THE BOSTON HERALD.


The newspapers of America have had their greatest growth within the past
quarter-century. Their progress in commercial prosperity during this
period has been remarkable. Before the Civil War the journals in this
country which returned large profits on the capital invested could
almost be numbered upon the fingers of one hand. Now they can be counted
up into the hundreds, and a well-established and successful newspaper is
rated as one of the most profitable of business ventures. This advance
in financial value has accompanied, and for the most part is due to, the
improvement in the character of the publications, which has been going
on steadily year by year. There has been a constant increase of
enterprise in all directions, especially in that of gathering news, and
with this has come the exercise of greater care and better taste in
presenting the intelligence collected to the reading public. The quality
of the work of reporters and correspondents has been vastly bettered,
and the number of special writers engaged has been gradually enlarged;
subjects which were once relegated to the monthlies and quarterlies for
discussion are now treated by the daily press in a style which, if less
ponderous, is nevertheless lucid and not unbefitting their importance.
In short, the tone of the American newspaper has been elevated without
the loss of its popular characteristics, and the tastes of its readers
have thereby--unconsciously, perhaps, but none the less surely--been
refined. For at least the length of time mentioned at the beginning of
this article, journalism has been regarded as worthy to rank beside, if