The New York Herald Newspaper, October 7, 1851, Page 6

THE NEW YORK HERALD. Bc., Mo., Bee ease re naman The follo Nonteeets will place bo: with respect the committee ite and whether the iy to press in the United States, bsonce of a stamp in the United States is }- tive of any bad ts, in your —I will readi- ly answer your question. We could not comme hhend the operation of the stamp; it would be im- practicable, under our institutions, every way. I can state something with regard to what the press is doing in our country, but | cannot im: the ap- ion ofthe stamp at all; it would require an entire revolution in the habits and feelings of the You ‘are the Srublisher of @ newspaper, are you not’—I am. ‘What is the name of it!—The New York Tribune. At what price is it published'—In the first . of it—(pro- there np apes Capers that is the size ducing the same.) It is not pitet wn se a paper ‘as those in England ; it publiuhed dally for ‘What te the seviaon st ase t—It is a lit- wal eel Se hen a, & pay culate iow Yo. and the neighborhood, or does .. te exten- poate! ena other parts of the States!—I should say that 10,000 copies are circulated within the cit} and its vicinity, and then the balance is pena ndan f dy divided between the mail suoscribers and the oth- or towns wherever it is sold; say 5,000 are sold in other towns like Boston, Phi ~ e and Albany, and sent by mailto sul bers. There isa and semi-weekly in the same form. [ must first say that the daily of that size contains half Yeading, perhaps, ax probably half advertisements —four pages of reading and four of advertisements; ‘that is one penny, or less, by the *; it is five dol- Jars for 313 copies fur a year, wh is less than a y when it is subscribed for and is taken from | office by the yeu: ss : Can you give ibe committee any idea of the num- ber of the New York daily papers that are publish- ed !—The number of daily pe rs thature publish- | Sais few York are 15 in all, tn tho city. Mr. Cospgn—How many morning, and how many | evening papers are there ‘—Tem morning and five ean, Eee some of the morning papers are alzo published in the evening ; we publish two eve- editions, like the Times, and other papers.— ‘There are five distinctive evening pores. There are fifteen daily papers in New York ?— | Yes. ‘What is the populationof New York ‘—Five hun- | dred and seventeen thousand, but with the suburbs | peven hundred thousand. Can you inform the committee what the aggre- gate circulation of those daily papers is’—There are five of them cucap ones, at ld. or $d, whose aggregate circulation is a little over 100,000 copies | Fong ; the other ten are sold dearer, that is, at, do! per annum, 4 little more than 14d. each, mot 2d. a copy. ©! tnose ten I should say that the average circulation is about 3,000, being 30,000 of the dearer papers, the commercial sheets, and 100,- 000 of the cheap journals ‘The aggregate is 130,000 papers daily ‘—Yes. What proportion of those, at a rough guess, | should you say are consumed by the 700,000 inhabi- | tants of New York, and what proportion do copaene are sent to remote distances '— About are circulated in the city and its suburbs, aad about 45,000 are sent away | Cuairman—W hat are the postage regulations in | refer od wwe trausmitted by post? | re bas been one cent per copy wit the Bote Sherol: is published, or vishin tbo miles; if out of the State, by the new postage regulations, which will come into effect on the Ist of July, it is reduced about one-bal!, except for long distances, California, which is also reduced, for 1,000 miles or over the rates, will be equal to what they now are; out of the state over one hundred | miles, it was one cent and a half (three farthings,) | and acent withinthe state, andacent and a beyond that; and it is to be reduced one halt, ex- within certain distances; the average roduc‘ion, mi ive the news first, and in tice piracy dues not inflict inj Ce you 1—Lwould bre that should it it rather than not; they cannot as we could. The fast that certain journals have the earliest news soon becomes notorious, and almost every wants his nowspaper with his broak- fast, detrennd, pormiee i hours of five and or past seven. They take the morning to rei with their bi fast, ano those who Take the news after we issue it cannot have it in time to deliver it to ges f large seseave - uitable morning sea- son, we re; it as of uence. Mr. Ewanre D Joes the interest of ne intelligence evaporate so soon ?—Not that; but a subsoriber must have the puper that gives him his news ix the morning before he goes tw bis work. You retard the publisation of news sometimes !— Yes, when we have important intelligence. the preference to the parties who have get them out in our regular way, dat we do not let a@ copy out of the hands of our confidential agents till the hour, rxy of tive o'clock in the morning. hour; there is one fas <r, ane ae cylinder, which will work 20,000, they say: I call it 18,000. Mr. Conpex--Do you beiveve that there is a press at work in New York » will print 18,000 copies an hour !—Yesa; | hay ait at work, and it will throw off as fast as men cin feed sheets upon it, Have you seen the press that is used for tho Times ?—Yes Do you consider that the press at New York office’—Yes; the press at tae Times is fed on what Iwould calladrum or vertical cylinder; we feed greater or type cylinder (ne man stands over the top, and another beiow, «ud so on, feeding, and tac four cylinders are (ei on each side of the large cy- linder, on which the form revolves,and they feed the four paper cylioders, one above the other, on each side of the large cylinder; the sheets are laid | over and over on the fuce as fast a3 the great cylin- | der can be turned, and every time it makes one re- | Volution it has printed eight journals. Is that machinery ued by the proprietor of a | Must not that require the use of considerable | capital?—Yes; the Sun concern is worth a quarter | of a wiilion of doilars, £50,000 were given tor it. Do you speak ot copyright and plant 1—There was very little property besijee. [t was sold for a uarter of a million of dollars, and it was very cheap. Fi hy thousand pounds for a halfpenny paper?