THE CATHOLIC PERIODICAL PRESS. A PAPER BY GEORGE DERING WOLFF, L.L.D, AT THE BALTIMORE CONGRESS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XVIII, Issue 5, 30 May 1890, Page 23

THE CATHOLIC PERIODICAL PRESS. A PAPER BY GEORGE DERING WOLFF, L.L.D , AT THE BALTIMORE CONGRESS.

( Concluded.)

ANOTHER improvement in Catholic newspapers, we are inclined to think, would be their more commonly republishing editorials and " Ohuroh News," or summaries of them, taken from other Catholic newspapers and duly credited.

Still another and a highly important requisite ia their taking measures to secure fresher and fuller reporcs written by loyal, devout Catholics, of what Catholics in other countries are doing, and also of what the enemies of the Church are doing in those countries.

The great need of thiß will be obviouß to every one if he conaiders that the news agencies of Europe are almost entirely under the management of persons who are not only non- Catholics, but in a large number of instances infidels and bitter enemies of the Catholic Church. We believe that our leading daily newspapers, with a few exceptions, honestly wish to be fair and truthful in the reports which they publish respecting Catholic affairs, but their foreign correspondents being in some cases anti-Catholic, in others non-Catholic, and in only a few instances real, true Catholics, as a matter of course, the reports they send, even of true occurrences, are discoloured, one-sided, and often intentionally falsified. Moreover, their news agents and correspondents are always on the gui vive for " newa." and consequently seise upon every report and rumour, without delaying sufficiently to enable them to ascertain itß authenticity or accuracy. They enlarge upon it, comment upon it, give it the shape and colouring which they think will make it most sensational, and then telegraph or mail it at once to this country. Here it is quickly published. Our Catholic newspapers have no such facilities for promptly receiving authentic news They may be fully convinced of the falsity of the reports that are published in the non-Catholic newspapers, but they cannot promptly contradict them nor satisfactorily explain and expose the discolourations and prevarications of those that are partly true and partly untrue. After a week or two they obtain definite information, and are able to disprove the false report or to give a true version of what has been misrepresented. But the falsehoods and misrepresentations have already done their bad work in misleading public opinion, and the corrections and refutations made by Catholic newspapers, if made at all, are too late to attract attention.

To relieve the Catholic Press of this enormous disadvantage two things are necessary. The first is to establish and maintain an active, vigilant, and energeuc Catholic associate press agency. The second is to establish in one of our large cities a Catholic daily newspaper, subsequently to be followed by the establishment of others in other large cities. The idea of a Catholic associate press has been mooted before and pronounced impracticable by persons of large practical experience and keen business insight. Yet, for all that, we remain unconvinced of its impracticability, and urge it upon the attention of our brethren of the Catholic Press. We do this all the more confidently and earnestly because we are strongly supported by persons whese judgment is entitled to high consideration. Among them are several experienced Catholic journalists who have spoken favourably of the undertaking.

The establishing of a Catholic daily newspaper is necessary, because Catholic weekly journals (owing to the fact that they are published only once a week) cannot quickly expoee and refute the falsehoods and calumnies that are constantly invented and spread abroad respecting the Church, and especially respecting the Holy See. In this rapidly moving age of ours what is to be done effectively must be done at once. In our conflict wsth the enemies of our religion our counter strokes must follow their blows with lightning-like speed. The Fathers of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore thoroughly understand this. They declare :

" It is greatly to be deßired that in each of our large cities a Catholic daily newspaper be maintained, fully equal to the secular daily newspapers in financial strength, and the sagacity, vigour, and power of its writers. Nor ia it necessary that tbe word Catholic be displayed at the head of its pages. It is Bufficient that, in addition to recent occurrences, and all those tnings which in other daily newspapers are eagerly desired, it defend, whenever a proper opportunity present itself, the Catholic Church from the assaults and calumnies ot its enemies, and explain its doctrine ; and, moreover, that it carefully abstain from placing before its readers anything that ia scandalous, indecent, or unbecoming."

It is argued that a Catholic daily newspaper cannot be successfully maintained. Why ? Is it because of want of sufficient capital, of sufficient journalistic talent, of sufficient administrative ability among the Catholics of the United States 1 Emphatically, it is not. There is to-day more than enough capital invested by Catholics in non-Catholic newspapers all over the land to amply provide for a dozen or score of Catholic dailies. There are, on the great non-

Catholic dailiea of our largo cities, Catholics, who, in sagacity, quickness, fullness of knowledge, and all that goes to make a successful journalist, are pears to any of their noi-Oatholic fellow-workers. As for administrative, executive, directing ability, we have Catholics managing successfully and with distinguished ability railroads, mills, mines, factories, banks and insurance companies. Passing strange would it be if Catholic talent could not be found competent to cope with the difficult task of managing a great daily newspapar. What is really wanting is the will. As soon as the Catholics ia the United States mill to establish such a newspaper, the men and the money to maintain and conduct it will quickly ba found. A.nd until such a newspaper (or a number of them) shall have been established, the Catholics of this country will not be doing what they might do and ought to do to defend the Church, and to promote the welfare, social, moral, and religious, of the great people, of which Catholics are an integral component part ; and consequently they will not be doins; what they might do, and ought to do, to preserve and perpetuate our civil institutions, of which it is needless to say that morality and religion, combined with intelligence, are the firmest supports,

