Page:History of American Journalism.djvu/307

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When The Tribune learned that Raymond was going to start The Times to dispute the Whig field in New York, it promptly gave notice to its carriers that if any of them should get up routes for the new paper, they would forfeit all rights to carry The Tribune. The large blanket sheets likewise opposed a new rival, and did what they could to insinuate that the new paper was going to be a rabid abolition sheet. When Raymond wrote his prospectus he took care to outline somewhat at length just what The Times hoped to become. It was going to print the local news of the day, insert correspondence from European countries, give full reports of Congressional and legislative proceedings, review books, and contain criticism of music, drama, painting, and any form of art which might merit atten- tion. His statement about the editorial policy was of course the most important. The Times would inculcate devotion to the Union, the Constitution, obedience to law, and a generous love of that personal and civil liberty which the Constitution and laws are made to preserve: while it would exert and exercise the right freely to discuss every subject of public interest, it would not countenance, however, any improper interference on the part of the people of one locality with the institutions, or even the prejudices, of any other; it would seek to allay, rather than to excite, agitation; it would substitute reason for preju- dice and make cool and intelligent judgment take the place of passion in all discussions of public affairs.

After the first issue of The Times appeared on September 18, 1851, subscriptions came in rapidly and advertising soon fol- lowed. It was not so easy to start a paper, however, in 1851 as it had been in the early thirties when Bennett started The Herald. The Hoe press and the mechanical outfit necessary for a daily paper cost, at a low estimate, at least fifty thousand dollars. To compete with the papers already in existence Raymond was forced to hire competent editorial assistants at a much larger salary than he received when he started to work on The Tribune. Over one hundred thousand dollars was sunk in the enterprise before it made a profit, and it was a long time before the paper made the amount which Raymond mentioned to Jones when they crossed the frozen Hudson in 1850. In September, 1861,