The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-07-08
INTERVIEWING PUBLIC MEN.
How They Submit to the journalistic
q Scalpel.

How They Submit to the journalistic
q Scalpel.
NEW YORK, July 7.-As in all great po-
litical campaigns, the interview will soon
become especially prominent in the newspa-
i per press How do statesmen receive the
| inquiring journalist? They all come to New
| Y ork. and there they are certain to meet
reporters of collegiate education, well
dressed, polite, of high character, the peer
in this respect of any of the men they meet.
1t is a searching test for any public man.
| The educated reporter here, as everywhere
| else in this country, is as keen a. q Spanish
blade in piercing the pasteboard of mock
craftsmanship, while none render more
prompt and generous testimony to genuine
greatness. Glance at the statesmen who
talk to reporters almost daily, and with
whom they are often on terms of the most
intimate friendship.
| Chauncey NJ, Depew is one of the best
men in this country to interview, one of the
| most courteous as well as one of the most
intelligent of statesmen, whose opinions on
pubic questions are presented by the press
to the public. A reporter arrived late at a
big banquet at which Mr.. Depew made one
of his brilliant speeches. Knowing HIM well,
he went to Mr.. Depew at the banquet table,
| and asked
"What did you say, Mr.. Depew; I am
anxious to get your speechF"
| Hold on for a minute, my boy, till this
racket is over" said the brilliant orator,
land | will go in the library and write it
out for you" And he did.
| At his house he may be very busy, but the
reporter goes right up to his library Per-
haps he finds Mr.. Depew in full dress for
some notable occasion; perhaps he is in the
process of preparing and is in his shirt
sleeves, but he talks to the reporter just as
| he is. If the interview is on an especially
important subject, he likes to have the jour
nalists manuscript submitted to him before
| it is published.
Russell Sage is hard man to interview
unless he is well acquainted with the re-
| porter Under favorable circumstances he
talks much and says really very little. He
is extremely sensitive to newspaper criti-
| cism.
Coils P, Huntington always turns the
tables on the reporter if possible, and in
terviews him about all sorts of questions.
He has an appearance of engaging frank
ness, but is as willy as Belial.
George William Curtis always writes out
his interviews. So does Gen. Butler
Roscoe Conkling would get up at 70 or 1
O'Clock at night and talk while sitting in his
night shirt to reporter whom he knew, in
his interesting and inimitable manner
James &. Blaine must know the reporter
well before he will talk, and then the writer
must be very careful in his statements or
the statesman will deny them.
LIKE A PACK OF FIRECRACKERs.
Mayor Hewitt goes off like pack of fire.
crackers in a barrel He is one of the most
impusive of men, but generous in his in
stinctS and high-minded He talks readily
to reporter unless he is stranger This,
indeed is true of most public men. They
become acquainted with certain news
paper mon and prefer to talk
to Them knowing that they will
be correctly and discreetly reported.
Public men are often not a little indebtsd
to the discretion of reporters. The late Al
gernon S, Sullivan. one of the most courtly
and agreeable of New York lawyers, Of tho
highest standing in his profession, once said
to me:
81 have often had reporters come to me
and ask certain questions. | answered
them if | could consistently, and if |
couldn't | explained TO them why | could
not do so for publication. In not one in
stance was my confidence in a reDorter
ever betrayed. | was once a newspaper
man myself and knew that if the facts
were properly put to the reporter | would
be properly treated"
But speaking of Mayor Hewitt recalls
| the fact that on one occasion q new re-
porter visited him in his office at the city
| hall and frankly stated that he happened to
| know very little about The subject on which
he wished to interview him.
"Wel, why didn't you prepare yourself
before you came here.' snapped His Honor.
Great heavens! Mr.. Mayor retorted
the rather fiery newspaper man. You
| were young once yourself, weren't you?
| You once had to learn these things Yourself,
didn't youf"
The answer so pleased the mayor that he
climbed up his library ladder in an imme-
date quest for books of reference and gave
/ the young reporter all the information that
| he desired.
Grover Cleveland talks in a splendidly
modulated voice and slowly; with just a
touch of sadness. a neutrality-suspicious. is:
II am trying to do what Is right, and he is
earnest in seeking to impress this idea on
his interlOcutor. He will talk readily to
newspaper men whom he finds report him
correctly. All the presidents have been
| very friendly to reporters whom they knew
and had found trustworthy. There are, of
course, black sheep in every fold There
arc lawyers who disgrace their pro 'essi IN,
ministers who Dring reproach on
their calling, financlerS who are sent
| to prison, merchants who are known
| to be dishonest, and similarly,
! there are newspaper men whom reputable
! journalists condemn. Statesmen know the
| difference, and TO men OF high character on
the press a President of the United States
talks with freedom that would surprise
the petty ward politician or the pompous
truder who pretends to dislike being inter
viewed. President Cleveland talks in a per
| fectly friendly way with the correspondents
| of newspaper that are unfriendly to him.
Knowing That the correspondent is not to
blame for the editorial tone of the paper.
All public men learn to make this distinc-
tion The editor is the journalistic general
IN command. A soldier of his army cannot
take him to task for his editorial policy. He
cannot riGhtfully be held responsible for
any mistake in that policy.
A STRIKING ILLUSTRATION.
Gen. Hancock once illustrated this point
very strikingly. The day after the demo
cratic banquet given some years ago to
Samuel j. Iilden, Gen. Mcclellan and Gen.
Hancock, all unsuccessful presidential can
dldates, "A New York paper made some
sneernG comments on the alleged funereal
aspect of the feast and the so-culled gather
ing of mourners. IL was a bitter iibe nil
the more so because it had the sting
OF a certain degree of truth The
next day a reporter Of the republican
paper that published this attack went down
to Zen. Hancock at Governors Island to get
some information on very important
matter. The general had sense enough not
to blame the reporter who, perhans. had
not had time to even read the attack writ