And now to prevent any possible misunteratauding we add that we have passed over, as not needing to be suggested, that, as a matter of conrse, Catholic newap*pars designed for a general circulation should not confine themselves to subjects of a strictly religious character. They should disouss intelligently the events and occurrences of the day, questions of civil polity, questions that refer to the industrial, commercial, and other interests of our country, but not in a narrow or partisan, sense. Along with this they should furnish their readers, according to the condition, circumstances, tastes and social status of those whose isupport they respectively aim. at seoaring, what will best amuse ani interest them. In short, they should aim to present in their columns all that characterises a pure, fresh, entertaining, vigorous newspaper.

The importance of this seems to us self-evident, but it is not sufficiently attended to by the editors of sooaa of our Catholic newspapers. Their pages lack variety. Ia some instances they are too heavy. The range of topics covered both by their editorials and their selections is too narrow. The " scissors aad the paste-pot " are employed too hurriedly, and withoat sufficient thought or good judgment. In other words, too little care and discrimination are exercised in making selections of matter taken from other newspapers and periodicals. There is too much •' padding.' Too little attention is given to the process of " boiling down " ; the art and power of summarising and condensing into smaller compass, yet preserving the pith and substance of what is thus summarised, are too seldom employed. There is room for improvement in these respects in many of our Catholic newspapers. We are sure, too, that such improvement will be followed by increased circulation.

But that Catholic newspapers may even approach the realisation of what we have been urging, it is necessary that a support far greater than that which any of them now receive be accorded them. Until this is done, and it is not done now, much that we have written will be entirely impracticable, purely visionary. Editors of Catholic newspapers aad their assistants are notoriously overworked and underpaid. There are, among editors and writers for Catholic newspapers, men of eminent ability, sincerely desirous to do their full duty in their respective positions ; men who, in other pursuits, or on non-Catholic journals, might wia their way to fortune and fame, yet who receive a meagre compensation. They are overworked, for no one or two or three men can properly and thoroughly do the work that is comprehended in an ideal Catholic newspaper as we have sketched it. Yet the ideal ia not, emphatically not, a visionary or impracticable one.

Were it necessary to give sharper point to what we have written, we might easily do it. We could name at least ten or twelve Protestant journals, which, as respects numerical strength of editorial staff, number of regular contributors and correspondents, scholarly work, careful thought, and painstaking, discriminating labour employed on them, contrast most forcibly and favourably with even the best of our Catholic newspapers. In the respects mentioned they are incomparably superior to almost every, if not to every Catholic newspapor in our country. It is unpleasant to say this ; it is unpleasant to you to hear it ; bnt, unhappily, it is true.

Whose fault is all this? Is it that of the owners or business managers of Catholic newspapers ? To the latter question we answer no. There are exceptions, but, as a rule, we believe that the current supposition is entirely false. The fault lies at the door of the Catholic public, and we believe that our intelligent, educated Catholics are most to blame as regards this. They expend for themselves and their families ten, twenty, fifty dollars on non-Catholic publications for every two or five dollars that they expend on Catholic periodicals and newspapers. Converse with one of these intelligent, educated Catholics. He tells you he is deeply interested in some special subject which directly concerns the interests of the Church or some movement in favour of or against the Church. Hand to him a Catholic newspaper, or monthly, or quarterly, which contains an interesting article from a Catholic writer of distinguished ability on that very Bubject — say from Cardinal Manning or Cardinal Newman, He thanks you warmly, he will read it with great pleasure ; not now ; he has not time ; but soon. The article could be read in five minutes. It is placed on his table, perhaps it speedily finds its way, unread, into his waste basket ; or it is labelled carefully, placed where it may be easily found, and then it is forgotton. Meanwhile he and his family consume hours every day m reading non-Catholic newspapers and periodicals, some of which contain things which every Catholic should conscientiously abstain from reading. This ia no fancy sketch. Every observing Catholic writer knows that it ia true.

As regards Catholic young men and young women, and Catholics of the less educated class, it is notorious that they spend dollars for sensational, trashy " story papers " and novels, where they spend five cents for a Catholic newspaper.