— es What is the circulation’—Fifty thousand; but the circulation is a very light matter; there és no prefit upon that; but the advertising would be, I suppose, £60 a day, or G00 aday. ould you furnish the commitiee with some sta- tistieal information as to the newspaper press of America!—Yes, when our census returas are pub- lished. I should say that the whole number of journals printed in the United States is about 3,000 now. Ifyou count, for instance, one daily, with its weeok!. semi- weekly. ali as one paper, the num- 00 journals published. . ere 2,500 with distinct and separate titles? —Yes, distinct establishments; of which about 2,000 are devoted to genera! intelligence and politic: and the others are devoted to science, religion, an education. I think, will be live more than one third Cuaraaan—It is to be reduced te half a cent | within the State, but for all greater distances it is | o, it 1s not to remain as it | was; but there is Use scale, increasing, | say, over 500 miles, and increasing again over 1,000 | it increaces because the news; rs consti- | tute the bulk of the mails; and thus, for distances Einar think the postage wil bes Ihde higher | jains, | thi a lit igher poy oye! Tebink it will be pie rane nom week: ers, instead of 73; there little increase” ‘sanmnees over 2,000 mies | years is paid every time the paper is sent, is it 0, ithe generally paid by ihe quarter 3 a man jor uarters je, if a weel fom if inthe State, 13 f oarmignst Mer, the j 19 cents. Mr. Ewart—How do th —- check the collection of the postage '--[t has not been very | closely checked Mr. TurxeLi.—Supposing an individul wants to | send newspaper, how is the postage paid !--He | does send it; but | think, since the reduction of the pos five or six years ago, an individual news- paper to be paid for in advance ; if you pat in | ‘one not coming @ newspaper office, you have to pay in advance HAIRMAN—Loes the post office deliver these | Bapers to the particalar parties to whom they are | lirected’—Yes; but they make some objection to | deli them when we send large packages of we send twenty copies a year | kly) for twenty dollars, a li tess than a | penny cach. They object to the delivering of those without the directions We send, for instance, a package of fifty to one office; and they have a list of fifty subscribers, and as they come in they de- liver the papers to them; but they sometimes say, “No; you must write the names on each of the | papers.” Ofcourse they must deliver them if the | Dame: are on them Mr. Trrneti—lf they are not delivered, they are cailed for’—Yes; they are delivered to the | —- who have boxes; to subscribers at ir houses, they are not distributed without an extra charge Mr. Kicn--Where the postage has been either a cent cr a cent and a half, that has been irrespective of weight. bas it not!—Yee, entirely. Was there no limit at ail '—None. | Hereafter will there be any limit '—I have knowa journals sent very large as to si: he limit now is 900 equare #, and if you exceed that, you pay a double postage. You stated that the weekly newspapers cost a | penny, or two cents -Y hen sent to clubs of more for a paper, be- t part of the weekly is two paper; mee eaca number; but to the to ove dollar a year—twenty Tne object is to geta = -— jon . ‘_ different by mak- them ap. eo number of cit; are taken 50 as to come to about one penny coah to subsoriber, and a haitpeuoy for his postage. does not charge the pxstage '—No, | is paid per quarter in alvance, at the | re the paper is delivered. | Cnasnocan— 08 net report, Pye papers, proceedings 0! ongress in the way in which | the og in Parliement |} in asbington journals, in which | them ver; fully; I think qaite as full; reported here We have a telegraphi rej of a by some distanguish- Po a horong ae Mr. Clay or Mr. Calhoun, or leading men ; they are reported fally ; of the speec! contents of the daily jeurval The dollars a year for a tingle copy of a that will be clubs it is reduce oo for twenty doliars 4 f fF hes are not, except that they are sketched in # telegraphic report, occupying columns a day, but strevehing sometimes to four or five Mr. Ewart—Your newspaper is of a more local character than the press in this country, is it not ‘It is, | presume, more local than the London journals, because ite circulation is more cireum- seribed abundant by the fact that the local journals are so Cmainman—You g> to considerable expense in obtaining news for your papers from various raed “= a °. you a ‘Yes; but la > itis by telegraphing from cilferen: parts of the country. ‘The leading journals have « drreapondente; ut the di eamshi ps do not tuck great item of expense is telegraphing, am off boats sometimes; at Halifax, we sowetimes cond off boats to inter cept them. You have eorrespondents in different places, who up to you any occurrences that may be int wg Yer, all over the country; » net- — employ thore correspondent: to pay constant attention to such things '—Yes; butcelegrapbing is done mainly by. @D association, crlied the Asso- ciated Press of Now York. Do you complain of piracy in the United States; for instance, of one publisher who has not himself been at the expence of obtaining news, copying im- | Now an advertisement duty would — 3 And they are published at all intervals, from thrice a . Mr. Ewakt--Your principal profit is derived from advertisements, is it not! Yes, on daily papors. CuammMan-—-With reference to the Sun paper, you stated, in your iast examination, that t! e cir culation was large, but that the profit derived there. from was from the odveriaing Tae profit is nothing on the circulation | will state how, inour country, there being no duty cn the advertisements, the prices are very muck less for advertising The prices ran; from 25 cents up to any amount, that is to say, 25 cents is the lowest; for instance, the advertisoment of arcligious meeting, or auy public ering, will be rome 25 cents, orls. of the money of this country; the consequence is, that the amount of their advertisements is enormous. Every religious meeting, or meeting to take place of any religious society, bonovolent or hilantbropic, is advertised in all the journals, and Sems a very large proportion of our receipts, though the receipts, in e: are very small. We regard those asa ion of the news of the day; and advertising which p »ssesses a public intere: is done at a less paice than advertisemente inten’ for the pecuniary prifit of the advertiser. new pers. Its operation is this: your duty the me on an advertisement in a journal where itis worth ten times as much, for instance in a urnal of 50,000 circulation, as ia a journal with 000, although the value of the article is twenty timcs as muc! duty once a yg once @ monuh!