrences. But
tho reality Is very different You do not
even get complete summary of the local
news, and local articles extending over q
column are almost rs rare as snow in
harvest. / am assured that the Daily
Telegraph employs only five men on its
local staff, and quite believe tho aston
ishing statement. To show the local
VI tuO phpcIo, VI EhlutE
want of enterprise. one instance will suf-
fee. / was an eyewitness of great fire
which occurred on Saturday night. There
must have been 100000 people present.
Tho fire lasted several hours and did i'm
mensc damage. The scene was grand in
the extreme. What u bonanza would
such conhagration have been to tho
reporters of the average American paper,
and what thrilling descriptions they
would have given of IL. But these cold
blooded London scribes did up the whole
thing in short paragraph. Nor was
this all.
Capt Shaw, chief of the fire depart
ment, was injured at this fire by falling
from building, so badly injured that he
had to be taken home, and the queen sent
telegram of sympathy, Is it conceiv-
able such an incident as this would have
! escaped the notice Of any American news
!. paper? The fact is, however, that the
; London daily which claims the largest
circulation contained no intination OF
this occurrence until Tuesday morning
three days after it transpired. But foI
matter with which to adorn tho foreign
. columns the London press spends fabulous
. sums, and literally ransacks the world
The Times, am told, keeps man in Paris
at salary of $15,0 900 a year. The capital:
, OIL Quiet udLlO0b dTb lOOk6u HIIeT ny Lut
; London papers with equal care and with
equal disregard of cost, while in time O
war special correspondents send column
daily over the wire, and are paid, some o
. them, as much as $500 week for thei
U services.
>. Perhaps should qualify my statemen
:; in regard to tho entire world being ran
sacked by these papers by limiting tn
;. expression to the eastern world. Pro
o verbally the places of light, the east |
" peculiarly tho quarter from which thu
;. press of Great Britain looks for illumina
,. ton. The star of empire may be taking
. westerly course but tho great editors o
!; London either are not aware of this fac
or they do not think it of much conse
quence, Western news is done up il
4 exceedingly small packages, and tn,
. American visitor is as much Disguised a
. he is surprised to find that, while his hom
n papers give tho greatest promise to English
o affairs, the English press, on the contrary
4 give hardly any attention to curreu
- events in the United States. A nationa
election, or national calamity, such u
: tho civil war or the assassination of
president, are about the only things that
!. are treated at all in proportion to theil
e importance. For the rest, where absolute
!, silence is not maintained, a few lines ar
Is deemed all-suiiicient for American events
while n comparatively insignificant oc
I, currence in some remote part of Europ
. or Africa is dignified with column or two
Z In view of these facts the writer ha
y often wondered why enterprising CAPT
talists from our side have not sought t.
supply u long felt want by establishing
:. London daily upon American principles
Il, devoted largely to American news. Per
haps the rumor we hear of an American
y syndicate having bought score of tn
English papers, including one in tn
. metropolis, is in this line. and possibly
u too this fact-if it be facts what ha
u stimulated some of the papers there :
l.. inauguaato needed reform. From hav
" ing formerly been as destitute of hume
as an average funeral grafton, some of tn
great metropolitan dailies arc beginnin
u to sparkle little. The Pail Mall Ga=ett
Mortified its contemporaries not long az
~ by branching out in the interviewin
business. and as though radicalism il
politics was the inevitable precursor {
radical conduct in other matters tn
g, same paper has started further revolu
et ton by substituting short and sprightl
T. squibs for long winded and solemn editt
q rails. 1t is noteworthy, too, that sewers
s; of the papers are beginning now to Civ
N q little more prominence to America
10 affairs.
, But If the English newspaper has il
"a faults, 80 it has, also, many cXcellenco'
c. Its mechanical features are most admire
T. bio. Tho paper used seems to partah
u; largely of the substantial character
To- what is printed upon it. Tho typo
g, clear and large. With us the aim seen
u, to be to got as much Us possible within
40 given space, regardless alike of the al
% pearance of the page and of the Gonvt
IL nienco of the reader. Tho extent
&c; which tho fine type of our great Amer
e. can dailies is straininR tho national ey
ci sight must be very gratifying to oculis
&c. and opticians. There are, to be sur
y some happy exceptions to this rule, bl