remedy.




VI


During all this development of the Press there has been present,
_first_, as a doctrine plausible and arguable; _next_, as a tradition
no longer in touch with reality; _lastly_, as an hypocrisy still
pleading truth, a certain definition of the functions of the Press; a
doctrine which we must thoroughly grasp before proceeding to the
nature of the Press in these our present times.

This doctrine was that the Press was an _organ of opinion_--that is,
an expression of the public thought and will.

Why was this doctrine originally what I have called it, "plausible and
arguable"? At first sight it would seem to be neither the one nor the
other.

A man controlling a newspaper can print any folly or falsehood he
likes. _He_ is the dictator: not his public. _They_ only receive.

Yes: but he is limited by his public.

If I am rich enough to set up a big rotary printing press and print in
a million copies of a daily paper the _news_ that the Pope has become
a Methodist, or the _opinion_ that tin-tacks make a very good