—Yes, some twice or | y- precisely as thowgh you were to lay a tax of 1s. a day on haa J day’s labor that a man were to do; on a man’s labor which is worth, say 2s., it would be destructive; while by that man who earns 20y., it would be very lightly felt. It would entirely destroy new papers. An advertisement is worth but acertain amount, and the public soon get an idea what it is wor advertising, ou prevent an; coming to a n tablishment. aavertisement those who advertise inthe Swn aod our well snathioked | journals, they could afford in charge @ price to in- clude the di anddo very well; but in new concern the wivertisements would not be worth the ount of the duty, and the consequenc would be utterly witaheld. Now the advertise- ments are one main source of the value of daily iness take them in Dainly for ti! For instance, at one tim York, our auctioneers were ap- inte d by law, and were of course party politicians, Pod one jocna |, which was high in the confidence of the party in power, obtained'not a law but an un- derstanding that all the auctioneers appoisted shoald advertise in that jourval Now, though that journal has ceased to be of that party, and the auctioneers wre no longer appeinted by the State, yet that nal has almost onopoly of the auctioneers’ ‘business, because at a certain time ail the auctoin- ners were obliged to advertise in that paper; con- ecquently, ail the men who buy and seli at auction were obliged to take the paper ; an? now, although the necessity has gone away, yot still every adv tiser by auction mu t advertise in that journal, be cause bo knows that purchasers are looking thore, and every purchaser by auction must take that journal in, because he kows that the advertise ‘ments by auction will be there, without regard to the goodpess of the paper, but si Ny because of its containing thore advertisements; all tho great dry goods interest, with the correspomding interests, must take that paper, and they continue to take it; and preeicely in that way the advertisng duty is an enormous belp to any paper which has the most circulation; ittends to throw the advertising al- waya on the greatest concern, snd the persons who take, oa | know men in this town do take, one jour- nal wainly for ite advertisements, must take the Times, because everythirg is advertised there; com sequently they do take it—advertisers must "adver- tine in it for the same reason. If we bad a daty on adverticements now, | will say not only that it would be imporsible to build a new concern up in in New York against the competition of the older ones, but it would be imposible to preserve the weaker papers from being swallowed up by the stronger ones : Mr. Coptx—Do you consider that the fact which ow heard stated, that the Times newspaper for the fat 16 years has been increasing vo largely in ite ctreula dos, isto bs accounted for mainly by the ox- istence of the advertisement duty ’—\ os; and much more than by the stamp. ‘Ihe limited circulation of papers generally is caused by the stamp. But the advantege of any one journal must be caused by the advertising duty, which in effect is charging ten times as much for an advertisement in one paper as in another. An advertisement in the Tynes ma be worth £5, while in another paper it is wort only £1, but the duty is the same. C Then the advertisement duty must HATRMAN tea 9 de oy all the advertisements that are not h the duty? Yes, that and something moro; publish them fos ay Fe ntl 3 the same from another !—It is sometimes talked of, ee ames yo on the whole, | would rather those who do ot take 't shoud copy than not We e six or seven journals im the city, which form # combination, and spend, perhaps, 100,000 'y uty not graduated, it. so much on each, W. ut regard to size. Mr Kicw— The greater the number phe mg tively email advertisements in papers, the advantage to their ropeiatere Yes; Firouid P oes et tty sgt 4 weual charge Twme:,) have pay lf. of 1s. 64. duty, itis not work Uee duty 1a a Is not that an inconvenience to the public ?—We | CuamrMaN—At wha! rote can you print the Vew | York Tribune !—Our press will work but 10,000 an | prints with more rapidity than the one at the Times | on horizontal cylinders, directly on and around oar | penay paper !—Yes ; a balfpeuny newspaper, the in the one case a3 in the other: the | ; you put @ duty on | | my inconsistent that if a 0 tax the press, it should thi tending to lessen = the other !—I should hough tends to prevent the exist- to thet extont it would would it!—The ness On one concern. stamp duty has not that effect, has itt—I do net think iv particularly that effect. Then by that means it would not so inju- rious an effect as tne advertisement duty?—It would not have as unequal, F as monopolizing an effect ivertisemeut duty. Se aiea-Sappoong ib is admitted that the government has a right to tax the press, and there are three kinds of taxes on the prest—drst on the paper, then on the stamp, and then on the adver- tisements that are inserted in the paper—does not it appear to you that the operation of these taxes must be hostile to one another; iu the Ars: place, by lessening the circuiation of the papers by means of the stamp duty, you diminish the consumption and therefore lessen the amount of paper é f of paper, r of advertisements in the papers, and therefore the receipts from the advertisement duty?—1 should say, that ifthe gevernment were simply, as a mat- tet of revenue, to fix a duty, say of a halfpenny per pound, or something like that, on paper, it would e easily collected, and produce more money; and peants any congiderable number of officers to col- ec vigilance, and the one most equal and most eflicient as a revenue duty. Iv is clear, then, that the effect of the stamp and advertisement duty is to lessen the amount of the receipt from the duty or paper?