One of the leading editorial articles in the first number of the Times discussed the affairs of Cuba. Then, as now, the question of the independence of that island was a topic of the day; and, in view of the passing events of 1869, it is interesting to remember what was said by the Times in 1851. The following is the material part of the article in question: "Whether it be right or wrong; whether it be in accordance with, or against, the principles of international law; whether it be any of their business or not, the Americans will always sympathize with any people struggling, or supposed to be struggling, against oppression. There may be some among us who can look coolly upon such contests, and regulate their sentiments concerning them by their intellectual notions of law and national duty; but the great mass of the people of the United States, acting solely from the impulses of free hearts and quick sympathies, will always sympathize with, and stand ready to aid, so far as they can, every nation, or colony, which may desire and endeavor to throw off hurtful and injurious restraint, and to secure for themselves the same proud position and the same independence of political action which we enjoy. It would be strange, indeed, if it were otherwise, — prizing freedom, as we do, and believing as we profess to believe that freedom is the natural right of every people, brought into national existence, as we were, under the influence of this belief, and through the aid of sympathizing allies, it would be strange, indeed, if we could look with cold indifference upon the efforts of others to throw off unjust oppression, and to regulate their political conduct by laws of their own enactment." Encouraged by their success, the proprietors of the Times were prompt to seize every advantage, and the new sheet was pushed in all directions. Simultaneously with the appearance X of its fourth number, a little handbill, nine inches long and six inches wide, was thrust under the doors of thousands of dwellings in New York. It set forth in short compass the low price and the peculiar character of the Times. The paper was "only sixpence a week," and it contained "an immense amount of reading matter for that price," and more to the same effect.. As a curiosity, the following exact copy of this production is appended: "A CARD. "The carrier of the New York Daily Times proposes to leave it at this house every morning for week, for the perusal of the family, and to enable them, if they desire it, to receive it regularly. "The Times is a very cheap paper, costing the subscriber only SIXPENCE a week, and contains an immense amount of reading matter for that price.. The proprietors have abundant capital, able assistants, and every facility for making it as good a paper as there is in the city of New York. It will contain regularly all the news of the day, full telegraphic reports from all quarters of the country, full city news, correspondence, editorials, etc., etc. "At the end of the week the carrier will call for his pay; and a continuance of subscription is very respectfully solicited. "NEW YORK, Sept. 21st, 1851." Through legitimate channels, the Times was thus brought to the notice of all classes of readers, and while those engaged in its service were adequately rewarded for heavy labor, money was also freely spent in procuring early news, and in providing correspondence and contributions. In the first twelve months, thirteen thousand dollars were paid to the editors of the paper, a sum considered enormous in those days, although a mere trifle now, twenty-five thousand dollars were expended in the mechanical department; forty thousand dollars were paid for the white paper upon which the Times was printed. The Hoe press and the general outfit of the office cost nearly fifty thousand dollars. In all, one hundred thousand dollars were sunk before a profit was made. The gradual increase of advertising patronage of course helped to pay expenses; but the outlay was for a long time heavy and constant. The capitalists in the firm drew no money out, having courage to wait, and sufficient means for their own support while they waited. Mr. Raymond, embarrassed in the adjustment of his affairs with General Webb, was content to draw a salary of fifty dollars a week, upon which he lived. The general results of the first year were described by Mr. Raymond in an article entitled "The Year One," which appeared in the leading column of the Times on the 17th of September, 1852. This article is an important part of the history of the Times, and we reproduce it entire : "THE YEAR ONE. "This day's issue closes the first volume of the New York Daily Times. The year's experience has disappointed alike the expectations of its friends, and the predictions of its foes. At the outset, owing mainly to personal causes, it was compelled to encounter as fierce hostility as any new enterprise ever met. Advantage was taken, by men whose personal resentments uniformly overbear all considerations of justice and fair play, of the absence from the country of the principal editor, to defame his character, belie his motives, misrepresent in the most shameful manner the objects and scope of the enterprise, and to prejudice, by all the arts of unscrupulous cunning, the public mind against the Daily Times. These efforts were continued, with relentless and unrebuked mendacity, for some months previous to the commencement of the paper; and were seconded in various quarters by those who became innocently their dupes, as well as by those whom selfish fear of rivalry prompted to a similar course. - "Our readers will bear us witness that we have troubled them but little hitherto with reference to matters of this kind. We have allowed this tide of interested hostility to take its own course, feeling quite certain that it must in the end exhaust itself, or be turned back by public justice and the sober judgment of the reading community. We have reached a point now at which we are entirely willing to abide by the verdict of the tribunal to which our only appeal was made. We have left the Times to speak for itself, day by day; and we have left its habitual readers to judge for themselves of its character, of the justice of the hostility it has encountered, and of the truth or falsehood of the widespread rumors by which it has been assailed. The favorite shape in which the interested enemies of the paper and its editor have clothed their hostility has been the charge of Abolitionism. Day after day, week after week, and month after month, from a period antecedent by some months to its publication, down to the present time, - a certain portion of the public press, both in this city and out of it, has denounced the Times as an