The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1884-12-04
DANA, WHITELAW REID, AND THE
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF
ASSOCIATED PRESS.
The Curious Arithmetic That
Election Week Gave New
York to Blaine.
The 473 Plurality Business
Saddled on to q Single
Mathematician.
A Double Coat of WhiteWasIl
Applied to the "NOn-Part-
isan" Managers.

meeting of the governing executive
committee Of the New York associat
ed press, called in New Y ork to inves-
tigate the published charges of parti-
sanship in their dispatches during the
campaign and their collection of cleo
( ton returns was attended by the men,
bers as follows: Chas a. Dana. of the
n. Y. Sun, chairman; Whitelaw Reid,
of the Tribune, Secretary; Jas. Gordon
Benntt, of the Herald, rep
resented by &. w. Rosmer;
Richard Smith, of the Cincinnati
/ Commercial Gazatte, and w. n.
Haldemau, of the Louisville Courier
Journal. After a thorough investi-
cation of the work, including circu-
lars of instructions, correspondence
with agents, by letter and telegraph,
correspondence with candidates, COM
plants from both democratic and re-
publican sources, dispatches sent out
returns received by telegraph, and the
originals filed by the senders in the
several telegraph offices, Messrs. w.
n. HaleGman, of the Louisville COur-
ier-Jonrnal, and Richard Smith, of the
Cincinnati Commercial GaZett, were
appointed a subcommittee to sum-
mamie the conclusions reached by the.
members. They resented the follow
ing report, which was unanimously
adopted, and the chairman and secre-
tary of the joint executive committees
were instructed to sign the same and
transmit to the members and clients
of the two associations:
GENERAL OFFICE OF ASS'D PRESS,
NEW YORK, November 26.-To
the members ana clients of the as
ISOLATED press: The joint executive
committee did not deem 1t advisable
during a holly contested cam
paign to take public notice
Of Misrepresentation and I'M
warranted criticisms published
against the Associated Press. Obser-
walton shows that, during such sea-
sons of excitement, we are moved by
passion rather than by reason. Now
that the party contest has closed the
committee deeIn it their duty TO make
public the following statement:
A meeting of the committee was
called for the 25th inst, to which Da-
vid NJ. Stone, president Of the New
York Associated Press, and HOd. 10
sem Pulitzer, OF its executive COM
mittee, were invited. The latter was.
unfortunately, out of the city, bnt Mr..
Stone attended and gave the commit
tee the benefit Of his counsel and eX-
perience. a careful review of the
work done and of the official records,
warrant the statement that the high
character and non-partisan fairness
that have given the Associated Press
it's hold upon peoples confidence in
the past, have been firmly maintained;
and that no improper influence, politi-
nj an 9TH rIcn hn1 tod
to enter into the management. The
the limits prescribed by the rules, and
safe and just to all parties-has been
larger than I any previous campaign.
This was due to a greater nun q:
press for fuller service.
The state conventions, nearly a
hundred in number, and the ma
tional conventions of all the
political organizations, were reported
with a thoroughness and rapidity sur
passing anything ever before attempt
ed. The subsequent official action of
the party commissioners; the letters,
addresses, and movements of the can.
didates, were carefully provided for
under instructions similar in language
and spirit. 1t has never been consid-
cred as within the legitimate func-
tions of this non-partisan association
to report ordinary campaign meetings,
or to transmit scandals that spring up
during such heated periods. All such
have been vigorously excluded from
the associated press reports.
The charge that the election returns
in the state OF New York were with
held, is destroyed by the fact that out
of total of 1894 wards and towns, in
New York, the associated press re-
ceived on election night, returns from
GAO; whereas in 1876. returns were re-
ceIved from only 254, and, in 1880,
from only 293. The extent, rapidity
and substantial accuracy of this ser
vice were never equalled before in
This state. The total vote OF the en-
tire state in 1884 reached the enormous
number of ], l67, O00-so nearly divided
between two great parties as to leave
the victor only about LOO plurality.
The Investigation shows that while
there were some serious errors in the
telegraphiDg of our reports, especially
from remote points due in part of their
being transmitted over different lines
of telegraph-and while these errors
in the main, diminished the apparent
strength of Cleveland, there was but
one error of importance in the office
of the Associated Press. This was in
a bulletin issued on November 6-two
days alter the election-knoWn as bull
letin No. IA. In making this up, one
of the mathmetIcians employed, in the
absence of full returns from
the district, instead of con-
tinuing to estimate the percentage
of the demo cratic gains, as had been
done before, undertook to estimate the
actual plurality, and by this process
figured out plurality of 47S for Mr. |
Blaine. The sub agent in charge of |
the office sent this out without suffi-
Gent scrutiny, but it was corrected |
as soon as its inaccuracy was positive
ly ascertained. In regard to this error
the committee find no evidence of any
intention of wrong doing on the part of |
the sub agent. From first to last, there /
was no effort to control or affect the |
returns by any member of the COM
mittee in any interest, nor any evil !
intdntion of any sort, and the general
instructions under which the work |
was done, were strikingly fair, non !
partisan, and more thorough and |
minute than ever before.
[Signed CHAs. a. DANA, Chm.
WHITELAw REID, Sec'y.