— ormously. I see that the circulation in London is bus 60,000 agaiast 130,000 in New York city, while the tendency is more to concentrate on London than on New York. States are printed in New York city. Mr. Cospen—Do you consider that there are wards of a million daily papers issuing from daily press in the United States!—I should say about a million; | cannot say upwards. | thin | there are about 250 daily journal published in the United States. You would consider that there are a million of | daily papers issuing from the press of the United States?—I think very neerly that. You stated that there are fifteen daily | nega: in New York; how many are there in stont— * Twelve, I think, | What is the population of Boston?—Beston con- tains but about 140,000 mhabitants, but Massachu- setts is much more compactly pled and better | supplied with railways. All the towns in Massa- | chusette and New England take miore or less of the | Boston daily papers. | _ What number of daily popes are published in Philadelphia?—Philade)phia has ten, I think ; they are pet so many in number, but one or two have a much larger circuation. How many in Baltimore?—Six. How many in New Orleans, should you think!— Ten or twelve, I think. At what amount of population of a town in Ame- rica do e} generally begin to have a com fx 5 they first of all begin with a weekly paper, do Roos not’—Yes. With regard to newspapers, the gene- | ralrule is this, that each county will have one. In all the free States, ifa count, 38 ap ae of 20,000, it has two—one of eac! party. ‘ne general average is about one local journal in the agricultu- ral counties for 10,000 inhabitants. A county con- taining 50,000 has five ring which are gonerally weekly papers ; and w en a town grows to have as many as 15,000 inhabitants, or thereabouts, then it basa dail, Sometimes that is the case when it s few as 10,000. It depends more on the business of the place, but 15,000 may be etated as the average at which a daily paper commences. At 20,000 they have two, andso on. In central towns, like Buffalo, Roobester, Troy, and sueh towns, tod have from three to five daily journals, each of whic! prints a semi-weekly or a woeklyjournal. Mr. Ricu—Have those papers much circulation outside the towns in which they are published!— The county is the ee limit, though some per- vade a judicial district including five or six counties. ‘They do not penetrate into coupties aud towas in | which other papers are published!--Not as a rule. but the Buffalo papers will have a circulation round — Erie, which is a couuiry easily reached by thom. | Would the New York papers, for instanes, have much circulation at Charleston !—The New York Herat, | think, which is considered the —— the most friendly to Southern interests, @ con- siderable circulation there. Independently of peouliar reasons, they would | Bot cirzulate ia the more distant S:ates !—To a certain extent, the leading poiitical journal of one party would be taken by the leading politicians in | other States; and, if it is a business journal, there | is one 1 know particularly that has a very large circulation among the pork buyers and the grain | buyer throughout the free Western States, having relations with New York; they want foller reports | ¢ the markets than those the telegraph brings | them. | Substantially the newspaper of any of those | States finds the bulk of its readers within its own States ’—Yes; the Washington papers are an ex- ception. ‘be New Orleans papers youll have but little cirswation in New Yor, for instance !—No. Mr. Ewart—The circulation is more local than | in this coun’ it not —Yes. Cuain™. hm a person proposes to publish paper at Now York, is he required to go to any | office to register himself '—No, not at all. Is he required by law to give any security that he will not insert libels or seditious matter '—No. | He merely publish Spee at his own will and | Pleasure, without consulting any public authority ! —Yes. | If he should libel anybody in his paper, he would | be liable to an action at law, would he not '—To two actions, civil and criminal. Then & newspaper publisher is not subject to any | liability more other persone '—No more thin | one sterting a blacksmith’s shop. They do not presume, inthe United States, that because a man is going to print news in a paper be | ow be libel —No, nor do they presume that | his li ing would amount to much, unless he is a Tegponsi character. | Mr. Conpas—Are thi in America for libel! | founded on police reports, such as the report of a | man being arrested on the charge of swindling, or the like of that. | Are res tot permitted by the law of America to | publish the police reports!—No; it is not regarded as lawful even to say that John Joves was arrested for swixdling; it is not a privileged publication; be might show a damage in that c: nd convict you, even though it was the fact that he was ro arrested for swindling, unless you could prove that he was actually a swindler; that rule is derived from your courts. Mr. Ricu—Does that practically occur?—Yes, though it is very rare. Mr. Coxpen—From what you havo stated with regard to the circulation of the daily prees in New York, it ra that a very large proportion of the adult population must be customers for them there'— Yer, I think three-fourths of all the fami- lies ein a daily paper of reburers of the dai not many actions brought jo ne kind. papers must consist ofa different clags from th England !—me- chanics must purchare them!—Every mochanic takes a paper. or nearly every one. At what time does he buy his paper!--be sub- toribes at an ofice. The carrier of a paper is the owner of @ certain ward of the oilty; it is a pro- rty of his own: on the Sun | have known one sold Rr seven hundred dollars; that is, the privilege of buying the papers at the office at sevensy cents a hundred, and rerving them to subscribers, and get- ting one dollar a hundred for them. In evory par- ticular ward of the city the carrier has a property ia the right to receive the journals for the ward, and to dietribute them iv that ward. ‘Then the working clase receive their papers regu- lay through carrier in the morning !