The White Pine news. [volume] (Ely, Nev.) 1906-1910, 1909-02-07
NEWSPAPER HISTORY.
It's High Value j. Pointed Out I'm
speech Before American
Historical Association.

Making as mis- subject The Use
of Newspapers for the History of the
Period from 1S50-1S77,' Mr.. Rhodes
said In the recent session of the
American Historical association:
The attitude of society TO the
newspaper is unsympathetic and this
affects TO some degree the feeling of
American historians when they con-
slider the use of newspapers as his
torical materials. leading them to
adopt an apologize tone in justify
ing their employment. This attitude
is. however beside the question as
is seen when we detach ourselves
from American life and conditions.
For example when Aulard criticises
Taine for using two only of the IL
journals available for the history of
the French revolution our impress
sion Is the same. as If Tame were crit
ieised for the neglect of evidence of
per for what it is, with its virtues
and its limitations, it seems curious
that an apology should be necessary
for its use as historical material.
For 1t is contemporary, written with
out knowledge of the end, and its aim
is to print the news which is present
politics. If its relation is colored by
honest or dishonest partisanship, that
may be easily detected.
For the history of the decade OF
5000 newspapers are indispensable
to get at all the facts, to go TO the
bottom of things and to portray the
changing public opinion which is a
prominent feature of those ten years
AS | based statement after statement
upon newspaper authority, knowing
that | was subjeeting myself to crit
icism, | could not keep thinking OF
the cogency of the remark, so well
attested by veriety of examples.
"A modern newspaper statement
though probably true, IL quoted in
a book as testimony, would be
laughed at; but the letter of a court
gossip, If written some centuries ago.
is thought good historical evidence.
When we test newspaper evidence
as we do all other evidence, taking
into account the general situation,
the surrounding influences and the
individual bias of the journalist, we
shall find 1t excellent authority, con-
/ tributing to vivid narrative. This
is especially so for the decade of
$4,000 whei 1t is well worth while
to have the statements and opinions
of such great journalists 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 north
ern side is concerned, are not so i'm
portant for historical evidence as
during the decade preceding 1t. The
story of campaigns and battles. which
naturally fill so much of this space
is more accurately and thoroughly
told in tue monumental publication
OF our government, the official rec
ords of the union and confederate
armies. The southern newspapers.
however. give many useful political
facts nowhere else to be found and
they reflect admirably southern so
ciety. peculiar in that 1t 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 large extent
Independent of the daily newspaper.
Reconstruction was the work of con-
gress and its debates and acts are
the essential things"
Mr.. Rhodes summed up his paper
with the concluding remark: The
duty 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"