DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN NEWSPAPER. 203 



of journalism liaviiig iiiially established the fact that the chief 

 function of the daily newspaper is to publish the news of the world, 

 the problem of the business is how to obtain the news surely, accu- 

 rately, and promptly. The ocean cable has taken the place of the 

 sailing vessel, the trained correspondent has succeeded the occa- 

 sional contributor, the electric telegraph and telephone have en- 

 tirely superseded the mail in the transmission of domestic news, 

 and every event of human interest throughout the civilized world 

 is placed before millions of readers within a few hours of its actual 

 occurrence. 



The collection of news is not restricted by any question of the 

 cost of obtaining it. Fifty years ago it was considered a remark- 

 able feat for one newspaper to obtain information of an impor- 

 tant event in advance of competitors. To-day it is a matter of 

 comment if any newspaper fails to publish all the news desired by 

 its readers. If a war is fought on any part of the earth there are 

 reporters on the firing line, and no expense is spared in collecting 

 and transmitting by the quickest method available full reports of 

 any event of world-wide importance. To-day the hiring of spe- 

 cial trains, the stringing of a special line of telegraph wire, the 

 charter of a ship, the fitting out of an exploring expedition, or any 

 other great enterprise in the way of collecting information for the 

 newspapers of the United States, is so much a part of the everyday 

 business of journalism that such things are accepted as a matter 

 of course, or cause no more than a passing comment. 



Half a century ago the result of a national convention or elec- 

 tion was not known all over the country for weeks afterward. In 

 the case of a national convention to-day, telegraph wires lead from 

 the convention hall into the offices of all the newspapers in the 

 larger cities. An operator sits near the platform of the presiding 

 officer, and with a muffled key he sends over the wire a full re- 

 port of the proceedings, with a description of every incident of 

 interest. At the other end of the line is an operator at a type- 

 casting machine receiving the report and putting it into lines as 

 fast as received. When a candidate for President has been nomi- 

 nated, extra editions of the daily papers are selling on the streets 

 of cities a thousand miles away almost before the applause for the 

 winning man has died out in the convention hall. The people of 

 every city and town in the United States where a newspaper is 

 published would feel themselves cheated of their rights if they 

 failed to receive news of the result of an election by midnight of 

 the day on which the ballots were cast. 



In enterprise and originality the journalism of America leads 

 the world at the end of the nineteenth century. As a profession, 



