Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-02-21

| that the House may take this matter and deal
with il as they deem proper, I, however, hav-
ing the consciousness that have discharged
the duty which devolved upon me to the best
| Of my ability. If some gentleman desires to
| speak upon the other side reserve the re-
mainder of my time. II not, / am willing that
| we shall now have a vote.
Mr.. Baker, of New York-vote.
The question was taken on the motion to
postpone the report indefinitely, and it was
agreed to-ayes 81, noes "a.
NEWS GATHERING AT WASHING
TON.
The Local Reporters and What They Do.
The last number of the New York Journalist
contains the following letter from Washington;
ITO me there is more pleasure in the perusal
Of the Journalist, week after week, than in the
reading of the more pretentious but less valu-
able aggregations of literary effort, and one Of
the principal sources from whence my delight
springs can be found in the fact that the mat
! ter printed in your columns is either interest
ing and apparent fiction or else clean-cut fact
1t 10 but rarely that fail TO secure q copy Of
the Journalist as soon as possible after its pub
LEGATION, but did miss reading the holiday
number until q few days ago. l had laid it
aside for careful perusal at the first opportu-
nifty. but hard work and procrastination pre-
vented my seeing it until couple Of days since.
OF course / was delighted with the bright,
readable special and was more than ordi-
narily interested in the page contributed by
George Grantham Balm, and entitled News
gathering at Washington / was interested,
because for many years have been engaged
in collecting and stringing together the history
of the day at the capital city. Knowing Mr.
Balm as do, his sketch was somewhat of sur
PRISE; 1t was 30 manifestly unfair to the local
press.
"Mr. Balm has made an apparently careful but
venomously unjust classification Of the news
gatherers in this city. Three classes of news
paper upper-tendom are described, and then
the author stoops from his high estate and con-
descends to men of such low degree as we poor
local folk. OF US he says: The reporters for
the daily papers-the hack-writers for the daily
journals here-form another class of newsgath-
erers, small but distinct fraternity. Some of
them are the correspondents of unimportant
out-of-town papers. They are scarcely greater
in numbers or importance than the members of
the fifth class-the employees Of the govern
ment-who vary their clerical duties by acting
as occasional correspondents for papers 10 small
towns
This statement is really very far from the
facts in the case, and for the benefit of your
readers / will make.public some of the informa-
session when he penned his sketch, but which
he did not use. There are in this city not less
than seventy men who live almost entirely off
the results of their labor the local press. and
none Of these men work directly for either of
the press associations. OF this little company
of three-score and ten, ive-sevenths are en-
ployed on the four daily papers; the balance
will be found on the Sunday sheets. And yet
Mr.. Balm would have the readers of the Journal
ia believe that as newsgathers this force-far
greater in number than any OF his other
'classes'-amounts to nothing, and is I'M
worthy of moments consideration. With a
loftiness peculiarly his own he says that the
| news field is completely covered by the press
associations (for one of which he is a reporter,
and these, he insists look after even the Dis
trict courts and the police department. Their
work alone he continues, would almost
suffice for the news service of a Washington
paper, and in point OF fact the Morning and
Eceling Post (the latter is now the CRITIC and
The EVENING STAR depend largely upon the
associations for their local news To let such
absurd statements as these go unchallenged
would be for US to confess combined cowardice
and idiocy.
I'm The EVENING STAR of to-day there are
exclusive of the Associated Press running re-
port of the Senate and House proceedings,
two hundred and fifteen purely local items
and of these two hundred and nine were fur
nished by seventeen members of The STAR
| staf. That Is a fair average and it does the
Associated Press no injustice; We cover field
| untouched by that or any other press associa-
ton, and instead of TIE STAR being depend
ent upon the associations for its local news it Is
| the associations who look to The STAB for
much that they need to complete their WASH
ington service. do not mean to aver that the
Associated Press sent in but six local items to-
day; it probably sent in fifty, but forty-two of
them had been captured by STAR reporters.
and the copy was in the Office before the Asso-
| ciated Press got their story on the wire.
"Ask any honest correspondent in this city
| where Is his never-failing source of news9
MOI hl nat h. Il T. L
specials? and he will Immediately reply, THE
EVENING STAR. Watch the editors of the press
associations between and pm. on any week
| day and see how busy the shears are in the
columns OF that paper which Mr.. Balm alleges
depends largely upon the association for its
| local news.
"Only two or three hours since heard the
| brainy representative OF metropolitan daily
say: If somebody would only, without pre-
vious warning buy up an entire evenings edi-
ton OF both STAR and Critic, the home Offices
| OF hundred papers would cry in vain that
night for anything beyond three or four hun
bred words
Even the newsboys know this. for one of
them trotted along Newspaper Row the other
evening yelling out, Yere's yer EvENIN' SrARi
| Yere's the correspondents friendi much to the
amusement OF some of the waiting correspond
ents.
''If Mr. Balm had only claimed that the special
| correspondents and the attaches of the press
associations were more beautiful of feature
| and graceful in movement than we poor
| local men. then should have meekly held
my peace, but when he charged US with being
idle and weak-minded and unimportant factors
| In our little newspaper world, and when he
said that We depended upon any press associa-
ton for our local news he threw boomerang
Il trust Mr.. Balm will not be SO careless in the
handling of his deadly veracity when next he
writes Of News gathering at Washington'''
GEO. H. HARRIEs.
THE CORRESPONDENTS FRIEND
In this connection the following communica-
ton from one Of the best-known newspaper
men in New York has been received by The
| STAR:
New York, Feb. 10, 1889.
To the Editor Of TIE EVENING STAR:
read in the last number of the New York
| yourndhS q communication from Mr. George
| II. Harries, in which he takes exception to an
article written by Mr.. George Grantham Bair
| upon News gathering in Washington"
After a brief experience a. o Washington
correspondent for q New York newspaper.
| feel that ought to testify to the truthfulness
OF MI. Harries' statement that TIE SrAa ia in
fact, the correspondence friend.
| In glancing over the columns of the New
| York newspapers any man can observe withou
the aid Of Q microscope that much of the mat
ter which comes from Washington has beer
clipped from the columns Of The SrAR. agree
with Mr.. Harries that Mr.. Balm has no iustifi
| cation for his slurs upon the value of the Wash
ington newspapers 10 the newspapers of the
| country. Irxo,v