Canton High School - Echo Yearbook (Canton, MA)

Page 21 text:

THE ECHO 21 graphs of stale news -brought by the latest packet from London, a letter from a citizen who was traveling abroad, a protest against some meas- ure of local misgovernment, and sun- dry advertisements for the sale of Indian bitters or the recovery of a stray horse or a runaway slave. The colonial papers were crude and had only a small circulation, for ex- ample, only three hundred copies of the NEWS LETTER were printed each week, since all work must be done by hand. There was little news in the papers, because the editors as- sumed that everyone knew what was going on in the local community and relied upon foreign exchanges and private letters for information about outside affairs. Then too, early editors placed no premium upon accuracy, nor did they go out of their way to verify re- ports. By the time the new Repub- lic had its third President, Jefferson is said to have remarked that he never believed anything he read in the pa- per except the advertisements. The reason for this uncertainty is not hard to find. In the days of the founder of Democracy, newspapers were, with apologies to Benjamin Franklin, universal instructors in all the arts and sciences. The adver- tisements were so few in number and so small in size that they afforded no permanent hiding place for the spirit of lying . When, however, the paper began to give more in detail, not only the gossip of the homes but also of the stores, Beelzebub, and all the members of his family moved to the more commodious quarters in the advertising section, where he still re- sides. In colonial times the influence of these small newspapers was great. They formed the only reading matter of the people, with the exception of the Bible, and were passed from hand to hand, memorized, and quoted by thousands. The sayings of Benjamin Franklin, published in his Poor Richard's Almanac, survive to the present day as popular proverbs. Because ol' this influence among the common people, the colonial gov- ernors objected to newspapers saying anything about political matters. In 1735, the tyrannical royal governor of New York removed the chief jus- tice of the colony from office for per- sonal reasons. Peter Zenger, who edited a weekly newspaper, criticized this action of the governor, declaring that it threatened slavery to the peo- ple. Zenger was prosecuted for libel and the new chief justice, a crony of the governor, presided at the trial and was plainly determined on punishing Zenger severely. Lawyers hired to defend Zenger lost their licenses, while the judge tried to limit the jury to deciding only whether Zenger was responsible for the publication, fa matter not deniedb, reserving to him- self the decision as to how far the words were punishable. This was an evil custom of English courts in such cases to a much later period. The aged Andrew Hamilton, one of the foremost lawyers in the colo- nies, journeyed from Philadelphia to New York to offer his services in Zenger's behalf, and in his address to the jury argued convincingly that public criticism is a necessary safe- guard for free government, and that the jury must have the right to ac- quit Zenger if it found that his charges were true. Men who injure and oppress the people, said the law- yer bluntly, Hprovoke them to cry out and complain, and then make that very complaint the foundation for new persecution. This cause is not the cause of a poor printer alone, nor of New York alone, but of every free man in America. He called upon the jury to guard the liberty to which Nature and the laws of this country have given us the rightf-the liberty of ex- posing and opposing arbitrary power, in these parts of the world at least, by speaking and writing the truth. A free people are not obliged by any law to support a governor who goes about to destroy a province. The Declaration of Independence was not signed until forty-one years later, but the American newspaper declared itself free when the jury de- clared Peter Zenger not guilty of criminal libel. The victory for free speech was celebrated joyously throughout the colonies. A later his- torian called this trial the morning fflontinua-rl on page 223

Page 20 text:

