Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1881-12-25
The Associated Press.
Cincinnati Commercial.

A good many newspapers that
ought to know better are saying,
since Mr.. Cyrus Field purchased the
New York Express, an Associated
Press newspaper, that it was the pnr
pose of few New York capitalists
interested in great enterprises to OBJ
tain control of the New York Associ
ated Press, aud manipulate the news
of the world in their own fashion for
speculative purposes.
It may be worth while to state the
facts, not only for the information of
the public at large, but to allay any
apprehensions that have arisen
through the tronblesomeness of I'M
derstanding the true scope of bust
ness and sharply defined limitations
of the Associated Press of New
York. The association is copart-
nership, not corporation. There
are seven partners-the New York
Herald, Sun, Times, Tribune, World,
Journal of Commerce, and Express.
Each partner has an equal voice.
There is an executive committee of
two.
The object of the association was
at first to restrict the field of special
correspondents, and the rule still
stands, though carelessly administer
ed, that, with the exception of AL
bany and Washington, a member of
the association receiving a special
telegram shall send duplicate of it
to the other partners, and any one of
them has right to use it by paying
an equal proportion of the telegraph
ic tolls.
At present the business of the as
ISOLATION is to collect and sell news.
The object is to gather intelligence
from all parts of the world, and not
only use it themselves, but sell it to
others. In this country they sell
news to some of the New York pa
pers out of the association, to the
New England Associated Pres SIS, the
New York State Press, the Philadel>
phia, Washington, and Southern
Press, the Western Associated Press,
the Pacific Press, the Colorado and
Texas Press. 1t is a grand business.
The article of value gathered AID cir
culated is news.
Now it would be impossible for
this association to maintain itself If
it tampered with the article in which
il dealt. The value of membership
is now very great. One hundred
thousand dollars offered for a part
nership right would not be consider
ed; but give the country to know that
the association was dealing with the
people dishonesty, and this immense
value would vanish. It is mainly in
market news that the tampering
would be possible, and that is mat
terof figures and fractions that must
be reported with absolute accuracy
and the association has no control
over the talk of the tickers." The
I association does not control the
Western Union Telegraph Company,
but is one of it's customers only, and
| the wires are free to all.
|
Not only would it be destructive
of the value of the property of the
association to manipulate news if
they could do it, they could not do it
if they desired to do so, and to brave
speedy destruction for the sake of a
temporary advantage. The associa-
ton might perhaps commit one con-
siderable fraud, but that would he
suicidal, and people are not likely to
cut their own throats to deceive 9th
ers. But if it be true that Mr.. Gould
owns the World, and that he and
Mr.. Field would combine to infu-
ence the Associated Press they would
have but two votes out of seven.
> Gould does not own or control the
Tribune. Then the Herald, Times,
Sun, and Journal of Commerce re.
main a quadrilateral. The whole