Page:History of Journalism in the United States.djvu/272

246 more than the combined sale of the eleven six-cent papers.

Moreover, changes in the attitude of the pubhc mind toward newspapers were set forth, statements important even as claims:

"Since the Sun began to shine upon the citizens of New York there has been a very great and decided change in the condition of the laboring classes and the mechanics, Now every individual, from the rich aristocrat who lolls in his carriage to the humble laborer who wields a broom in the streets, reads the Sun; nor can even a boy be found in New York City or the neighboring country who will not know in the course of the day what is promulgated in the Sun in the morning.

"Already we perceive a change in the mass of the people. They think, talk, and act in concert. They understand their own interest, and feel that they have numbers and strength to pursue it with success.

"The Sun newspaper has probably done more to benefit the community by enlightening the minds of the common people than all the other papers together."

The "social" success of the paper, as shown in its relations with fellow editors, is evident from the fact that James Watson Webb was warned that the "three editors" of the Sun had pistols and would use them if Webb attempted a threatened assault.

When Webb assaulted Bennett in January, 1836, Day, in the Sun, illustrating the pleasant attitude of editors toward one another, thus sums up his own ideas as to the character of his confreres:

"Low as he has fallen, both in the public estimation and in his own, we are astonished to learn last evening