Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1886-07-23

national reputation anu ~ oH0 U''O "''"
circulation of over 2OOU0
How was this accomplished In what
way was it possible for young ana ull-
known man to bring newspaper INTO
such prominence and acquire so much IN
fuence in so brief period OF ume
True. he had brains but so had oIheI
men then in journalism, and scores nau
that very desirable quality-eXecutlye
ability-in which Mr.. Greeley, was greatly
deficient No it was not his massive
brain alone which achieved the greatest
journalistic triumph OF the country II
was his persistence, his tearlesshesS anu
his independence. Ability amounts to
little if not given an opportunity to ACT
Men quite as competent perhaps as Mr;
Greeley to discuss public questions had
gone to the grave unknown because vi
their righteousness, or their short-slRnu-
ed policy in figuring as the tail OF Some
corporation or party kite.
Mr. Greeley's whole nature revolted AT
the very idea of subserviency in any form,
and people were not long IN discovering
this fact He was thus enabled TO Dulld
up for himself a greater constituency tnan
any man ever enjoyed before or since oe
cause every one who read the 1Ttbuhc IN |
those days knew he was obtaining the
opinions, not of corporation or even
political party through its mouth-plece;
but of an earnest man IN Wnoin ne nau
confidence True, Horace Greeley sup
ported a political party, but not LOT uhe
sake of that party He did so because ne
believed its principles were Just and rlght
and that the men at the head of it were
men of integrity and patriotism. But
when he believed that the ood ana pure
men who founded that great political Dody
were being supplanted by pollllciia5ns
whose sole object was self-aggrandlze-
ment and the spoils, he did not hesitate 10
say so. In pursuing this course he I'M
doubtedly lost many valuable friends, ouU
he believed he was right, and, Adopting
| Davy Crockett's advice, he went aheau
If he erred, it was an error OF 1udgheht,
not of the heart And, notwithstanding
! his many reverses in the last few years OF
his life, who can deny that the line OF IN
dependent thought adopted by nun was
true patriotism and deserving OF tne emu
| aton of every imitator-De ne ever SO
humble-in the great field of journalism
When Horace Greeley died. the IrtDuhc
| degenerated into mere party organ ana
was soon in such a financial straight that
it was obliged to call in outside capital,
This capped the climax and the lTtDNhc
went steadily down. The fact that one
of the most daring and INSCRIPTIONS
gamblers in Wall street held an interest
i'm the paper came near killing it.
1t has been said and there Is no reason
to doubt the statement that jay Gould
never dictated the TrtbuhCS policy III any
way but that made no difference. Inc
journal and there was but one remedy.
That was to get rid of this "Old man OF
the sea- and it was done.
No better example of the bad policy, to
say nothing of the degradation of hum
bling ones self before an individual or a
corporation could be given Even to-day
the effect of this unholy alliance IS felt by
the TribuhC, and many years Will elapse
before the dIstrust will entirely disappear.
The first newspaper started in this coun-
try as an independent journal was the
New York Hcrdid, which was success
from the start The first issue contained
the following unique announcement
In debuts of TINS kind many talk OF
principle-polltical principle, party prin-
ciple-as Il sort of steel-trap to catch the
public. We mean to be perfectly under
stood on this point, and therefore openly
, disclaim all principle rs 1t Is called, All
party, all politics.
And Mr.. Bennett kept his word. He
was never entangled i'll any unhealthfu
political alliance, but rather sought e
. i'll his paper with the very latest lntelli
. gence without regard to party, race OF
=, denomination. In those days Wing OF
Democrat realized that, while in hi'
own party organ he would get only one
side of story, in the Hcrdld he was SURF
F to find an unbiased account of what haC
taken place or was likely to follow. Thai
p gave the paper great popularity and a
= The influence eXeIted by these two mel
. upon the journalism of America is appar
ent to the most careless observer. Pre-
vious to their day anything but straigh
out-and-out party organ was unE noWn
: but the fact that Greeley and Bennett
: neither of whom would be led by the nos
: by any pothouse politician, leaped int
! prominence and prosperity effected I
: marked change. One paper after anothe
q discarded the party yoke and stood fortl
n Il free moral and political agent till to
f day the successful daily journals which
/. recognize themselves as organs are few
= and far between. The aggregate circu
+ lation of the half dozen Organs" in New
!. York city will not reach 100000, Will
! that of newspapers which have showl
+ their Willingness to disregard caucus die
-. tation is fully half million. The same
f as you all know, is also true of Boston
i Take IA step nearer home. The Spring
= field Republican is essentially countr
!, paper, published in Il town OF perhap
i 10000 inhabitants. But no journal in tn
y. world printed in so small a place is :
. well known. Why? First, it is foun
: in every household in western NJ lssachu
:. sets because it gives all the local news
r. and second, it has gained reputatlo
n abroad by its manly stand against con
:. ruption of whatever kind whereVe
q found.
Now, you ask, what has all this to Il
4 Win the editors ana puDllSneIS Ol COul
e try newspapers, and answer, everything
:. The rural journal is bound to be reiie
l. to very considerable extent of its metre
e pOlitan contemporary. The latter mus
II take the inltlatory steps in inauguratin
IS special improvements and reforms bt
cause it has the money and consttuenc
r To carry it through. But the countr
1t weekly must follow suit If ii would It
/ peat in its smaller way the success of tn
n daily. | have endeaVored to show yo
p that the tendency is toward independen
| journalism of higher character tina
j. heretofore known. In Vermont we hay
d not come to a full realization of this fac
n because our readers are slower to NOV
e than the residents of cities, and becaus
i many of us have found 1t more convenieu
[. to slip along in the same old rut utilize
t. by our predecessor half century ago.
e Incidents of those good old days whe
y, II. Eaton-peace to his Democrat
,e ashes-trlmmed his light in Danvile fo
a the guidance of his half of creation, an
If the CdledOntdn kept its little lamp burr
Al ing for the benefit of the other hal
L neither of us ever being able to see a pa
~ 1 1