‘ [360] so; and, with a wider diffusion of the circulation, the press is more able to say for it.’ Mr. rich. ‘Is it a profession apart?’ Mr. Greeley. ‘No; usually the men have been brought up to the bar, to the pulpit, and so on; they are literary men.’ Chairman. ‘I presume that the non-reading class in the United States is a very limited one?’ Mr. Greeley. ‘Yes; except in the Slave States.’ Chairman. ‘Do not you consider that newspaper reading is calculated to keep up a habit of reading?’ Mr. Greeley. ‘I think it is worth all the schools in the country. I think it creates a taste for reading in every child's mind, and it increases his interest in his lessons; he is attracted from always seeing a newspaper and hearing it read I think.’ Chairman. ‘Supposing that you had your schools as now, but that your newspaper press were reduced within the limits of the press in England, do you not think that the habit of reading acquired at school would be frequently laid aside?’ Mr. Greeley. ‘I think that the habit would not be acquired, and that paper reading would fall into disuse.’ Mr. Ewart. ‘Having observed both countries, can you state whether the press has greater influence on public opinion in the United States than in England, or the reverse?’ Mr. Greeley. ‘I think it has more influence with us. I do not know that any class is despotically governed by the press, but its influence is more universal; every one reads and talks about it with us, and more weight is laid upon intelligence than on editorials; the paper which brings the quickest news is the thing looked to.’ Mr. Ewart. ‘The leading article has not so much influence as in England?’ Mr. Greeley. ‘No; the telegraphic dispatch is the great point.’ Mr. Cobden. ‘Observing our newspapers and comparing them with the American papers, do you find that we make much less use of the electric telegraph for transmitting news than in America?’ Mr. Greeley. ‘Not a hundredth part as much as we do.’ Mr. Cobden. ‘An impression prevails in this country that our newspaper press incurs a great deal more expense to expedite news than you do in New York. Are you of that opinion?’ Mr. Greeley. ‘I do not know what your expense is. I should say that a hundred thousand dollars a year is paid by our association of the six leading daily papers, besides what each gets separately for itself.’ Mr. Cobden. ‘Twenty thousand pounds a year is paid by your association, consisting of six papers, for what you get in common?’ Mr. Greeley. ‘Yes; we telegraph a great deal in the United States. Assuming ’
This text is part of:
New York. Mason. Brothers. . 1855.
Tufts University provided support for entering this text.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.