Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1896-03-28
What Is the News

The question then most frequently Is
the question now most frequently asked,
What Is the news: To answer that cry in
the text for the newspaper the centuries
have put their wits to work. China first
succeeded and has az Picking n newspaper
that has been printed every week for ! 900
years, printed on silk. Rome succeeded
by publishing The Acta Diurna. in the
same column putting fires. murders. mar
riages and tcmpcstS France succeeded
| by Il physician writing out the news of tho
day for his patients. England succeeded
under Queen Elizabeth in first publishing
the news Of the spanish armada and go-
ing on until she had enough enterprise,
when tho battle II Waterloo was fought,
deciding the destiny az Europe To give il
onc-ihird of n column in the London
Morning Chronicle, about as Inuch rs tho
newspaper II our day gives Of small fire
America succeeded by benjamin Harris
first weekly paper, called Public Occur
renccs. published in Boston in 1890, and
by tho first daily. The American Adycr-
iiscr, published in Philadelphia in 1881.
The newspaper did 10, suddenly spring
upon the world. but came gradually. The
genealogical line Of the newspaper is this:
The Adam oC the race was a circular or
news letter created by divine impulse in
human nature. and the circular bcgat the
pamphlet, and the pamphlet hcgat the
quarterly, and the quarterly hcgat the
weekly, and The weekly hcgat the semi
weekly. and he scmiwcckly hrcnt the
daily. But, alas. hy what - struggle il
came 10 its present development! No
sooner lad is power been demonstrated
than tyranny and supcrsiifiou shacklel II.
There j. nothing that do>puiism so fears
and hates n a printing press. II has too
many eyes in its wheel y great writer
declared that the king Of Naples made IL
unsafe for him Ia write Of anything but
natural history. Austria could not endure
kossuth's journalistic pen pleading for the
redemption Of Hungary. Napoleon |, try
ing 10 keep his iron heel on the nccks OF
nations, said, Editors are tho regents Of
soycrcigns ard the tutors uf nations and
are only fit for prison But the battle
for tho freedom of the press WAS fought in
tho cuurirooms Of England and America
and decided before this century began by
Hamilton's eloquent plea for i. Peter
Zengcr's Gazette in America and Erskinc's
advocacy of the freedom Of publication in
1 England. These were the Marathon and
I Thermopyl1 in which the freedom Of the
press was established in the nitcd States
and Great Britain. and all tho powers Of
earth and hell Will never again be able TO
put on tho handouts and hopplcS Of lit
erary and political dcsputism. IL is nota-
BILE that Thomas jefferson, who wrote tho
I Declaration II American Independence,
wrote also, II had To- choose between
/ government without newspapers, or news
1 papers without government, l should
I prefer the latter. :-tung hy some hase
/ fabrication coming TO us in print, we como
to write or sycak Of the unbridlcd printing
/ press or. our rev book ground up by AN
unjust critic, we come to write or speak
Of the unfairncss Of the printing press, or
/ perhaps through ont own indStinctness Of
uttcrancc we are reported rs saying just
1 the opposite Of what we did say, and there
1 is u small riot az scmiculons. hyphcns and
commas, and We come To speak ar writo
OF the laundering printing press. or, seeing
+ u paper filed with divorce eases or social
scandal, we speak and write Of the filthy
/ printing press. or, seeing "a journal through
! bribery wheel round from one political
/ side to the other in unc night, We speak Of
/ the corrupt printing press, and many talk
about the lampooncry, and the cmpiric-
ism. and the sans culuitism Of the print
ing press
4 Good Newspaper.