— Yes. hat ti they delivered in the morning!— | Between si \d seven av a rule. Do thete people generally get thom before they leave home for their work!—) os, and you are com- plained of if you do not furnish a man with his newepaper at his break he wants to read it between six and goven usually ‘Ther a shipbuilder, or a cooper, or a joiner, takes in his dally paper in the moroing, and reads it at bis brenkfnet time?—Yes, and he may take it with him to read at bis dinner, between twelve and one; | but the ia that be wants hie pape: at his break- fast After he has finished bis broakfast or dinner he may be rund reading the daily vowspyper, just as the people of the upper classes do in England Yer, if they do And that is quite common, is it no: ’—Almoat univerral, [ think. There ie a very poor class, a good many foreigners, who do not know how to read, but no native, | think Mr. Ewaat—To a working man, what is the cost of a newspaper '—He may oltainone for id. a week, or a half penny & ~~. Mr. Ricke—Do the agricultural laborers read much (Yes; they take our weekly papers, which by h the enerall; 0 souatels there any reuting of papers rm duty; and secondly, by diminishing the aumber of | pers sold through the stamp, you lessen the num- | then a law which is equal in its operation does not | the duty, and it would require no particular | on paper alone would be | Not a tenth part of the daily papers in the United | & | —Very few indeed, unloss » 50, as 80} ehheae do nat like to reouive’ thems “Ms” vax —Whon Prd a At them so easily, people in New York not in the habit of reso: to public houses to the newspapers, are they '—Yos, they are, but ne co s0ed ihe popers. They resort to public houses to drink spirits, or 1g else —A good many of them do; it isnot eral practice, , but still there are quite » ne} yr is not the attraction to the public house ?—No; I think a very small proportion of our reading class go there at all; those that I have seen there are ly the foreiga population—those who ae read. ye a MAIRMAN—Are there any papers published in New York, or in other . eee eney Gncettte ie of.en its Geo pn theese to oe tan ts BRALD avery paper—those not like it; | but that is not the cheapest. Have you heard of » paper called the Town pub- lished in this country, with pictures of a certain character in it, an unstam; publication—have you any publications in the United States of that character‘—Not daily papers. There are weekly papers got up from time to time, calledthe Scorpion, the Flush, the Whip, and so on, whose purpose is to extort money from parties who can be threaten- ed with exposure of immoral practices, or for risit- ing infamous houses. Mr. Ewart—W ill you look at that paper—(the | Town being handed to the witness) !— was a class of weekly papers got up there that wore print- | ed for two or three months. Ido aot know of any one peng senses any considerable time; if one dies another is got up, and that goes down. | _ They do not » do they?— No; and I suppose | they do not here; but the cheap daily papers, the very Car or are, as a whole, | think, quite as dis- erect in their conduct and conversation as other journals. They do not emb: the same amount | of talent; they devote tacminitte mainly to news. | They are not party journals, they are nominally | independent— that is, of esa They are not given to harsh language with regard to public men; bag y are very moderate. — he Is scurrility or personatity common to the publi- cations in the United States?—It is not common; it | is much less frequent than it was, but it is not abso- lutely unknown. | Craimman—In the tranamission of papers by post, is a distinction made between newspapers and other printed matter!—There is a distinction. Other printed matter goes by weight, 2) cents being | charged for the first ounce, and one cent for every succeeding ounce. I believe thatis the rate of post | age there; but it is reduced by the now law. | ‘There is a less rate of postage apnea to news- Papers than to other pees matter? —Yes. | hat do you call a newspaper—where do you draw the line between what comes under the post- age rate and what is liable to a niga rate!—Tho rule has been that everything Ep ted as often as | once @ week was anewspaper; the others are gene- | rally regarded as magazines and periodicals. If it is only printed once—for instance, supposing | | that you printed any ‘ioular fact in a paper pub- lished to distribute through the country, would that come under the oe matter rate, or under the newspaper rates aiy at pal oe ofa | newspaper, and was to yu weekly, of course it would come under thonew rate; bat | if not, or was not to be published as a periodical, it would be regarded as other printed matter. There | is no carefulness about these matters. One post- master would call a thing a newspaper, and ano- ther would not, and they often refer to the Post- master-General, and he decides. Has there ever been any proposition made in the United States with a view to control the press ; for instance, that it should be liable to a stamp duty, | and give security in the same manner as is required in France!—I have heard a suggestion that it might be well to charge one cent on a CoP? and let it go free through the post; but not by any number of pertens. Some have said that it would improve the character of the press, but it was never seriously ee up. Ihaveseen it in newspapers as a sug- gestion. Mr. Conpen—What is the circulation of the New York Healt ?—T think 25,000. . . Bas its circulation been increased during the last fewyears, or otherwise?—I think it has rather in- creascd, not diminished. Ts that on influential paper in America ?—I think not. It has ahigner ve ‘on probably in Eurvpe than at home ?— certain class of jourmals in this countr find it ther interest or ¢ to quote it a good . Cnainman—As the demand is extensive, is the re- | | eee uA the services of Heer men who are employed on the press good!—The prices of literary labor are tases moderate than 4 this country. | The Lm pep salary, I think, that would be com- manded by any one connected with the press would be 1,000/., the highest that could be thought of; I have not heard higher than 600/. Mr. Ricn—What would be about the ordinary remuneration !