ct the story for yourself. Next comes "Get
the Man! Craft and courage of old-time and modern express robbers
matched by organised secret service and the mandate that makes capture
alone the end of an unflagging man-hunt." This is accompanied by
portraits of famous detectives and train-robbers.

There follows "_Thrilling Lines_," with a picture of a man who seems to
be looping the loop on a bicycle.

And the conclusion of the section is a poem, entitled "Cynthianna
Blythe," with coloured illustrations apparently intended for children,
and certainly successful in not appealing to adults.

Comment, I suppose, is superfluous. But it is only fair to say that the
whole of the press of America is not of this character. Among the
thousands of papers daily produced on that continent, it would be
possible, I believe, to name ten--I myself could mention five--which
contain in almost every issue some piece of information or comment which
an intelligent man might care to peruse. There are to be found, now and
again, passing references to European and even to Asiatic politics; for
it cannot be said that the press of America wholly ignored the recent
revolutions in Persia and in Turkey. I myself saw a reference to the new
Sultan as a man "fat, but not fleshy." England looms big enough on the
American horizon to be treated to an occasional gibe; and the doings of
fashionable Americans in London are reported somewhat fully. Still, on
the whole, the American daily press is typified by the specimen I have
analysed. Sensations, personalities and fiction are its stock-in-trade.
Why? The causes are well known, but are worth recapitulating, for they
are part of the system of modern civilisation.

The newspaper press is a business intended to make money. This is its
primary aim, which may, or may not, include the subordinate purpose of
advocating some line of public policy. Now, to make money, it is
essential to secure advertisements; and to secure advertisements it is
essential to have a large circulation. But a large circulation can only
be obtained by lowering the price of the paper, and adapting it to the
leisure mood of the mass of people. But this leisure mood is usually one
of sheer vacuity, incapable of intellectual effort or imaginative
response. The man is there, waiting to be filled, and to be filled with
the stuff easiest to digest. The rest follows. The newspapers supply the
demand and by supplying extend and perpetuate it. Amo