DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN NEWSPAPER. 193 



days. AVlien they arrived in a city or town they would tell the 

 latest news from the places they had visited, and the next issue 

 of the local paper would coiitaiii a story beginning, "The Rev. 

 Mr. Bland, the traveling missionary, relates," etc., or, " Captain 

 Smith, of the schooner , reports having heard," etc. Infor- 

 mation received in this way might relate to Indian uprisings, fires, 

 floods, crimes, accidents, or political events; but in every case the 

 published account would be interspersed with opinions of the nar- 

 rator and the comments of the editor who prepared the story for 

 publication. For news of events happening in the larger cities, 

 the journals of the first half of the century depended almost en- 

 tirely on reprinting from exchanges. They had no regular corre- 

 spondents any^vhere, and a paper published in New York would 

 reprint from the papers of Boston and Philadelphia such of the 

 news of those cities as impressed the editor as being of more than 

 local interest. During the War of 1812, the subsequent Indian 

 wars, and the conflict with Mexico, news of battles and movements 

 of armies in the field was obtained by the slow process of waiting 

 for ofiicial reports to the Government or private letters from offi- 

 cers and men at the front. The Mexican War stimulated the pub- 

 lic demand for news, increased, the circulation of newspapers, and 

 did more than any other event up to that time to arouse the 

 editors of the country to the fact that the people wanted early 

 and complete information of what was going on in the world, 

 rather than individual opinions on general problems. While 

 that struggle was in progress the arrival of the weekly mail in 

 a remote village was an event of importance. The inhabitants 

 would gather in large numbers at the post office, and the meager 

 war news contained in the newspapers would be read aloud. 

 The postmaster or some subscriber to a paper would often post 

 a copy of the latest journal in some conspicuous place in the 

 town, and from that simple beginning there was developed the 

 newspaper bulletin board, where the public may obtain brief 

 information of. great events before the full report can be put 

 in type. 



After the division of the voters of the country into organized 

 political parties, the tariff, banking and currency, the acquisition 

 of additional territory, and States rights developed into great na- 

 tional questions, precipitating prolonged and heated discussion by 

 the statesmen of that period. This condition stimulated the 

 growth of a certain class of newspapers, and brought into promi- 

 nence many writers of ability. The statesmen and politicians of 

 that time turned to the press as an available and valuable medium 

 through which to disseminate arguments. They sought to con- 



