The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-12-02
THE TEXT BOOKS.

In looking about for causes for the
recent defeat the New York Tribune re-
fers to suggestion made by Ex-As-
sistant Postmaster General Clarkson in
the course of speech at Pittsburg last
spring. AS will be remembered, Gene
raj Clarkson directed special attention
TO advantages of the democrats IN con-
Quoting an educational campaign.
Among other things, he said:
All the great papers in the country seem
to find their greatest profit in catering to
democratic readers. Most of them are pub
lished in large cities, where democratic
readers most abound. What is needed is
new life and new energy in the republican
press. We must have new and more inf1u-
entail republican papers to meet the de-
mand,
The Tribune thinks that proper atten-
ton to the warning would have resulted
in an increased instead of reduced re-
publican vote. This assumption is, of
course, plausible. A newspaper is the
medium through which the voter
gathers his information on issues of the
day. 1t is the popular school for all ex-
cept the close students OF political sci
ence. The instruction furnished from
day to day determines the drift of public
sentiment, and conforms the public
mind to it's teachings. Extraordinary
shrewdness is unnecessary to under
stand this, though Mr.. Clarkson's speech
attracted much attention by reason of his
very plain statement of the situation. He
says the republican party must have
more influential papers to meet the de-
mand. But il the demand really exists,
how will the republican party meet 1t?
The fashioned thick and thin party
organ is played out, and newspapers,
like voters, are to-day thinking and act
ing on independent lines. The widest
circulated, most popular and most infiu-
entail paper in every community is the
one that best furnishes the news. How
will the republican managers recover
their lost ground in the metropolitan
newspapers? In New York city the
Tribune is the only republican journal
with nything like commanding influ-
ence. The Times, the Evening Post
and Harper's Weekly, each catering to
much the same class Of readers, are out
with the democrats in a square fight for
tariff reform. The Philadelphia Times
is battling on the Same issue, and the
Cincinnati Commercial Gazette is using
all efforts to defeat the force BILL In
the respective centres Of the west we
find the three leading republican news
papers fighting the republican high
tariff policy party. The Chicago Tribune,
the st. Louis Globe Democrat and the
Pioneer Press are working to swing the
republican party on the democratic line
of tariff reform, and they are not to be
baked by the hue and cry Of party
treacEery. Besides these, there are
many republican newspapers.in smaller
cities fighting under tho same standard.
On the other hand, we find solid demo-
cratic press, from the Boston Globe to
the San Francisco Examiner. The one
possible exception is the New York Sun,
the democracy of which is always more
or less doubtful. It thus appears that
on the single great issue for which the
democratic party is contending valuable
assistance is being daily rendered by the
leading republican newspapers of the
country. The value Of this is plainly
apparent in the result OF, the recent
election. When democratic text books
are used by republican Instructors in re-
publican communities Mr.. Clarkson and
his friends have little hope of success in
the great educational campaign. They
may start new papers, but none will
come within fraction Of the influence
of those named.