, p . xiii.
rulers of the country, and those who, according to the Con
stitution, were supposed to be.” 94
“ The development of the Press as an independent political
power," says Pebody, “ dates from the Reform Bill in 1831. Till
then newspapers had never thought of discussing the principles
ofGovernment in their broadest sense. They attached themselves
to this or that Minister, attacked or defended this or that treaty ,
this or that policy . But in 1831 the Press struck out a bolder
line. It, so to speak , set up for itself.” 95 This independence gained after long struggle has, in the opinion of some, been threatened by masterful editors or proprietors.
“ If there was ever anything in English public life ,” says a recent writer, “ that could properly be called a 'herd ', it was that
shepherded by the crook labeled The Times," while “ each uses journalism to his own patriotic ends, feeling that patriotism consists in his having his way .” 98
Yet these very conditions have been to somea reason explain ing why the Daily Mail was, to them , as inevitable at the end of the nineteenth century as The Times had been a hundred years
before, - a vast literate public had been created by the Act of
1870 , the working classes were appealed to by the press, political conditions growing out of the Boer War had fostered discussion , and speed and business efficiency rendered it possible to fill the need . 97
The function of the newspaper has radically changed from the
practically passive one of transmitting news to the active one of reflecting public opinion and of so influencing it that it has won
for itself the title of “ the fourth estate ." But even this statement can not pass unchallenged . The question as to whether the press
reflects public opinion , guides public opinion , or forms public opinion may be deemed " purely academic,” yet the historian 94 R . A . Scott-James, Influence of the Press, pp. 92 - 109. See also S. V . Makower, Some Notes upon the History of the Times; A . I. Shand , “ The Centenary of ' The Times', " National Review , February , 1888 , 10 : 841 - 856 ; James Creelman , “ The London ‘ Times',” McClure's Magazine, October,
1895, 5: 387-397. 95 C . Pebody, English Journalism and the Men Who Made It, p. 178 . 96 J. M . Robertson, “ The Press Fetish ,” Contemporary Review , January , 1916, 109 : 49 - 56 .
7°R . A . Scott-James, The Influence of the Press, pp. 175 -199.