—In our own concern it is, besides the principal editor, 390/. down to 100/. I think that is the usual range. Cuammmay—Are your lea men in America, in point of literary ability, employed from time to time upon the press as an occupation ‘—It is begin- ning to be so, but it has not been the custom. There have been leading men connected with the | Brett, but the press has not been usually condusted y the most powerful men. Withafow borer gar emg the wry, gees journals are condu ably, ard this becoming more general ; and with a wider diffusion of the circulation, the press is more able to pay for it. Mr. Kicu—is it a profession apart 1—No; usual- | ly the men have been brought up to the bar, to the ay ed printers, and so ou; theyare not original- y men. Cuarraan—Your extensive circulation of those cheap papers is based, to some extent, upon the fact that your whole population read ?—Y. I presume that tho non-reading class in the United 6 is @ limited one !—Yes, oxcept in th Dq not you consider that newspaper reading is calculated to keep upa habit of reading '!—I thiak it is worth all the schools in the country. I think it creates @ taste for reading in every child’s mind, and it increases his interest in his lessons; he is at- St St tracted te study from the habit of always secing s newspaper, and hearing it read, | think. Supposing that you your schools as now, but per press were reduced within the 0 i ac ve frequently laid ry think that the habit would not be acquired, and that often reading would fall into di: Mr. Ricu—Does not the habit of reading createa | demand for newspapers, rather than the supply of req 10% | newspapers create a habit of reading!—I si rather say that the ere, that is obi in the scbools creates a demand for newspapers. _ The greater number of persons who read inthe | United States accounts for the greater number of | news ra that are published, does it not!—There is no class in the free States*who do not know how to read, except the immigrant class. But in proportion to the number of persons who = read will be the number of papers supplied!— But the ns of obtaining cheap | newspapers les people to keep up their reading, does it not?- Y Mr. Ewart—Must not the contents of a news- paper have a great effect upon the character of the population, and give @ more practical vurn to their minds '—] should think the diiference in intelligence would be very great between a lation first educated in schools, and then acquiring th bit of reading journals, and an uneducated non-reading. If a man is taught to read first, and afterward plies hie mind to the reading of newspapers, would not his knowledge assume a much more practical form than if that m anything else ?—Every man must be practical. 1 think that the os ag A to invent or to impro machine, for instance, is | iy aided by newspaper reading; by the | fforded by newspapers. observed both countries, can you state he press has ter influence on public opinion in United than in England, or the reverse !—[ think it has more influence with us; 1 do not know that any claes is desp tically go- vorned by it, but the influence is more universal; every one reads it and talks about it with us, and | more weight is laid u; intelligence than on edito- AIRMA! rials; the paper which brings the quickest news is the one looked to. | ¢ leading article has not eo much influence as it has in Eogland’—No; the telegraphic despatch — is the great point Mr. Connrx—You stated, did you not, that your | New York papers contained tw» or three col of gy yan news ’?—Thbree to five columns ia times | of Congress d Legislative sessions; always Hee eee Now Yorks peblidh any logreght De you, New York, pul any ‘aphic re rt of the proceedings of your Logisleture at Albany ‘Every day. ‘Te what extent would the proceedings be tele graphed from Albany’—l'rem half a column to two columns; sometimes three columns, when the matter ie of great interest. Observing our newspapers, and a a with the in papers, do you find we make much less use of the electric eee for transmitting news to newspapers than in America! —Not a hundredth part as much as we do. That is » considerable item of expense there, is it | | the mort i Jounal 3 had 6; te Proc 50 we Jaabe daily end St. Lous and New dr 7 other places. The British Income Tax Committee. THE HON. DUDLEY SELDEN’S TESTIMONY. tebbaaey of Has Dudley Selden, form of Hon. ven late comeaniaa of the British Parliament, on ‘the income tax, in reference to the system of taxes and collections of the State of New York): By all personal property, either in or out Uni States becomes cl able? 5 can find it we tax it. Th which | perhaps may allude, X and that is with regard to the taxation of estate, and mortgages Boos. it. In our State, ever since | bave been in public life (I was a member of our Legislature for several Fa and have beon connected more or less with it), this has been one of the great grievances under which the agricultu- ral class in our country have labored, and they have striven strenuously to counteract it, to over- come it if they can, by making the proper- Py, fairly as the real. It will be seen at once t all our real estate pays—it is liable to taxa- tion; Soom pisish dbo crusrsiaiaes renee le men engaged in oi e) ms do not pay ‘a fair amount for their personal estate, and that ied tu the passage of the law to which [ have alluded during the last year. It has been the subject of great struggle with regard to that. You see at once that land sold as most of ours was original- ly, with only a part of the purchase money paid, and with a mortgage upon it, paid two taxes inre- ality. The farmer was obliged to pay the full value, or the assessed value, whatever it was, and the person who held the mortgage had to pay, and although it apparently did not come out of the pocket of the purchasog, it really did, for it almost al ntered into the bargain, so that the farmer pay two taxes; that was the real working of the system. Cuairman—That is to say, the mortgage was charged separately as rsonal property, being in fact an item in the value of the real propertyi— Yes; but the tax was paid by another man. Its effect was to fall as a double psyment on the landed bore shan Mr. James Witson—Do you mean by that, that a man in lending money on mertgage included a consideration in the interest which he chargedupon his loan for the tax that he would have to pay!