CAUSES OF NEWSPAPER FAILURE AND SUCCESS.
THE Constitutional was published on Saturday for the last time' The causes of its discontinuance were stated by the editor, in one of those half-actions half-play ful articles, dashed, naturally enough on this occasion, with a little sadness, which have fre- quently rendered the columns of the Constitutional the most o newspaper reading of the day. It was not merely in politi- cal and leading articles that talent of a superior order was exhibited
by the writers in the Constitutional: not unfrequently there were papers on philosophy, criticism, art, and belles-lettres, which would
have done honour to any publication. But the Constitutional in spite of the efforts of its clever and zealous editor, and he able assistance he occasionally received ; and as the Constitutnal was a Radical newspaper, both Whigs and Tories point to its downfal as symptomatic of public distaste for Radical politics. This might be a fair assumption were there not other obvious causes, inde- pendent of its politics, quite sufficient to account for the failure of the speculation. These are given, correctly we have no doubt, in the farewell address of the editor to his readers— The adverse eiremnstances have been various. In the philosophy of ill- luck it may be laid down as a principle, that evety point of discouragement tends to one common centre of defeat. When the rates do concur in one's discomfiture, their unanimity is wonderful. So has it happened in the cate of the Consatutionul. In the first place, a delay of sonic months, consequent upon the postponement of the newspaper-stamp reduction, operated disadvan- tageously on the minds of many who were originally parties to the enterprise; in the next, the majority of those who remained faithful were wholly inexpe- rienced in the art anal mystery of the practical working oP an important daily journal ; in the third, and consequent upon the other two, there was the waut of those abundant means, and of that wise application of resources, without which no efficient organ of the interests of any class of men—to say nothing of the interests of that tirst and greatest class whose welfare has been our dearest aim and most constant object—can be successfully established."
No talent or zeal could compensate for the want of experience and money. People will not take a newspaper merely because it defends and enforces their political creed. They require news,— that is essential; whereas the great majority of readers care little for leading articles except in times of high political excitement; and the public has been daily growing more apathetic and indif- ferent in respect of politics, since the establishment of the Consti- tutional, nine months ago, to the present time. The paper which can uniformly supply the earliest, most authentic, and varied in- formation, will maintain its superiority over its competitors, what- ever may be its politics. The Times, in 1834, offended thousands of its old readers, by its sudden conversion into an organ of the Tory party ; but it was soon found that there was no sufficient sub- stitute for the Times as a vehicle of general news ; and the conse- quence of directing unwearied industry, long experience, and vast re- sources to the improvement of the news department, has been a rapid progress towards the recovery of its former circulation. At the same time, the political articles of the Leading Journal were calculated to gratify the prejudices of a large body of readers. The Consti- tutional, on the contrary, did not counteract the bad effect of its want of intelligence of every description, by appealing to the pas- sions and prejudices of any class ot' readers. There was courtesy, candour, pleasantry, sarcasm, acuteness, and often sound argu- ment in the Constitutional; but little vigour, hardly enough of plain earnestness, and nothing to excite the morbid appetite for vicious excitement. In fact, the Constitutional was destitute of almost all the means by which a newspaper can hope to succeed. The Radicals did not support the Constitutional; and the edi- tor blames them for their want of spirit. But why should they have supported it ? They did not subscribe funds, because they had no selfish motive for the investment ; they did not purchase to any considerable extent, because the paper failed to supply the requi- site information and stimulus—it was of little use to the Radicals as a party organ, and it never had a thousand subscribers. The Standard argues, that the failure of the Constitutional is a proof of the unpopularity of Radical doctrines : it merely supplies another in addition to many previous proofs, that a paper cannot be maintained without ample funds and experienced management, or simply by professing and advocating with ability certain political opinions. The Standard quotes from the Consti- tutional an account of the causes of its defeat, the principal of which is the refusal of the Radical party to support it ; and then, in the teeth of its quotation, assumes that the Radicals did support it, in order to demonstrate the weakness of the Radicals. In the article cited by the Standard, it is stated, that the means of making known even the existence of such a paper as the Con- stitutional, to the Radicals generally, were wanting.
Now, however, that the Constitutional has expired, the Radi- cals, who do think it worth while to take a newspaper for the sake of leading articles of superior ability, should transfer their subs scriptions to the only remaining daily organ of' their opinions. the True Sun. Because Mr. II ARVEY, the proprietor of the True Sun, has been sometimes wayward in his political career, many persons have fancied that caprice and personality would be visible in the conduct of his paper : on the contrary, the leading articles of the True San are distinguished by consistency and adherence to principle, as well as force, clearness, and happiness of expression, The writer is master of the philosophy of politics, and its practical application to the business of life and the actual state of the insti- tutions of the cottitry. We hope that the True Sun will take warning by the fate of the Constitutional, and improve its news department, which is now deficient. The conductors may tely upon it, that no talent can compensate for the want of early, copious, and authentic information, foreign and domestic. The high tone of its editor in political discussion—his demands on the intelligence and the reasoning !intuities of his readers—is a natural obstacle to it extensive circulation. It is a fact which it is idle to deplore, that means must be taken to counteract the injurious consequeoce, on the prosperity of a newspaper, of going ahead of public opinion, eve a in the right direction. To stimulate prejudice, to flatter caprice. to , ail with the stream, to abstain from pointing to the dangerous t esults of a course in accordance with popular wishes, to write what people like to read, not what is true and what they aught to b: reminded of,—such is the profitable policy of a journalist. By adopting it, a newspaper may flourish, independently of' the more solid matter which it requires labour and large expendit tire to ob- tain. But such was nat the dishonest course of the Constitatioml; and quite different is the conduct of the True Sun. The Gilmer could not, the latter will not, long be able to maintain itself by the force of original writing, without news.
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