The New York herald., 1920-01-17


,ial comment in regard to the transaction
. the largest single transfer in the history
NJ journalistic Observation-Disclosures
& TIE NEW YORK SUN.
S'The sun" and "The New York Herald"
The paper in which these entirely per-
,'onal remarks appear is mentioned first
m the headline because Of It's seniority.
'rhe experimental daily leaflet in which
Sen Day. the Connecticut Valley Yam
0kee embodied a new and original con-
neption of Journalistic opportunity in this
rown antedated by not less than SO days
The initial number OF the similarly d.
ninutive' a9d inexpensive yet distinctly
individual sheet put forth at hazard by
the Banff County Scot-Frenchnan, James
Gordon Bennett. Both of these venture
some little papers sold for a cent at the
beginning; and both started with a page
area scarcely larger than a ladys handker-
chief, and only four pages Of them at
that
My acquaintance with the Sun and the
New York HERALD. arm now rather sorry
to say. covers a period Of sixty years,
going back to the outset OF the civil war.
During consdera bly, more than two-thirds
OF that time the acquaintance has been
close and continuous, and on one side.
at least, somewhat intimate The uniln-
portant circumstance has place here
merely because II may be held to give
some color of right to say things about
their respective characteristics and idisoyn-
etasies and careers and seniuses, and
about the characteristics and career and
genius of the man who has come by his
own energies into the sole ownership Of
both establishments and into the undivi-
ded responsibility for their future; things,
perhaps, which might not be said grace
fully by the Sun IL printed impcrsonally.
" -. sA~ g.. teA Rrr,kt hrra g
for indulgent consideration by the friends
of both newspapers
What strikes me first with regard to
this most notable of all newspaper unions
IN the history OF American journalism Is
that It suddenly brings under a. single
control and management (and this the
control, the management OF an undivided
ownership and direction, not OF a part
nership or corporate combination OF in
telligences and property interests) the two
great metropolitan dailies OF the older
class which seem to many observers to
have preserved in An uneQualled degree
through all the vcissitudes Of long paral-
lcl and long competitive courses each a
definite individuality, a distinct theory OF
conduct special entity and raison
d'etre. II is true OF newspapers as OF
people that many are hazy to the view,
however excellent in character and inten-
tons while others have contrived to
stand forth vividly with sharply focused
outlines, presenting marked traits like
persons of flesh and blood and real gray
matter.
Bnme the NEW York HERALD has meant
something different from the name OF
any of it's contemporaries. 1t has
meant this all over the world, stead
ily and persistently and consistently.
sver since the elder Bennett con-
ceived eighty-five years ago his simple
but impressive theory OF a newspa-
pers prime function, the independent.
fearless, non-partisan reporting OF all
mundane events. His idea OF a great
newspaper was not what had been
'ames Watson Webb's or William
-ullen Bryant's. It was not that OF
Senjamin F.. Day. who preceded him
in esta blishing the low cost press. II
vas not the idea which Horace Greeley,
The good philosopher with a baby face,
as Colonel Watterson has recently de-
scribed him, was to develop a few
years later in the Tribune. 1t was
not the theory of Raymond and his
earlier successors of the Times. 1t
was not Manton Marbles or William
Henry Hurlberts in the World before
Joseph Pulitzer. 1t was not exactly
sense OF human interest. OF good read
ing apart from the occasion OF the
theme, perhaps dominated even his con-
yenitally acute flair for news as pure
news. 1t was Benefits own. and though
Il came to influence strongly the as
pirations and practices of all the later
masters OF the art OF newspaper max
ing and to modify the whole system
Of news gathering and presentation by
the American press. IL remained al
most proprietary with the HERALD till
the HERALp's founders death and passed
intact TO be applied and extended and
improved by a son who had inherited
his fathers journalistic principles and
much of his genius.
The achievements OF the two Bcnnetts
cover almost the whole existence Of their
paper. There has been no other such ex-
ample OF continuous method. When the
father. in the smaller days OF unflinching
snterprise was personally securing the
city for items and bringing UP the yearly
income Of his property 60 the then un-
haard OF total OF 800. 900. Day was filling
the little Sun with reprint miscellany when
he was not going to the moon for inn
eainative humor. Later the Beaches On tho
sun caught the HERALD idea and for years
ran that journal a lively race OF ocean
psckets and newspaper express trains and
carrier pigeons for the prompt acquisition
and distribution OF the essential material.
E,,t then. ard for more than a half CEN
turv. 10 the vision OF the news reading
n:blio the HERALD continued TO be the
chosen type and foremost exemplar OF
swift news getting at any cost Of distance
or cash.
III.
The vitality of the tradition could have
heen subjected TO no severer test than was
imposed by the voluntary and prolonged
ren1oteness OF the HERALp's second pro-
prietor from headquarters here. Yet
during tho many years OF his residence
IN France, and in spite Of that accident OF
absenteeisn, the newspaper gained in
prestige and power. The classic instances
of mighty enterprise, the Stanley expedi-
tIon TO Central Africa TO discover DR..
Livingstone. the Jeannette's attempt to
reach tho North Pole, and a hundred ex-
ploits scarcely second to these in interest
ard importance. were almost coincident
with this absentee period. The same period
saw the building up OF the Evening Tcle-
gram as an afternoon journal With q
great constituency, and likewise the estab-
iishment In Paris of an American news
paper on which every travelling fellow
citizen Of ours has been for years accus-
TONED 10 depend. And the HBRALp itself,
lese than two years after the death OF
a., aAcond James Gordon Bennett. now