— Our interest is regulated by statute; a man can of the charge only so much, except fraudul . We | have a usury law, which is very strict indeed. In what way can you show the man pays?— In the purchase money. If tho individual took e back, he would take it, and add, Perhaps; a little more than he would otherwise have charged. Susy se a man, with bis own money, had pur- | dl an estate, and found it convenient afterwards to mortgage it!—Then there would be nothing; he would only pay the amount of interest. In that case the land pays the tax, and the capi- talist pays it again!—Yes; but the great complaint has been of the inequality of taxation between real and onal estate. In the one case we secure as near an assessment as we can, and in the other, it is very defective. Has that complaint arisen from the great facility with which you arrive at the value of real property, and the impossibility of arriving at the exact amount of personality!—Yes. The difficulty with us is in acquiring information as to the actual state of a man’s personal property. Can you tell us what means you have adopted, in order to make that more ee law in the last session of the legislatare authorises and empowers the assessors to require from every indi- vidual a statement of his personal affairs. In the first instance!— Yes; they have aright to require him to give a statement of the amount of his personal property, substantially saying how much he has, what it consists of, and the amount of his debts and liabilities. Cwainmax—His furniture, and everything!—It is required under a general head. I donot think the law requires all that detail. Mr. J. Wi.son—Do they furnish a form to be filled up!—I presume the law does require that, but 1 cannot sped to that. Hs. Horsmax—That is as regards the assessor! —les. Is the aseessor bound to secresy!—Yes; I think he is bound not to disclose the information. I do not think it would be open to the public, and he is bound to submit it to the boards of supervisors. There was great objection to the law in its original form, and it was very much modified on account of its being very injurious to commercial men, a man’s credit being bis property; and often the only pro- perty he has. A josure of this kind, if made public, might prevent him from getting accommo- dation which would otherwise enable him to go on, and where he really ought to go on successfully in business. That was the great objection to it. Mr. J. Witson—Then are the committe» to un- derstand that by this new law which you have mentioned, Cad which the last witness described of the books being Lo og to the public view, both tothe parties themselves, whose assesiments are inserted, and to their neighbors, is abandoned!— No; that is with the assessors. ‘Toat is the date from which they derive their means of fixing the amount of the property to be taxed. When the amount is ultimately fixed, the exact amount of # man’s property, whether or real, is exposed to view, as has been already des- cribed 1—Yes. Mr Horsman—Can you state whether the asses- take any oath of secresy '—No; they do. ‘e have only the general oath, which is administered to all our officers, which is, that they will support the constitution of tho United States, and the constitution of the State of New York. There is Ion, Bae prevent their disclosing any facts which come to their Leen, Ngai as not think there is; 1do dot remember. Colonel Kom1Ly—Does that roll which is opened to public ion, make a distinction between personal and real property !—Yes ; there are two columns ; first, the number of acres, if it is a farm and then its value ; then the personal property and its amount. The only body that can make any alteration is the legislature, by the enactment of a | law to remedy the difficulty; there is no appeal from the board of supervisors. If counties were unequally assessed, there would be no means of setting it right by a po stat and that has led to the regulation whic! ag to the manner in w the real estate is now aired to be valued, in order to correct those ine- qualities which have existed in counties. ‘With respect to commersial companies, take a canal or a railroad mary. for instance, you have stated that they would assessed upon the bossy of sean ital, whether paid up or engaged to be paid up '—Yes. — ay allowance be made for their debts!— 0. None whatever ?—No. £o that if they borrowed a very large sum of allowances | money upon the faith of tacir tolls, no would be made t—Not if they were deriving an in- come from it; they must be taxed upoa the amount of their capital paid in, or secured to be paid in, and it is all required by our laws to be secured. No allowance in that case would be made for any debts which they might have made 0. Although those ts would be entitled, in the first instance, to absorb the revenue 1— 3 but they would be subject to the payment of the tax to the State. uxactly the same !— Although the ie of the poem of the debts? ‘hen they would stand in the same positionas a land owner havin, his estate, who would have no allowance '—\ os; all our operations have been followed out under that system. With — to the landowners, | think youstated that they have found it to be @ great grievance, bavirg vo allowance for debt, when other classes o! munity have an allowarce for debt !