It lost him in 1832, when
the paper abandoned General Jackson and took up Nicholas Biddle, and in
losing him lost its chance of retaining the supremacy among American
newspapers to this day. We can truly say that at that time journalism,
as a thing by itself and for itself, had no existence in the United
States. Newspapers were mere appendages of party, and the darling object
of each journal was to be recognized as the organ of the party it
supported. As to the public, the great public, hungry for interesting
news, no one thought of it. Forty years ago, in the city of New York, a
copy of a newspaper could not be bought for money. If any one wished to
see a newspaper, he had either to go to the office and subscribe, or
repair to a bar-room and buy a glass of something to drink, or bribe a
carrier to rob one of his customers. The circulation of the 'Courier and
Enquirer' was considered something marvelous when it printed thirty-five
hundred copies a day, and its business was thought immense when its
daily advertising averaged fifty-five dollars. It is not very unusual
for a newspaper now to receive for advertising, in one day, six hundred
times that sum.
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