MR. GLADSTONE ON THE PRESS.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 84, 20 December 1864, Page 3

MR. GLADSTONE ON THE PRESS.

Mr. .Gladstone, iii.lris speech aY Manchester on * Friday, after noticing that the agitation -for the repeal of the paper duty was a very natural^ one, expressed his belief thajvthe: material benefits of the repeal had yet to receive a great' development, and proceeded tb'bxpress his gratitude to thppromotersof the repeal in connection with the moral ; and political consequence of ; its effects upon the public' press. I am not} he said, going to_ say one word' in disparagement * of the public pr(}f9 at , any ' period of { its ! existence. ; Mjr belief- is that from the first it has been an organ of good' immensely preponderating- over the mischief. - 1 mean now as it existed three, four, five generations ago ; In our time as it existed twenty years ago, it had reached to a position of remarkable prominence and utility. The great organs: o f the press as you well know; are conducted by some of the most accomplished minds of tile country. Many of the articles written iii those papers before the repeal of the paper duty were worthy of taking a place in the permanent literature of England. : I well remember being incompany with Sir R. Peel, not less than thirty years back, when a question was raised about the;, authorship of "Junms." You well roineinber how great a national as well as a literary sensation was produced at the time by the publication of those letters ; in point of fact, the intense controversy with . respect to ; the authorship may enable us to .measure the importance of' those letters as a political phenomenon of the times. But when that question was in discussion in private conversation, the literary merit of the letters themselves was aho brought under view, and I recollect that Sir -Robert Peel gave at once his opinion that the -letters -of " Junius " were not as well written' as the Times: (Cheers). ■It was a great thing to' have a; press in wliich the mind of the country was so', ably and. fully represented 1 --!!! which public affairs and the conduct of public men were so freely and incess-,. antly canvassed and discussed. That discussion is of inestimable value to the .country, and to none of more value than to public men themselves. Certainly, my own view of the .'working of the press is that upon the whole and for every domestic question it is nearly perfect. _■ Not that thereare no passing prejudices and errors, but that with perfect freedom of discussion; and _ with, organs representing every section, of opinion, /passions, prejudices, and errors neutralise and correct one another. But with respect to foreign policy; you cannot have so unmixed a result, or such unmixed good, because when strong national- sentiment arises with regard to some questions of foreign policy, then the tide in this, country, flows one way, in a degree which is rarely the case with respect to domestic questions, there . isj .undoubtedly, a <*reat risk that the press,- partaking of the national sympathies, vvill lose a great part of its utility as a corrector of error, and inflame the Aery prejudices which itis desirable to: correct and; to remove. ' (Hear, hear). As regards foreign policy, the conductors of the press .themselves reqmre the greatest moral self-command and self-restraint. -As regards domestic policy, it is a marvellous ny Btifcutioni wHch'in its practical working as aiwhole comes near to perfection; but -still it cannot be. denied that twenty years ago it was not tlie^press of the people. It could the price at wliich it was sold— it could not and-did-not.conr) vey to the people constant and full and impartial information with respect to "piihlic afiairs. , It was the press of the upper classes ; it answered every; idtellcctual demand we could make. It^svas tha press to a great degree of the middle class, or of the upper povtiQn.of the middlg clas?. T»ror them too it was a satisfactory, institution. But this genial and boneficial mllujence: which it bad for the

minority of the country, it exercised only in a very limited degree for the majority of tha people. The repeal of the paper duty has brought about a beneficial revolution "in that respect. You kno-.v how the press of England — I , believe, all things considered, the cheapest in tho world — ia bought by millions, or at least by hundreds of thousands, and carries into every house — if,'indeel, it were 1 not found there before — but it strengthens in 1 every house those sentiments of 'affectionate loy--1 alty to the throne, of confidence in the legislature, _ and profound attachment to tho iustitutiona an. l affectionate love for the country iv which they were born, and with a higher pride and hope of j England. Thus it has leal to great and • worthy 1 results. Again, I say, now every angry passion has subsided, and it is not necessary to recall a painful feeling even by incidental allusion, wa must, as I think, as a people, rejoicp that tlio press of England has been set entirely freo from every legislative and every fiscal restraint — that it is as free as any portion of our institutions, and that it holds a place among them so worthy and ■ so distinguished. (Cheers.) '• '_