abolitionist organ, as devoted to the interests of the anti-slavery crusade, — as animated by this sentiment and controlled by this leading and predominant purpose. We have never stopped to contradict or correct this calumny, partly because we are never disposed to give reasons upon compulsion,' but mainly because we felt sure the public would not credit it unless the contents of the Times should show it to be true. And now, at the close of its first volume, after one year's trial, with three hundred and twelve daily issues from which to select the evidence, we are quite willing to allow its twenty-five thousand subscribers, and its hundred thousand readers, in every section of the Union, and comprising all shades of opinion, to say for themselves whether the allegation is true or false. We do not suppose that, upon that or upon any other subject, the Times has always expressed opinions to which everybody would at once assent; but we do assert that its leading aim, — the guiding purpose traceable throughout its whole career, the principles it has maintained, the tone it has preserved, and the spirit and scope of all its discussions, have been in the most direct and palpable hostility to the slanderous allegations by which it has been assailed. "The strongest possible proof that the public confidence in the Times has not been in the least degree touched by these assaults, is found in the success by which it has been crowned. It has been immeasurably more successful, in all respects, than any new paper of a similar character ever before published in the United States. There is not one of the established and power. ful journals by which it is now surrounded, in this or in any other city, which closed the first year of its existence with an experience at all comparable to that of the Daily Times. In circulation, in income, in influence, in every. thing which goes to make up the aggregate of a successful journal, it chal lenges a comparison with any other paper ever published. We have printed during the year, as shown by the self-adjusting register upon our Mammoth Press, seven million five hundred and fifty thousand copies; which gives an average daily circulation of twenty-four thousand one hundred and ninetyeight, from the very day it started. That circulation has fluctuated, more or less, of course, as does that of all cheap papers, with the season, the demands of business, etc., etc. ; but commencing with no subscribers at all it has steadily advanced, and is now increasing as rapidly as at any time since it was three months old. Its readers are among the best portion of our citizens, those who read it because they like it, and not because it panders to any special taste, and least of all to any low or degrading appetite. It is made up for all classes, and it is designed to cover all departments. Whatever has interest or importance for any considerable portion of the community has found a place, according to its limits, within its columns. We feel that we can safely appeal to our readers for proof of the fact, that we have neither spared labor nor expense in the endeavor to make the Times in all respects as good a newspaper, as interesting and useful for family perusal, as complete in its summary of news, as reliable in its statements, as able and candid in its discussions, and as perfect in every way, as any newspaper in the city, without regard to its price. We have expended during the year not less than one hundred thousand dollars upon its various departments. Of this amount over thirteen thousand dollars have been paid to editors, correspondents, and contributors; about twenty-five thousand dollars have been paid to compositors, pressmen, and others employed in the mechanical departments of the paper; we have paid very nearly forty thousand dollars for the white paper alone upon which it has been printed; and upon every other department, whether in obtaining news, correspondence from distant points, articles of ability, and written with care, upon engrossing topics, or in improving the typographical and general appearance of the paper, the same liberal, and even lavish, expenditure has been bestowed. "We commenced the publication of the Times with the determination to make it the best family daily newspaper in the city of New York. After one year's experience, encouraged by the abundant support of the public we have received, we are resolved to go forward with all possible speed to the full attainment of that object. We have thus far had obstacles to encounter — some of which the lapse of time has removed, while others will be made to yield to the energy and resources we shall bring to the task. We have suffered most of all from lack of room; as, owing to the limited size of the sheet, we could neither give as much reading matter daily as we desired, nor afford to take advertisements at so low a price as other papers. We shall endeavor, during the coming year, to obviate these difficulties, so far as possible. "So much for the year that is past. To-morrow we shall enter upon our Second year and the Second Volume of the Daily Times; and we will then hold some further conference with our readers upon these matters of direct interest to them, as well as to ourselves." CHAPTER XI. THE FIRST WORKERS ON THE TIMES-A RETROSPECT. THE JOURNALISTS WHO JOINED RAYMOND ALEXANDER C. WILSON - JAMES W. WHEN Raymond announced his purpose of establishing the Times, he had no difficulty in securing competent assistants. Known as a trained journalist, an accomplished scholar, a polished gentleman, and an indefatigable worker, he attracted to his paper men who had previously slaved for pittances, under masters who were neither courteous nor noble. Numberless applications were made for places in the service of the new paper; and from the whole number he chose half a dozen. The gentlemen engaged were experienced journalists, who, from humble beginnings, had steadily worked their way upwards, until they had achieved reputations for talent, skill, industry, and trustworthiness. Many years later, Mr. Raymond frankly attributed to this early company of his assistants a great measure of the success which had attended his independent venture. The first assistant in the Times, on the 18th of September, 1851, and for several years afterwards, was Mr. Alexander C. Wilson, a native of New Jersey, whose previous experience as the conductor of a local journal in that State had made him familiar with the general requirements of journalism. Aside from this professional qualification, Mr. Wilson's services to the new paper were extremely valuable in another direction. His mind, encyclopædic and precise, had been carefully trained by a long course of reading and study. His early years had |