University Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1908-1916, 1909-05-03
FOURTH ESTATE ALWAYS HAS BORNE CLOSE RELATION
TO NATIONAL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES

:
sonan abolitioni>ts. Benton himself
though running as an Independent Dem
ocrat for governor of Missouri in lS56
stood on the same sort of platform a
his >on-in-law. Fremont, the presiden
Tia! candidate of the new Republican
party He supported Buchanan a
against Fremont for two reasons: lie
knew that Buchanan had far more pO
litiral experience than Fremont and h'
belrvci that FremOnt'S election would
prccipitate secession and break up the
Union. The experience OF four years
showed that Benton'S fears We're fal
from hring "ro,IndIess. The most i'm
prc,>ive speech which wa> made i'm Con
"rr>> against the repeal of the Missouri
compromise in 1854. which brought the
slavery i>>u- up iii Il portentous shape
wa, made bv Benton. who had left the
senate and was then i'm the House.
While none of the Republican prc>i-
dents nave had regularly recognized Of
fetal organs. it was said during the civ
il war days that some of the editorials
in he New York Times could be traced
tn the authorship of Lincoln. Henry j.
RAYMOND vino WAS editor of the Times
from the establishment of that paper
i'm ISL to his death in 1869. stood very
close Ia Lincoln. Greeley and the Trib
unc We're earlier i'm the field than their
New York rival. and they We're much
NOR" prominent in the anti slavery
crusade. after the election of Pierce in
Lincoln in the presidency. He wanted
the emancipation proclamation issued
earlier. Amen" the radical Republicans
who were behind the movement which
sought to defeat Lincoln for the candi
dacy in lS6l. Greeley had a prominent
place. He was impatient of the slow
progress OF the anti slavery propagan-
da. Therefore Raymond and the Times
hal Il clear field anon" the New York
Republican newspapers as the organ OF
the Lincoln administration Many
prominent Republican enemies of Lin
coin were accustomed to send cOmmuni-
cations to the Tribune. The attack in
1864 made upon Lincoln by Ben iamin +.
Wade of the Senate and Henry Winter
Davis of the House. because Lincoln
killed the Republican reconstruction bill
10y his pocket veto. appeared originally
in the Tribune. As a writer of clear.
pointed English. Lincoln was a master.
\ few of the editorials i'm the Times in
lSG2-64 were attributed to Lincoln by
some Of the Republican critics of the
But One Had Newspaper.
Non" of the Republican presidents
except the first one had any personal
organs. 81 far as known. While all of
hem except Grant. Hayes and Arthur
were supported by the leading Republi
'an papers during their entire admins
ration>. none of them. so far as the
public can recall. We're said to have had
my direct hand in writing any of the
IMPRESSIONS on the conduct of the gov
The Tribune became a critic
If Grants administration early in his
lays. and Greeley was selected as the
-anddate by tie Republican bolters, or
LIBERAL Republicans, in 1872 As the
;rrclry ticket and platform were sup
ported by the Democrats in that cam
'ai"n. the Republican schism of that
lay had some influence on the politics
ii th" time. Its influence. indeed. did !
l"t end with the collapse of the bolt
u the election of Grant for second |
crm. As nearly all the Southern lead
r> accepted Greeley with his anti sla-
cry and prounion record. the new de-
'arturc which Clement L. Vallanding-
lam sounded i'm 1871 became a settled |
'olicy of the Democracy That party, |
'eginning with the Greeley canvass. /
caSed to concern itself actively with |
he is>ueS which had been settled bv the |
var. but began to give its attention to
he vital questions of the time
Hayes was disliked and distrusted by |
he Conkliny element of the Republi- |
ans from the beginning. and had no
cwSpaper mOuthpiecc of prominence.
Arthur was one of the chiefs of the
'talwart> in the fight of lSSO-SI. which
ad for some of its incidents the ap-
ointment by Garfield of Conklings
nemy. William II. Robertson. to the
ost as collector of the port at New
ork. which ROOsevelt's friend. William ,
Och, .Ir.. has just entered. Then. as
Ow. this was one of the most impor-
ant offices in the gift of the national