—Gen- le! olding personal estate escape, because the law does not reach it in their case. It is also felt a grievance that the allowance of debt is made against personality, and not against reality "—No. The difficulty is, that en: being apparent to the ey pparent to the does not follow, because you can at once make the enue might go to personal te larger; for instance: perhaps it is nceessed a! millions, when it ought, undoubted- ly, to bave been 250 millions ; if that had been pat in, it would have diminished the amount of tax that the farmer bad to pay upon his land, because as you increase the amount of assessment, you di- minish the ratio upon which the tax isto be ma You have stated that there has been a change ia the law within the | Y llow long was the existed before that re cannot say how long, because the ta: been the subject of inquiry and inv sion, and t! have becn amendments ; th eral plan has existed since the formation of vernment So fer as your personal knowledge and experience bas gone, how ees has the la tasted witbou material change '—1 should thiak for 25 or 30 yoars, without any material change, oxcept with rogard to in which it | ABSTRACT OF THE U. 8. CENSUS FoR 1850. All these papers are published weekly, otherwise stated. ESSEX COUNTY, ity or Sentinel of Freedom, (ast) 2 weekly), do. New Jersey n (wraekey do. Plainfield Gazette, «Union, (daily), ‘Trenton do,’ do, ‘Trce American, ‘Tre bacig ” do. N. J. State Gazette, N. J. Weekly Visiter, Village Record, Princeton Whig, , do. «wreskly), a do. BURLINGTON COUNTY. Burlington Gazette, N. sane Mirror, Mount Holly, Mount Holly Herald, do, CAMDEN COUNTY, West Jerseyman, ‘amden, Camden Pheevix, do, Democrat, jo. CUMPEREANE 1OrrrX, Bridgeton Chronic. ‘ New Jersey Pioneer, jan GLOUCESTER COUNTY. ‘The Constitution, ‘Woodbury. Jersey City Telegraph, (daily), Jersey City, Whig ‘eles jere ee Or en a. tans HUNTERDON COUNTY. Hunterdon County Demoerat, Flemington, Dem. Gazette, . Del. Valley Diarist, Lambertville, Lit.. Mosmoutis count, reel Monmouth Inquirer, = Democrat, Democratic Banner, Seminary Advocate, Bai People’s Advecate, do. Dem... MIDDLESEX COUNT! ‘The Fredonian, i New Brunswick Times, Dem... 500 New Jersey Union, do. do. 500, Advocste and Register, Rahwa; Whig. 600 Rahway Republican, do. Dem... 600 ‘The Jerseyman sca Moristown, Whig.. 850 : 0 Free Dem. Banner, do. Dem... 625 OCEAN COUNTY. Ocean Signal, over, Whig.. Young Am » do. Reform.2,000 PASSAIC COUNTY, Paterson Guardian, Paterson, Dem... 420 « Intelligencer, do. Whig.. 492 BALEM COUNTY. Salem Sunbeam, m2, Dem... 800 National Btandard, * Whig.. 800 i Seema cout “ pi Some lessenger, jomerville, em... «Whig, do Whig.: 600 sussex county. Sussex Register, Newton, New Jersey Herald, do. Daily Free Press, Deckertown, Sussex County Home Journal, do 650 WARREN COUNTY. Warren Journal, Belvedere, Dom,..1,500 ‘Warren Intelligencer. ‘do. Whig..1,000 RECAPITULATION. Dally... cecececseecesees 9 Weekly . #@ Total’ newspapers published in New Jersey. 56 STATE OF MICHIGAN. ABSTRACT OF THE U. 8. CENSUS FOR 1950. ‘All papers published weekly, unless otherwise stated. Name. City or Town. Character. Cire’n. Detroit Daily Advertiser, Detroit, Whig. .1,500 ly Advertiser, be “Weekly d ’ oe do....2,100 kly do. Detroit Free Press, (daily), do. Li do. (tri-weekiy), do. ted do. (weekly), @o. Daily Tribune, 0. Peninsular Freeman, (weekly), do. N. Western Advocate, do. do. Le Citoyen, do. do. ‘The New Covenant, do. do. meee cai, & jgan Farmer, (mont » do. Wellwan's Miscellany, do.” do. ALLEGAN COUNTY. Allegan Record, Allegan, DRRRIEN COUNTY. Niles Republican, Niles. Niles Express. Niles Inteliigencer, do Coldwater Sentinel, CALHOUN COUNTY. Marshall Statesman, Mare! Democratic Expounder, BRANCH CouNTY. Cok CHIPPEWA COUNTY. Lake Superior Journal, Saut sve Marie, CLANTON COUNTY, Clinton Express, De Witt, Eaton Demcerat, EATON COUNTY. Eaton Itapids, Genesee Whig, Flint Rep: n GENESEE COUNTY. Hillsdale Gazette, “Whi Flint. do. ig Tonesville Tele Jonesville, Sunday Sebool Visiter, (s-m), do. MILLSDALE couNTY, ie, Michigan state Journ” SeurT. 2 fe Journal, Lansing, Primitive Expounder, (¢m), do. 1osta COUNTY. Tonia Gazette, Tonia, American Citizen, Jackson Patriot, Mining 500 200 0 250 . 0 600 «+ 500 400 Relig.. .1,000 ; Dem... 900 Relig.. .1,000 aa do. JACKSON COUNTY. Jackson. do. KALAMAZ00 COUNTY. Kalamazoo Gazette, Kalamazoo Michigan Telegraph, do. KENT COUNTY. Grand Rapids Enquirer, Grand Rapids Grand River Wage, A tg Laveen county, Lapeer Co, Democrat, peer, LENAWEE COUNTY. Michigan Expositor, Adrian, N. W. Dollar Weekly. do. Adrian Watchtower, do. Family Favorite, (monthly), do Tecumseh ‘ecumseh, LIVINGHTON COUNTY. Livingston Courier, Howell. MacOmn coUNTY. ‘The Mecomb (azette. }. Macomb County Herald, do. Clive Branch, (semi-w), do Romeo Lnveetigator, Monroe Commercial, \ Free Cities, do. Seminary Waifs, (monthly), do. OAKLAND COUNTY. Pont do. OTTAWA COUNTY. The Hollander, llolland, aw COUNTY. Spirit of the Timer, Saginaw City. WaseRR COUNTY. Bhiawa-see Democrat, Corunna, 8T. CLAIR County, Bt. Clair Observer, St. Clair, Port Huron Observer. Port Huron, ST, s0anPM COUNTY St. Joseph Co. Advertiser, Centreville, ‘Weetern Chronicle, do. VAN BUREN COUNTY. Es 28 a8 ¢ MOwRoR, M Oakland Gazette, Pontiac Jacksonian. Paw Paw Free Press, Paw Paw, WASHTENAW COUNTY Michigan Argus, ‘Ann Arbor, ‘Washtenaw Whig. 3 ‘Ypsilanti Chronicle. Ypeilanti. RECAPITULATION (From the Miners’ Journal | ‘The quantity rent by ratlrond this week, is 40,950 12— by canal, 15,092 19—for the week, 66.062 11 tons—beii ee ee y conal, ‘The demand for a!i kinds of Schuy!hill coal continues ‘as brick as ever, with an upward tendency in prices and the supplies in the yards in the cities are not large. The en low rates at which coai has been sold from this region, induced a very large number to Iny im their win- ter stocks during the mer. fearing that a rise in price would take place. Dealers, therefore, are cautious ia stocking much for winter sales, particularly in those re conl can be reached during the greater part The yen at Which Schuyikil! coal has been fur- niebed this year, has been worth at least half a million of detlars to the county—it has peneirated into various rections of the couctry where none had ever reached be- and har demonstrated that our coal ts quite as good 0 y purposes, superior to that obtained of other regions. and will hereafter command quite as high a price in thoee markets, where Lehigh and Laok wana Were conrileted superior, and sold ta por ton more, for steam purpores. New Book: STWICK ON THE CavsRrs How to Kerr Youre. Naterar Deatit, Stringer & Town- Pp Patent Or rict Kerort—1850-51 —the mechani- cal part. Published by Congress Gems oF Javonica-pom Oharles B. Norton. ‘Tne Gurr-Hive; by Lowell Mason and Geo. J. Webb. Macen & Law Hints any Heures to Heart ano Harrtness; by Joel H. Ross, M.D, Darby & Miller, Auburn.