20 THE ECHO g song, The Star Spangled Ban- ner, is of English origin and used to be a drinking song. But the Ameri- cans, always in search for some- thing new, became a little tired of English music, which they had adopt- ed, and tried with all their might to produce something of their own. They did succeed somewhat and produced a few songs such as Dixie, to the strains of which all the emotional feeling of the South is aroused, and the Battle Hymn of the Republic, of which the North is very proud. We must in conclusion say, that the heart story of our great wars, especially the War of Independence, the War of 1812, and the Civil War, is to be found in the patriotic songs of those periods. At the present time, pure folk music tends to go out of use among the people, as popular music takes its place. Folk music now is taught in the public schools, so that the present generation may learn to appreciate it. The radio also tries to revive pure folk music through different methods, but people nowadays care for popular music, as it changes very often. Of course there are reasons for this. America is very much handicapped in the production of folk music, both by its business activity and by the fact that it is a gathering of many nations, which are not yet amalgamat- ed into a distinct type. Our country is too large to have a common folk song, and being represented by many nationalties, its folk music is sectional rather than national. The South is the only section that has developed a folk song, distinctly different from the music of other nations, as it pos- sesses characteristic surroundings, and a race of natural singers in its colored population. As to the North and East, we have an entirely dif- ferent story. They are both too busy in their commercial activities to pro- duce folk music. As to the West, we can only say that as yet it has not developed a singer who can picture ranch life in beautiful tones. I have attempted to trace American folk music step by step to give some idea of how it was produced and un- der what circumstances it developed. We have seen that folk music is the spontaneous expression of a natural musical instinct of the human race. The origin of American folk music is to be found in the tunes of the Ameri- can Indian. The development, as I have shown, has been largely brought about through plantation life and through the influence of European na- tions. I have also considered pa- triotic music as an important factor of our folk music, as was especially shown during tha early wars of our national life. We, as citizens of Ameri- ca, being still pioneers in the iield of folk music in comparison to other nations, should therefore further the education of folk music with all pos- sible means, so that it may be handed down from generation to generation! N. Rasetzki, '31. JOURNALISIVI IN AMERICAN HISTORY PUBLICK OCCURENICES, the precursor of the modern newspaper in this country, was undertaken by Benjamin Harris in 1690, to cure or to charm the spirit of lying, so preva- lent in the New England Colonies. At least, such was the assertion made in the first and only issue of the sheet, which the government prompt- ly suppressed. Journalism lay dormant during the short period between the demise of the lamented PUBLICK OCCUR- EN CES and the birth of the BOS- TON NEWS LETTER, the first real newspaper in America, which ap- peared in 1704. To it belongs the hon- or of employing the first reporter, fwho was also editor, copy reader, and printer.J This gentleman's first assignment was to cover a hanging of six pirates, which he did very creditably and faithfully, saying little, to be sure, of the last moments of the buccaneers, but giving in full the lengthy two column prayer of the clergyman, which, after all, was what his public most desired. However, the newspapers of colo- nial days bore little resemblance to the great metropolitan dailies of our time. They were more like a high school paper. In their four small pages would be found a few para- 4Continued on page 211

Page 22 text:

Q THE ECHO g star of that liberty which subsequent- ly revolutionized America. The royal officers were correct in assuming that a free press would stir up public discontent with the govern- ment. The feeling against Great Britain on the eve of the revolution was strongest in the news centers: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, An- napolis, and Williamsburg'. In the newspaper oiiices ardent young revo- lutionists wrote appeals to their countrymen to resist Great Britain. These little newspapers were scat- tered around in the coffee houses and club rooms, spreading rebellion every- where. They helped carry the news of the revolutionary movement and to create a nation by enabling the citizens in every part to know what was going on in the most distant places. The Royalists of Boston called the ofiices of the MASSACHUSETTS SPY the sedition foundry. During the war these received a powerful there appeared numerous political pamphlets, the most effective of which, Thomas Paine's, Common Sense , was reprinted in thousands of copies and circulated among four mil- lion readers. It contended that inde- pendence was vital, not conciliation with the mother country, and proved most influential in forcing the nnal separation. It is doubtful if any other printed work in American His- tory has had a greater influence than Common Sense . With the successful conclusion of the war, newspapers multiplied and a new period of growth began during the nineteenth century, which was to build up a free American press un- equalled by any in the world for ac- curacy and freedom from arbitrary governmental censorship. Following the adoption of the Constitution, and the rise of the two political parties, Federalists and Jeffersonians, the discussion of political issues became of supreme importance. Hamilton supported the UNITED STATES GAZETTE, while Jefferson gave his utmost to the NATIONAL GAZ- ETTE. In the contest over the adoption of the Constitution, Hamilton, Madison, and John Jay wrote a remarkable impetus, and in addition, series of papers in defense of the new plan of government, later collected and now published as a school text- book on American government. Among later political writers should be mentioned John C. Calhoun, from South Carolina, the famous statesman and defender of slavery, and Daniel Webster, whose speeches on the Con- stitution and the Union were almost as widely circulated in the north as the Federalist itself. Some reasons for the marvelous growth of newspapers during the first half of the nineteenth century were: 1. The telegraph and rail- way, multiplying the means of securing information. 2. Advertising, which grew in proportion as the cities grew in size and population, enabling the newspaper own- er to reduce the cost of his paper and allowing the man in the street to have his pa- per every day. 3. Universal E d u c a t i o n. which made it possible for even the humblest to read. 4. There appeared a number of newspapers of national importance. One of these was the NEW YORK TRIB- UNE, founded by Horace Greeley. Daily and weekly editions of this paper were published, and thosuands of farmers in the East and West relied upon the TRIB- UNE for their national news, and more important, their political opinions. 5. Improved presses. About 1850 the rapid rotary press driven 'by steam took the place of the old-fashioned hand press in the largest newspaper plant and made it possible to turn out thou- sands of copies an hour. Cheap printing, combined with advertising, made books and newspapers available to all at small cost. 6. In order to encourage the reading of newspapers, the government fixed the post- age rate for printed material fContinued on page 231