New-York tribune., 1885-01-17
THE LONDON TIMES.
,rc CENTENARY, AND SOME OF TIs CHAN
ii' ACTERISTICS.

IFRoh TIE hh" LONDON, January z.
On the FIRST day of the new year. Inc Times was
hrndred years old. This anniversary Is ce'e-
hrated by an article in The Nineteenth Century ro
tbe pen of Mr.. w. Fraser Rae; by modest aHuSon
A. .ho circumstance in The Timts ITSELF by scant
naragraph OF two in an evening or proVino'a
na,er and so far as have seen. by no other tribute
o. reference whatsoever The jealous suscept'oi'-
;tos Of the penny press will not permit d'scnss''n
of ,,a matter Not one of the London papers wouiu
have been what it is had not the leading lo"rna'
sbo1yn then, the way But. having by its heip anu
ou;daDee learned to walk alone they sN0 49,. ~:
selves airs of indifference TO the manu- ." |
tbev leanel. Never will the Engisp pros r"no ~
trns Mace in the public life OF England "n'. IL n@
cast OF these puerile punctilios. "na' NJ"
ts above all things is esprit de corps Journalism
:. rno,ond is a profession, but journalists don't
..ou, 20 h.,onc to it, They hold aloof from each
othsr To tho public they are each the individua.
st;ck in the loose bundle of fagots. They sui
;rore each other i'm a manner that might be lotty
if IL were not ludicrous. They have no corporate
existonce They make no such impression on
s,ciety as the Church makes. They nave mono "
the eohes;veness which enables the bar W oe
nowerful guild / almost doubt whether they are
all proud of their profession and OF their position IN
H. If you look into the huge Post Omce irectory Vi
London You will fnd some sixty pages OF oarr.s'ei'
with not.one of the leading men among them 10 DC
.,on-naI;st in England does not seem to he pass
mort tn distinction is it shyness which leads all
the great men to hide their lights and tacity deny
their connection with the great papers which tney
control or to which they contributes Ceftaih ~ rs
that whatever be the reason OF the ATTITUDE .nop
maintain they will have TO abandon II before they
make themselves felt as personages IN the worid
Of politics
MI. reutaf lS
hans too much concerned with merely mechanical
rrocesses for the general reader but 1t is an inter
sstinp account of the rise and progress OF great
commercial enterprise The intellectual history OF
ns of the great forces of the period has yet to be
written, Mr. Rae has something to say OF the
directing influence of the Walters ana something
but not much. of tho later editors. Nor. though he
ia himself or has been. connected with one OF the
papers which try to WELD the thunder of Jove, is
he misled by their pretensions lie pcrceives 'ha'
The Times is still the van. Ii list OF the repre-
sentatiye newspapers of the world were drawD up,
A. vouId be found, says Mr.. Rae. that none 80 well
fulfilled the conditions of the ideal newspaper as
Jas Umss 1t is not perfect, it is not always, as we
should say in America ahead, 1t makes some aston
ishing mistakes. and there certainly was time
when il seemed as if its conductor were more dls-
posed to rely on its welearned reputation than 10
make it day by day superior to all rivals But that
time Is past and the leading journal is still the
leading journal.
The prestige of the paper on the Continent mas
never suffered The Times has always been, and still
is The Times What it is In America was made clear
nv the remark of an American editor in the days of
Mr. Chenery's control when am afraid used to
speak of it, sometimes, with too inpatient dlspar-
agement and attempt comparisons to the advantage
of other papers. "Whether The Times said he.
sis better or worse than it was, or than other
papers matters little. Its name and its opinions
outweigh in America those OF all other English
papers put together Certainly we should not
have resented its grievous and disastrous policy in
american affairs from 1864 to 1864 had we not
felt that it was doing us harm than any other
hostile influence 1t spoke. however, the prevailing
opnion of England and to speak the prevailing
opinion of England is still the mission IL most
faithfully fulfls.
Mr.. Walter Is not likely to repeat the error into
which he fell when he put Mr.. Chenery in command
an Oriental scholar and good eader-writer, almost
totally deficient IN knowledge OF the administration
of a great paper and in knowledge of the world. He
has bethonght himself that great editors are not
like poets or peers who have only to give themelves
the trouble to be born. Mr.. Delane whose name is
likely long to survive as the greatest of English
editors was a young man when he was appointed
editor. The Mr. Walter of that day saw that man
must grow to such a position. The present Alr
Walter has reverted to .the sano idea, and again
chosen a young man to govern this journalistic
principaty Mr. Buckle has had as Mr. Delane
had experience in the Office and knows something
beside what be learnt at Oxford. where he was dis
tinguished He is doing well and gives promise of
doing better lie has made mistakes since he
became editor-who wouid mott Wellington said
the greatest general was he who made the fewest.
The epigran Is equally true of an editor. Mr.
Dclane made them ;-no editor who ever liyel
omitted to mark his career by succession of more
DIT less important blunderS. The strenuous COM
ment to which those of Lhs Times give rise is testi
mony to its preemnent position. First Lords Of the
Admiralty and the poll ica critics of tho metropolis
do not combine to censure the errors f the gazette
of Little Pedlington. Lord Randolph Churchill
raised laugh in the House of Commons the other
day by quoting criticism of this journal on some
body else then remarking: 4" / dare say the honora-
BILE member does not care what The Times says";
and when the honorable member answered [" No."
adding: "No moro do l." He is ungrateful if he
does not for .1he Tines has created good half Of
his present reputation by printing and discussing
his speeches as If they the speeches of serious
politician. Ii is of course. open to Lord Randolph
to say that his present reputation is not thing to
be grateful for.
that the Thunderer devotes to its centenary is
said with characteristic and good taste:
The Times writes its history day by day
along with the history of the world and there is no
NEED that we should now attempt in any way to
recall the nature of Its long relations with the
pubic aud its persistent influence upon public
affairs. But we may say that whatever mistakes
may have been made and whatever shortcomings
we may have to regret--and all journals like ind-
yduals liable to error-we have always acted
upon the principle of keeping ourselves thoroughly
independent of Government favor and party lntu-
ence. and shall endeavor to maintain that principle