THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER IN LONDON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 9325, 30 March 1889, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER IN LONDON.

The Pall Mall Gazette haa the following article :There was issued in London on Saturday the first; copy of the new morning newspaperthe English edition of the New York Herald. The day has gone by when the Herald was the first of American newspapers in enterprise and in circulation, but that is no reason why we should not welcome the little stranger, and extend to the newcomer all the good wishes and hospitable consideration that is due to those who boldly essay to achieve so difficult a success. Unfortunately, there is one feature aboub the now venture which renders this impossible. The distinctive feature of the new morning journal is that, as its promoters proudly l>oa«t, it is the only journal in Great Britain that is published seven days a weok. Sunday, the rest day of our profession, was no rest day for the unfortunate toilors 'who arc harnessed to the chariot of Mr. Gordon Bennott in the Strand. Journalists in these islands are not Sabbatarians by any means. There are many Sunday journals with enormous circulations printed, published, and sold every Sunday in London. But never, until the "advent of this foreign sheet, has any newspaper in the three kingdoms been published on conditions which render it impossible for its staff, from the editor to the printer's devil, to enjoy one day off every woek. We are, therefore, face to face with an attempt made by a capitalist to add still more to his gains by the plunder of the English rest day. Against that we raise a protest which wo hope will bo taken up by every journalist in Groat Britain. Webaso our protest upon the broadest ground of humanity. It is not a question of religion, but one of health, and the opportunities for leisure which tnako life worth living. Wo aro not protesting now against the Sunday newspaper. What wo protest; against is the cruel and most mischievous innovation of compelling the staff of any daily newspaper to produce that newspaper seven days a week. It is a social crime of the first magnitude, which must be prevented at the very outset, otherwise we shall find to our cost that the Sunday newspaper has come to stay" in England as in America and on the Continent. It would bo a grave mistake to say that the more or less ephemeral appearance of this little American paper seven days a week doos not matter. It is | never safe to allow the introduction of the thin edge of the wedge. If once the pre- | cedent is established, the example of the New York Herald will bo invoked on the first great public excitement to justify the appearance of some of our great morning dailies seven days a week, and when that happens, the weekly rest of tho journalist and the compositor will vanish all along the line. American journalists struggled against it for a time, but one after another they all succumbed. With the example of their fate before us, it would be madness to ignore the fatal consequences of acquiescence in tho first broach in the hitherto unbroken rampart which has preserved to one of the hardest worked professions in Britain the six-day working week. What is the use of agitating for a limitation of the hours of labour per day when in the great industry which supplies the material for thought and paves the pathway of progress the hours of labour per week aro lengthened arbitrarily by one-sixth? It is hero where the combined forces of labour reformers, trado unionists, Socialists, and philanthropists must take their stand. For tho sake of a profession of which we are justly proud, and tor the sake of our fellow-workers who already feel the nervous and physical strain of the work as much as they can bear, we are bound to take prompt and effective action against the attempt permanently to impair the conditions of our daily life. The society which exists in order to defend the interest of compositors should at once prepare for action. No society men should work on a seven-day ship. The trade unions should support tho society in imposing an interdict essential to the interests of labour. A subsequent issue of the same journal has the following : —

I'KOTKSTS FROM LAMUKTH I'ALACE. In response to our" Protest and Appeal," the Archbishop of Canterbury and tho Bishop of London have caused the folllowing letter to be published :— " We understand that a now morning newspapertiie London edition of the New York Herald—has just appeared, and that it has this distinctive feature, that it is to be published on every day of the week. This is a new departure in English journalism which wo regard with much concern, involving, as it does, the loss of the weekly day of rest to all who are employed in connection with the paper. Tho bishops from all parts of the world assembled ah Lambeth last summer gave public expression to their sense of the danger arising from any encroachment upon that 'observance of the Lord's Day as a day of rest, of worship, and of religious teaching,' which has been so 'priceless a blessing in all Christian lands in which it has been maintained.' We venture, in the same spirit, to express the hope that this new departure of the New York Herald is one against which the leaders of English journalism will resolutely set their faces, in the interest both of those who are immediately connected with tho Press, and also of tho still wider circle of people whose Sunday rest will be indirectly endangered by this movement."

THE BISHOP OF Rli'ON. " Dear Sir, —My warm sympathy is with any movement which will preserve to our working classes the right of a day of rest. I shall be ready to join in any protest to protect them against the invasion of this right.—Ever yours truly, W. B. Ripon," THE VEN. ARCIIDEACON PARKAR. "In answer to your request for my opinion, I have no hesitation in saying that if the new feature in journalism should lead to the common introduction of seven-day newspapers into England, it would be nothing short of a national misfortune. The evil effects might not be visible at once, but they would be rued by our children's children." THE REV. H. R. HAWK IS.

'I deploro tho issue of the New York Herald on Sunday. I hope it will be abandoned. lam not a Sabbatarian ; polemically (not personally)—l am at daggers drawn with the Sabbatarian-—I go for the opening of rnusouma and picture galleries on Sunday. A real need must bo met by a real sacrifice somewhere, like (.he open chemist's shop and the Sunday cab. J3ut no legitimate want is met by the issue of a daily paper on Sunday. There are daily papers that are not Sundays, and there should continue to be Sunday papers that are not dailies. Let all who Jove fair play stand shoulder to shoulder with you in your calm and temperate protest. We appreciate and admire Mr. Bennett. Mr. Bennett has done much for civilisation. Why should ho now beggar his reputation by damning Religion and Humanity in one blow'!"

REV. DR. PARKKR. "The wildest atheism has broken upon England, wilder far than if it had been nominal, open-mouthed, and blatant in vulgarity. A newspaper boasts that it is to be published seven days every week. Any man who works seven days a week is an enemy to himself and an enemy to his country, and an enemy to the world. The first Napoleon said that no man could long work seven days a week. 1 protest against a horse being worked all the week long. It is cruelty that calls for punishment. How much more do I protost against a man being enslaved seven days a week. ! It is not great business energy, it is intolerable disregard of the very elements of civilisation. Tho body needs a day of rest. Health must have a Sabbath. Commerce is the better for leaving its desk one day in seven. BY MR. FREDERIC HARRISON.

Mr. Frederic Harrison writes us as follows :—" Your letter addressed to me at Newton Hall has only just come into my hands. Certainly we all of us here would be found among the foremost in opposing any sort of attempt to force on any body of men continuous labour for seven days in the week. I cannot imagine a more legitimate field for the exorcise of tho utmost authority of a trade union permitted by law. We have constant and sad experience at Newton Ilall how much all efforts towards adult; education and social culture amongst the hard-worked people of London are being baffled by excessive hours of labour—ovor-timo, night work, and holidaysoason pressure. We would make resistance to this a religious duty. On the immediate question of a seven-day newspaper I can give no opinion. As I am entirely ignorant) of the business of iour-

nalism, I know nothing of the present practice, or any new practice which it "is proposed to introduce. But English printers are nob the men I believe them to >be if they can bo induced to work seVen days a week continuously for any promise or any wages on earth."

BY MB- HENRY BROADHURST, M.P. Mr. Henry Broadhurst, M.E., sends usj the following sympathetic protest:—" entirely sympathise and approve of your protest against 'seven days journalism.' The whole labour world is indebted to you for the protest which you have mado. Unless there is real necessity, presenting a strong case to the contrary, Sunday labour should be opposed in all cases. I hope this action of yours will be successful, and that the nuisance and danger to our welfare will bo stamped out."