tion of which would react unfavorably on the party . Yet even
here general statements must be qualified. In the early history of a comparatively undeveloped country, the value of government printing is very great and is eagerly sought, since without laws
to be printed and politicians to have organs, newspapers could hardly be kept alive.18 The thorough - going party organ is probably less frequently found to -day than it has been in times past, it is probably less influential than it formerly was, its authoritativeness on all questions outside of political ones may be unquestioned , yet its publication of political news and its editorial expression of opinion on party questions can not pass unquestioned by the historian . Even the independent political press may have its
political animosities towards individuals or specific political
questions, and on these special points its opinions and its state ment of facts must be discounted . The names of Mr. Bryan
and of Mr. Roosevelt have been anathema to more than one otherwise independent newspaper ; free trade and protection are antagonistic and the support of one by the press implies the condemnation of the other. The specific question of the admission
of wood pulp free of duty , a matter of vital interest to the news paper on its business side, had the support of the press in 1908
and this must have vitiated the authority of press opinions on the tariff at that time. The intimate association of the press with government and with political parties must warn the historian that he can not
invariably accept at face value all that every newspaper prints either for or against the government or the political party
temporarily in power. Hemust go behind the face of the returns and determine how far the value of these statements is impaired by the favors the individual paper has received at the hands of
those having political authority . The press may not be openly subsidized by the government, yet this result may be practically
accomplished by the low postal rates granted it, by the awards
of public printing and political advertising, by appointments to office, or by other favors shown . The “ caution ” signal always 18 F . W . Scott, Newspapers and Periodicals of Illinois, 1814 – 1879, pp. xxxvii- xl.
