Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1895-10-19

The Picking GaEette's Old Age and It's Two
Editions.


Editions.
The oldest and most important Of
the Chinese newspapers, the Pcking
Gazette, dates from the eighth cen.
fury. 1t is Il kind Of bulletin of laws
and official organ, publishing tho
details relative to every movement
and incident in the imperial court,
as we'll as tho officials and a record
of tho sittingS Of the tribunals.
These communications arc furnish
cd to Tho GaZotto's editor by the
functionarios Of tho palace; they
arc set up with an infinite care and
arc printed only after having been
revised and corrected very attcn-
lively. They are not published con-
soquently till two or three days aft
er having been communicated to the
editor, who meanwhile keeps pub
fishing II daily unofficial edition OF
The Gazette Tho paper is sold in
the streets Of Picking by news vcnd-
ers and criers. Tho subscription
price of tho official edition is about
month; of the unofficial edition,
So. There is a manuscript edition
which costs So monthly.
Outside of tho capital the first
Chinese paper published appeared
at Shanghai about 80 years ago, II
was soon followed by the Ten tsin
Journal and the Canton Journal.
These newspapers were founded by
Europeans, who were, in fact, only
nominally in charge, the real inspi-
rators and editors of those indopcnd-
ent sheets being litorati, mandarins
anxious to place themselves beyond
the reach Of imperial prosecutions.
There arc, indeed, no restrictive
laws against the press in China, but
neither arc there laws guaranteeing
the freedom Of writing and speak
ing, so thai Chinese journalists are
always at the mercy of tho police.
The Shanghai News, which is the
type of Chinese independent papers,
is sold for / cent number 1t con.
tains an editorial similar to a maya
zine article, we'll studied, well writ
ten and treating of political and
social questions. Official DEGREES are
published in the columns of The
News, rs well rs local information,
cable dispatches and sporting re.
ports, for there arc horse races at
Shanghai The regular reporters
are able and intelligent; they dis
guise themselves in order not to be
recognized as belonging to The News
corps. But they have not yet come
to the practice of interviewing.
The French Jesuit missionaries
have founded II 1 cent newspaper,
which was a monthly at first and
is now semiweckly. 1t is read by
the Chinese Catholics. There are al.
so Il few scientific and literary peri
odicals 1t must be noted that as a
general rule tho Chinese papers dc
not publish articles bearing on ques
tons of actual and practical politics,
so that there are in the empire nc
opposition OF scmioflicial organs
They usually are satisfied with pub
fishing an eclectic review of affairs
They are read in the most faraway
provinces The Shanghai News Cir
culution is about IL, 600 daily num-
hers, and that of the Canton Ga
zetto amounts to 1900 numbers
Since 1855 the Shanghai News pub
lishcd an illustrated weekly supple
ment, which is very curious speci
men of Chinese art in that line. Be
sides those native papers i'll Chinese
there are some printed i'll English
at Hongkong, Il few in Portuguese
at Macao and one German paper a
Shanghai New York Tribune.