The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-03-03
How THEY GOT LEFT"
Which the Sauna Is to Say. the Big
Fish in journalism.
Danger OF rrr~uming Too Mach
Upon Influence" 1t Nay Be All
On the either siGe---"Cony-
right Ecws!"

WASHINGTON CITY. March 2.-The scream
ing jC<e of the season here is Watterson's
bill to copyright the news of the day. 1t
has already demonstrated one truth which
neither the mambars nor the country at
large fully understood before, and that is
that The country press really holds the
balance Of power. \ correspondent of a
western journal, who has been in the field
long enough to know the workings of every
cougrcsSman's brain as well as he knows the
streets Of tie city, in confidential talk, said:
This whole scheyie is so impracticablo and
indeed indefcnsbla, that it borders on tins
humorous. Yes, it actually Jumps over the
border and cavorts upon the grinning ground
of the ridiculous. It's funny, because the big
newspaper fiSh-thc fellows with reputation,
influence circGlation, moneyand all that sort
Of thing thought they could do exactly what
they pleased without stroke of opposition.
They were going to put the country
editor in a box and put the lid on
him, you see-going to do it so quietly
and so gently--Gs big men do such things
you know-that the gallant army Of
country editors would never know it till it
was done. 1t would he no trouble, you
know. Nothing is too difficult to the people
who have Influence But they were mised
| as to the country eIitor's sagacity and sense
The first thing you know there was a storm
| roaring about the congressmens ears which
| made it necessary for them to pause in their
copyright career. They suddenly discovered
| that the country editors held the largest
half Of the field. It is their voice after
all, which says what shall OF what shall
not be. If they were as united
| on everything else as they are on this matter,
| they could make our government over in
| three or four weeks The metropolitan editor
| is great fellow, but he is not so great as he
| thought be was. Copyright news! Why, the
| idea is good enough for one of Bill Nye's
| funny essays You might as well try to
! copyright what Mrs Maloney tells Mrs Mar
! tin across the back fence And then the
talk of these bumptious city editors
about the country press is as belittling
as it is possible to be, and yet
| they are afraid of them. They all steal news,
steal from one another, steal from any SQUIRE,
they can, but they call it enterprise If 6
| country editor sits up at night with his sci5
sors in his hand and grabs the fresh sheet,
and reprOdgces the best of the news for his
readers they call that stealing. | know IL
about both sides Of the story because I've
served in both capacities. | hav,
stolen news when l was a country
editor and l have stolen it since I have
worked for city paper, and / intend t.
keep on stealing it as long as l live. The bill
viii never be introduced, but if it is it will bt
knocked higher than Mr. Wilkinson's kite
At all events, it has already done big work
1t has shown that the country editors wheI
they stand shoulder to shoulper, can whist,
the city editor down the wind clear to the en-,
of the last lane"
New YORK, March "A Washington dis
patch to The Sun says: members of con
gress from tho rural districts have beal
hearing from the editors. especially the eli
tors OF coun5ry dailies, on the proposed new
copyright law. The measure has no chanc
to 90 through the house, it is as well to say
to save further trouble. Enough member
are already pledged against it to defeat il
Scarcely representative, aside from thos
from the large cities, can be found who viii
not quickly say 4 am under pledge to vot
against the BILL One, a Democrat, toe
said: 4 believe the principle Of the pre-
posed measure is just For the life of ME
can't see why property in news ought not
be protected as well as property in any othe
FORM But if / should vote for the bill