Page:The Story of the House of Cassell (book).djvu/185



House of Cassell has been concerned in the publication of only one daily newspaper, but that one was a portent. The Echo, started by the firm in 1868, was the first halfpenny evening paper, and will have a permanent place in the history of journalism.

The scheme originated with John Cassell himself, but it was not materialized till three years after his death. Then, with Galpin superintending the arrangements, the new paper was launched on December 8 just as Gladstone was forming his first administration. The editorship had been offered to Moncure D. Conway, but he was unable to accept it, and the place was given to Mr. (later Sir) Arthur Arnold, while Mr. Horace Voules became the first manager. It need hardly be said that the political outlook of the Echo was Liberal, but its Liberalism was not hard-shell partisanship. It gave support to Gladstone and his politics—when they happened to be in accord with its own views; but it was always an independent mind. In its first number it "hoped for much from Mr. Gladstone"—but promised to criticize him impartially. There is more than a touch of the Cassell spirit in the first leading article:

"With regard to all our institutions, we shall fearlessly try them by the question, What are they worth?—not being ignorant of the great value of tradition, or of influences that refine and elevate a people; but in the government of England tradition will not henceforth be accepted as a good title to stability. . ..

"As the greatest of our national needs, we shall look to Mr. Gladstone for the immediate establishment of universal education. . . . Hitherto the State has insulted