The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-04-10
A TALE OF WOE
Which Might Not Have Been if
News Was Copyrighted.
Showing We Direction in Which We
Great Journal Needeth Protec-
ticn--.A special Cable"
Which Was pizen.

CHICAGO, April 10.--For the past few days
the city papers have been aall tore up" over
an alleged special cable, published in The
Tribune as such, and in The Journal and
Inter Ocean simply as foreign news, in which
Matthew Arnold, the celebrated English
apostle of sweetness and light, was repre-
sented as giving his impressions Of
Chicago. to The Pail Mall journal, a
mythical newspaper The 'impres-
sions" were decidedly unfavorable to
the western metropolis, charging lack of
culture, Philistinisrn, and general want Of
those things that go to make up the cult
waited modern community as Mr.. Arnold
would have it. The daily papers commented
severely upon Mr.. Arnolds injustice and in
gratitude and many people interviewed ex-
pressed their Indignation. Now here comes
The News and says:
at is a sufficiently well and generally
known fact that The Chicago Tribune. that
highly moral family paper, has long practiced
journalistic methods which will not bear very
close investigation. In order to make an ex-
posure of this once for all, The Daily News
caused to be prepared the article in question,
and secured its insertion in The New York
Tribune Of last Sunday The results,
which were naturally to be anticipated
followed without delay. The Chicago Tri-
| bune seized upon the bait thus offered and
swallowed it at once-hook, line, pole, and
all. Without for O moment suspecting the
genuineness of the production, it had the ar
ticle telegraphed entire, and published it on
Monday morning as a special cable dispatch
"a cheap way of securing credit for enter
! prise To be sure, the article was announced
as having been published in London in The
Pail Mall Journal, a paper which does
not exist, either in London or any
where else, and at the, same time had
about it an inherent improbability which
alone was sufficient to inform any discerning
| person that it could not be what it pretended.
But The Tribune was never noted for its dis
cernment, and even if the impossible allow.
ance be made that it could have shown
enough perspicacity to find this out after
careful study, it was in too greedy mood to
see anything suspicious in an article so care
| fully written as to seem genuine to the super
fetal observer. So not only was the decep-
ton thought to be a safe one, and the
article printed as a special cable,
but the weighty editorial mind of The Tri-
| bune-and everybody knows how weighty
it is-proceedcd to grapple with so worthy a
subject. The Matthew Arnold editor was
let loose and he promptly frothed at the
| mouth and wrought himself up to fitting
| pitch of frenzy. With his usual elegant re-
| gard for the literary amenities he called Mr.
| Arnold the 'king of dead beats" and accused
| him of dealing in 'rehashed gags" with fine
sarcasm he turned Mr Arnolds own
| weapons upon him and showed him to be
more of a Philistine than the veriest
|
with delicate poetic fancy he showed him to
be lacking in the social qualities of the I'M
| tutored but romantic Arab. In short, The
Tribune made the most of its ill-gCtten sensa-
! ton, and The Journal and Inter Ocean fol-
lowed suit as quickly as they could get their
Matthew Arnold machinery into working
| order, but these papers had the grace not to
put the news in the form of bogus dispatch.
| The Daily News, in the meanwhile, let the
thing work until it thought best to let the
| public into the secret, which it now does.
| As a sensation the Matthew Arnold article,
| together with the comment and criticism
which it has called forth, has been a great
| success. 1t has been the one absorbing topic
| of conversation during the past three days.
| 1t has called forth the choicest vituperation
| from press and public. Every one has had
| some opinion TO express concerning it, and,
| following the cue of the newspapers which
| have taken it up, 1t has been no less limo
| Gently but completely swallowed by the pub
| lie than by the papers. One would judge
| from what the press has said concerning it
| that it furnished an exhibition on the part of
| Mr.. Arnold of ingratitude OF blackHess TN
| paralleled, to say nothing of its being alb
surdly exaggerated in its judgments. But it
| must be remembered that the American cuti-
| Gle, although tough enough when exposed to
home attacks has always been peculiarly
| sensitive when subjected to any stimulus
| from abroad, and that America has always
been absurdly resentful of foreign criticism.
| So the reader need not be surprised if upon
turning to the article itself he finds in it little
of the spirit which has been generally at
tributed to it by the newspapers. Chicago
has about it still good deal of the provincial
element and in nothing is this more plainly
shown than in its restiveness under criti-
| cism, which, although really not coming
from Mr. Arnold, is doubtless not far from
what he would have said had be expressed
himself with perfect candor upon the sub
ject 1t may be more than suspected that
an inner conviction of the essential justice
of the structures laid upon Chicago in this
article has prompted the reception with
which it has met.
1t is very amusing to note how the imita-
ton of Mr. Arnold's style has imposed upon
persons who ought to know better than to be
| thus taken in. For example, the editor OF
one Of our city newspapers says this, "Thert
is no question in my mind that The Tribune's
special cablegram is truthful report OF
what Matthew Arnold has written for The
Pail Mall Gazette. No one else could have
made these utteFances. There is that peculi
arity of style and that largeness of disregard
for facts about them which fixes the author
ship unquestionably. The article is exactly
in keeping with the opinion formed of Mr.
Arnold when he was here" Gen. McClurG
is reported as having said; "The style is hi
beyond doubt" and many other instance
of the same sort might Re given.
The present onslaught has been the occa
: sion of q revival of all the absurd stories O.
Arnold's supposed lack of good breeding, tt
which the press of America gave currency
during his visit. This time, however, they
are told with that added wealth of imagery
which the occasion seems to call for.
/ What is especially noteworthy about al
this newspaper discussion is, that it is no
argumentative in the least While it doe
not misquote, it misrepresents the spirit, anG
then proceeds to draw upon its copious vo
cabulary of explosives In this of course
long practice enables The Tribune to take thu
lead, but The Journal and Inter- Ocean dc
, not remain far behind. The Inter Ocean il
particular invonts for him the unique appel
lation of the sweet buccaneer of Oxford"
8 Want There Back Pay.
, CINCINNATI, Ohio, April 10-The Freigh