There is still another class : Catholics who attend to their religious duties, and take a daily or weekly non- Catholic paper for the sake of reading the "news," but who take no Catholic news-

paper, no Catholic jjurn^l or periodical of any description; who are content to be as ignorant as " a heathen " of all that is going on ;in the Oatholic Church, outside of their own parish, who hear and kaow nothing whatever of what is going on even in their own diocese, who know nothing whatever about what the Church is doing throughout our country, or in Europe, Asia, or Africa ; nothing whatever about the movements of its enemies , nothing about what is doing in defence of the truth and for the welfare of society ; nothing whatever about its great charitable and missionary operations. The Holy Father might be tortured, or murdered, or drivja from Rome, and they would remain ignorant of it until told of ir by some better informed fellow Catholic, or by some sneering, scoffing non-Catholic acquaintance.

The Catholic newspaper Press cannot be what it ought to be, and what it might be, until it is much more generally and generously sustained. This we state emphatically as a self-evident fact. To obtain these, the owners, managers, and editors of Catholic newspapers must, as a necessary requisite and despite their limited resources strenuously strive to make their respective journals more worthy of support than very man y of them now are. Where ara we to look for a remedy ? We reply unhesitatingly, to the CatkolU clergy. Without their active, practical assistance owners, managers, and editors of Catholic newspapers will labour in Tain to secure for their publications the support they ought to^have, and which, for the proper promotion of Catholic interests it is necessary for them to have. We have the goodwill of the Catholic clergy so far as general approval and desire for our success go ; but these are not enough. We need, we require their earnest, active efforts to increase the circulation of Catholic newspapers in every one of their respective parishes. Our Holy Father has blessed Catholic writers and their work, and especially Catholic journalists. The Fathers of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore have repeated that blessing. They declare that those of them who give themselves faithfully to tha work are worthy of all praise, and that their memory will be held in benediction. They desire that their numbers and strength shall daily increase. They desire that the circulation of Oatholic journals shall be greatly enlarged. But these same Fathers also declare in thtir pastoral address :

" But all this will be only words in the air, umless it can be brought home to each parent and made practical in each household If the head of each Catholic family will recognise it at his privilege and his duty to contribute toward supporting the Catholic press by subscribing for one or more Oatholic periodicals and keeping himself well acqnainted with the information they impart, then the Catholic press will be sure to attain its rightful development and to Accomplish its destined mission."

Who can reach the heads of Catholic families — reach them effectively ? The Catholic press, using its best efforts, employing the most succesful canvassers, cannot. We mean cannot wi L hout the active assistance of our prelates and clergy. Even with the ir assistance it will be a difficult work. We h%ve the testimony of worthy zealous priests who have energetically laboured to increase the circulation of Catnolic newspapers in their respective parisne9, that their efforts ware attended with but little success. Yet, difficult as the work is, it must be undertaken, continued, and persevered in, nntil success crowns, as success eventually will crowa it, if it be thus carried on. For until this work is accomplished, the Catholic press of our country, to a great exient, will fail to fulfil its high mission, but when it shall have been accomplished, then will our Catholic periodical press become, as Our Holy Father Leo XIII. nrges it should strive to become — a moat efficient ani potent instrumentality for advancing the highest instruments of society and defending the Church.

The Figaro fathers thefollowiag bull upon the author of an eesay upon "La Domesicite en France," which (so it says) has just been published ;" We have spoken of that sanguinary year, 1793. In those troubled times it was that French domestics set an example of the greatest devotion. There were many even who, rather than betray their masters, allowed themselves to be guillotined in their place, and who, when happier days returned, silently and respectfully went back to their work." Myers and Co., Dentists, Octagon, corner of George street. They guarantee highest class work at moderate fees. Their artificial teeth gives general satisfaction, and the fact of them supplying a temporary denture while the gums are healing does away with the inconvenience of being months without teeth. They manufacture a single artificial tooth for Ten Shillings, and sets equally moderate The administration of nitrous oxide gas is also a great boon to tho>e needing the extraction of a tooth. Reaa — .[Alt/VT.j Father Richardson is giving a course of lectures on the inspiration of Scripture, at the Catholic Church of St. Wilfrid, Ventnor, Isle of Wight-. Having expressed his sorrow at the sad concessions now being made by advanced High Churchmen to the worst excesses of German Rationalism, he has received a characteristic letter from the Venerable Archdeacon Denison. Addressing Father Richardson as his " Dear Brother in Christ," the Archdepcon thanks him for his " true kindness," and adds, " In my eighty-fifth year, at the close of life, so to speak, of perpetual contention, for therights and liberties of the Church of England, I am broueht face to face with 'Lux Mundi,' the most grievous specimen of ' Defence of Truth ' of all those I have had to contend against, and the moat ruinous under all the ciicuma'ances of its production— a blow 'ao intra ' without parallel •The Archdeacon says that the " Branch Theory " finds no favour' * with him, and that he knows of "one only Church Catholic throughont tha world." Why, then, does not our venerab'e friend join it ? As a confirmation of Father Richardson's remarks wo may 9tate that a minister recently lectured on the Bible at Newcastle-on-Tyne, and unbelievers wrote to the local press expressing their satisfaction at finding that there wes really no difference between him and them, — Catholic Tunes,