Every Town, And I Believe I May With Truth Write Every Village, Has Its
Daily And Weekly Papers, Advocating All Shades Of Political Opinion.
The
press in Canada is the medium through which the people receive, first by
telegraphic despatch, and later in full, every item of English
intelligence brought by the bi-weekly mails.
Taking the newspapers as a
whole, they are far more gentlemanly in their tone than those of the
neighbouring republic, and perhaps are not more abusive and personal than
some of our English provincial papers. There is, however, very great
room for improvement, and no doubt, as the national palate becomes
improved by education, the morsels presented to it will be more choice.
Quebec, Montreal, and Toronto have each of them several daily papers, but,
as far as I am aware, no paper openly professes republican or
annexationist views, and some of the journals advocate in the strongest
manner an attachment to British institutions. The prices of these papers
vary from a penny to threepence each, and a workman would as soon think of
depriving himself of his breakfast as of his morning journal. It is stated
that thousands of the subscribers to the newspapers are so illiterate as
to depend upon their children for a knowledge of their contents. At
present few people, comparatively speaking, are more than half educated.
The knowledge of this fact lowers the tone of the press, and circumscribes
both authors and speakers, as any allusions to history or general
literature would be very imperfectly, if at all, understood.
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