Read Ebook: The Unpopular Review Vol. 2 No. 4 October-December 1914 including Vol. 2 Index by Various Holt Henry Editor

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Ebook has 754 lines and 83126 words, and 16 pages

"And how much must I pay you for it?" I asked.

"An obol," he replied.

"Very well," said I, and gave him the obol.

"Is it not cheap?" said Chaerephon. "And do you not think the demos has great reason to rejoice? For now many more will be able to read of what takes place."

"It is indeed cheap," I said, "and now the demos may indeed read all it will. But I do not think it may rejoice."

"Do I hear aright?" he asked. "Can it be you do not like the change?"

"You do hear aright," I answered. "I do not like it."

"But 'twill educate the demos," he said.

"It will," I said, "and that is why I do not like it. My thought is that 'twill educate them wrongly, and we shall have trouble from it. But let us discuss the matter, if that will please you."

"Yes," I said, "most willingly."

We drew near, and Chaerephon beat gently upon the door with his sandal, and we waited until someone should come from within.

The son of Chaerephon, first asking his sire's permission, now joined other boys who were vying one with another in a game of making noises.

Now the playing of the game was on this wise. Chaerephon's son would take from the store in his pocket a crimson paper, tightly rolled, containing an explosive. This he set off by means of a thread which projected from the end of the roll, and contained the same explosive, but not so much. The thread was called the fuse, and the roll a "cracker." When lighted with a match, the fuse would quickly carry fire to the cracker, which, straightway bursting, made a loud report. But first Chaerephon's son would send it flying through the air, lest it harm his fingers. Yet there were lads of hardihood who boldly held the cracker as it burst, and remained unharmed; and these were the winners of the game.

This at that time was for young and old the manner of celebrating the nation's freedom. For the people had once been in thrall to the tyrant.

"My sire is within," she said; and pointed to the door of the megaron.

"Hail, O Megaphon!" I cried in a loud voice.

Megaphon lowered the sheet until his face appeared, and then leaped up.

"A thousand pardons, Socrates and Chaerephon!" he cried. "I was deep in the paper, and did not notice. Pray seat yourselves."

We seated ourselves in front of him, and not far off.

Megaphon laid aside the paper, as it seemed, unwillingly.

"What were you reading, O Megaphon?" Chaerephon inquired, to start our discussion. For he knew well, without the asking.

Chaerephon gazed at me.

"But Socrates does not approve," he said.

"No," I said, "by Zeus, no!"

Megaphon was greatly astonished.

"I do not understand," he said. "Will not knowledge be spread among our people as never before, and will not our demos become well informed and thinking citizens, no longer a prey to their own ignorance or to the deceits of their enemies? For we shall now have the news at trifling cost, I think. Is it not so, O Socrates?"

"At trifling cost, most certainly," I answered. "To speak truly, the cost is even too little. But shall we discuss the matter?"

"And will you listen to me with patience," I said, "and answer what I ask, and not grow angry?"

"We will do as you say," he said. "Will we not, Chaerephon?"

Chaerephon agreed.

Megaphon assented.

"Then let us speak of the matter in this fashion," I said. "Suppose you had an acquaintance who came to visit you every day in the year, and was admitted not only to yourself, but freely to your wife and your sons and daughters. On entering, he first makes a great show of importance and a great deal of noise by calling out in an exceedingly loud voice that a cruel murder has been done, or a savage battle has been fought, or a shocking accident has happened, or a great robbery has been attempted, and comes up quite close to all of you and points out in every detail just how the accident or the crime took place. After this, he tells you of lesser crimes and mishaps--of thefts, adulteries, and murders among the poor and vicious, and the like; and then he tells with great exactness of many brutal contests--of the pancration, of boxing with the cestus, and of the fights of cocks and dogs. He tells you also of the life of the idle, who do nothing but eat and drink, passing the nights in waking and the days in sleep, consuming in pleasures they do not need the substance they have not earned. And suppose he counsels you to hate not only them, but all who possess greater store of goods than you. And then suppose he will tell you of various things which he says you should not lack, now screaming loudly that these goods will be sold for less than they cost, and now whispering other things of the sort with equal earnestness, and with equal intent to deceive you. Suppose he not only tried to sell you good and necessary wares, but that which he knew you did not need, or was worthless. And suppose he told you much that was true of your neighbors but was no concern of his, and repeated much that was false and harmful. And suppose his words were often vulgar and many times profane, and that his jests were coarse, and even obscene, and you should come upon him murmuring to your wife and children such things as the tongue should in no wise repeat."

Megaphon seemed not quite content with my words.

"Suppose," I said, "that he did and said such things in your house, not twice or thrice in the year, but daily, ever boasting of his virtues, and telling you all that he was your true and faithful friend. Would you not think the advantage of his presence doubtful?"

"I should," said Megaphon, "if he were all you say he would be; and I should not let him remain, but kick him out of doors without delay, and forbid him to enter again. But surely there are other matters he would relate, such as we should be glad to hear of, and we should not need to listen to all he said, nor buy all he would have us buy."

"No," I said, "doubtless not; but his company would be unpleasant, even if you neither bought nor heeded. For he would offend you often, and waste your time."

"But it will be so in no long time," I said.

"Will you tell us why?" he asked.

"It is," Megaphon said. "And justly, as I think. For the demos should be encouraged to read."

"Very well," I said, "when the former price is cut in half, will it not be impossible to gain as much? For gain is the purpose of the newspaper, and its owners will not publish it unless they receive gain, and the greatest possible amount. If they cut the price in half, they will of a surety use other means to bring them the money thus lost. Will it not be so?"

"But more people will buy and read," he said.

"Yes," I said, "they will. But more men and better machines will be needed, and the paper will be much larger, as you already see. Without doubt, they will not be able to give for so small a sum a paper so large."

"You seem to speak truly," he said.

"Then whence will come the gain I speak of?" I said. "Will it not come perforce from advertisements? At least, so I have read, for you see I know what is being talked. And how shall they increase the number of those who advertise, and make the price greater? For both, I think, will be necessary. Will it not be by having more who purchase and read? For those who buy and sell goods will pay a higher price only if more are to read their advertisements. Do you think I am right, Megaphon?"

"So it appears to me," he said.

"Then," I said, "is it not clear that we shall have a change in the newspaper's ways? Until now, the newspaper has had its gains mostly from those who read, and but little from those who advertise; but henceforth it will be contrariwise. It will not enrich itself from readers--except as their number brings more and better-paying advertisements."

"And there is another thing," Chaerephon said. "The character of the readers will also change. There will henceforth be more of them untaught and unthinking than before, because of the cheapness of the paper. Will it not be so?"

"Most certainly," I said; "you have anticipated my thought."

"I do not disagree," said Megaphon.

"For," Chaerephon said, "you cannot suit at once the tastes of both the ignorant and the intelligent."

"And what are the tastes of the demos?" I said. "Does not the demos like excitement, and will not the newspaper set forth in detail every manner of accident and crime and gossip? Doubtless you have seen the demos, how it behaves when the dead are to be seen, or when the wedding of some rich person takes place, or evildoers are being led by the Eleven to be punished."

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