Bisbee daily review., 1908-12-30
lcontlnaed from First Pages

Wnen We test newspaper eNiuence as
We do all other evidence, taking into
account the general situation, the sur
rounding Influences and the individual
bias Of the journalist, we shall find il
excellent authority, contributing to a
vivid narrative. This is especially
so for the decade of 1850-60 when 1t
is well worth while 10 have the state
ments and opinions OF such great jour
nalists as Greeley, Dana, Bryant.
Bigelow, Raymond, Webb, Bowles,
Thurlow, Weed, Schouler and Medill
For the history of the Civil war the
newspapers so far as the northern
side is concerned, are not so impor.
tant for historical evidence. as dur
ing the decade preceding it. The story
of campaigns and battle, which natur-
ally fill so much of this space Is more
accurately and thoroughly told In the
monumental publication of our gov
eminent. the official records of me
union and Confederate armies. The
southern newspapers, however, give
many useful political facts nowhere
else to be found and they reflect ad
mirably southern society, peculiar II
that It was cut OF from intercourse
with the outer world owing TO the
efficient federal blockade.
in the history OF Reconstruction
the historian may be to a large eX-
tent be Independent of the daily
newspaper. Reconstruction was the
work of congress and its debates and
acts are the essential things"
Mr.. Rhodes summed up his paper
with the concluding remark: The
dQty of the historian is not to decide
IL the newspapers are as good as they
ought to be. but TO measure their in
fiuence on the present and TO recog
niZe their Importance as an ample
and contemporary record of the
past"
Some first-hand historical informa
ton about Revolutionary times es-
pecially, was pointed out by William
Nelson, of Paterson, Secretary of the
New Jersey Historical Society in his
paper on The American Newspapers
of the Eighteenth Century as Sources
Of History" Mr.. Nelson quoted the
famous historian George Bancroft a.
having exclaimed TO him: But you
cannot write history from the news.
papers," 1t was his own opinion, Mr..
Nelson said that the historian who
ignores that field will miss a great
and invaluable mass of material
The Colonial press was hampered.
Mr.. Nelson said. by what was prac.
ticaily an official censure. Neyerthe,
less the newspapers of the time vivid
ly mirror to us the popular life OF
their day. MeXicaus trace in their
pages, too, the gradual evolution OF
the press toward a broader freedom
as their news items expand from the
merest mention of ship news, run.
away servants and foreign events to
chronicle the movements of the gov.
errors, the doings of the legislatures
end finally aspire even to criticism
Eat first in the cautious guise of com
<muncations) upon the ruling powers.
Mr.. Nelson went on to describe the
papers of the early part of the eight
zenith century beginning with the
Boston News Letter" of 1904. The
growth of these publications into
something like real mirrors of the so
cial life was dwelt upon with con
siderable degree of detail and Mr.. Mel
son drew an interesting picture of the
developing industries and methods OF
communication as set forth in news
paper advertisements, and news arti
Giles and communications. Coming
down TO the Revolutionary period, the
speakers point of view was stTikingly
set forth in the following:
What a vivid picture of everyday
life during the times that tried mems
souls is presented by the newspapers
Of the day, The official reports Of
events, carefully written and revised
at leisure, have prTned out of them
the little human touches that appea
to the heart. But your newspaper
account of a skirmish. a battle or q
raid, written currents calamO, has q
dash and a touch Of local color that
stirs the blood of the reader. Here
you shall find accounts of the same
event published in royalist and in pa
triotic newspapers, presented in such
sopposite language that IL is difficult
fto realize that they are descriptions
Cf the same occurrence. Was it from
desire to be impartial, that the same
papers would often publish the ac
counts of both sides, or was it merely
desire to get copy" with the Least
expense of time and labor? A news
paper published in New York would
frequently publish a story, crediting Il
as from a rebel newspaper" and q
journal of the opposite side would as
frequently publish an excerpt from "a
late Tory paper" The reader could
take his choice which story to believe
and thus was cultivated a species OF
higher criticism whereby all the
Drobab Titles were carefully taken into
account and there was sifted out an
approximately accurate narrative OF
the events narrated by the news
papers of opposite faiths. or perhaps
should rather say profession, as it is
doubtful IL some of these newspaper
publishers had any faith-if they were
not mere Journalists whose sofe
function was regarded as Tat of a
perveyor of news 10 the public You
viii recollect that Hugh Game at
tempted at the beginning OF the Rev
olution to serve both sides in pup
fishing a Tory edition of his paper in
New Pork, which landed the King and
lake. 14s7 I-s@14.50c: eleetrolytic
II %. g 81 s-sss,. casting, 14.12sG1425
Lead unchanged at &13 in London