Arizona republican., 1892-05-27
Cnrrnsnnndnnce nf TnE RkrrnIIoAN.

have professional politicians, profession al statesmen, professional lobbyists, pro- fessional farmers, professional every thing; but of them all none form such a compact, picturesque, little understood and withal so useful corps of workers as the newspaper correspondents. Being a member of this corps, l hope l shall not be accused of blowing my horn when say that am often amazed at the intelligence, the industry, the wide range of information, the acumen and shrewdness of the men who represent here the great newspapers of the land.
 would sooner take the judgment of the correspondents on the probable out come of an attempt to pass certain bill, on the nominations to be made by the great political parties, or anything of that sort in which information and discernment are requisite to the making of a good estimate, than the judgment of all the senators or all the members of house, or both combined. l will tell you why. When a senator or a repre- sentative wants to inquire about some thing he hunts up newspaper cOrre- SIOlNltllts IIA lltIlNAlNt llco NANSuN lllAA where to go for trustworthy informa- tion. Of course the correspondents are constantly asking the statesmen for news, too, and thus We have here an ad- mirable system of reciprocity in the spread of intelligence. But there is markable difference between what the statesmen know and what the scribes know.
 The first know some things-the legis- lation in which they are directly inter- ested, the politics of their particular sec tion of the country and so on-better than the other fellows; but their gen eral information is much more limited than that of the correspondents. The latter know about all that all of the statesmen know Their information is encyclopedia. They kuOw-th senate as well as the house of representatives, who wrote Congressman Blanks speech, what was done in the last executive session, what this or that leader of his party is working for and how he intends to ac- complish it, the political drift by states, coteries, sections of country, the country as a whole, who are m favor of a given bill and who are not, and thousand other things. These men make it the business of their lives to know things; they spend all their time hunting for facts. They are trained to the work, their scent is shArpened by necessity, they have splendid opportunities and they help one another. Why shouldn't they be the best informed men in Wash ington?
 Newspaper men know better what is likely to happen in the senate or house than the statesmen themselves. The latter have a narrow view, confined to their particular friends, the line of leg islation emanating from their commit tees. The view of the scribe is as from a birds eye. He sees 1t all, and he is gifted with the power of generalization. A curious incident of this was afforded in the recent struggle over the Bland silver bill. The leaders on the opposing sides did not have as accurate an idea of the situation and their own strength as the newspaper men had. While the antisilver leaders were giving up the fight and acknowledging that they would be beaten by thirty or forty majority, the correspondents saw that the vote was going to be very close, perhaps not ten majority either way You will remem- Der that the first or test vote came out a dead tie.
 During this roll call, which was one of the most sensational ballots we have ever had in the house, l was much inter ested in watching a certain newspaper man who sat beside me with tally sheet in his hand. When a man voted yea he made a mark at the left of his name, and those who voted nay were checked at the right. As the roll call proceeded, the pencil of my friend pre- ceded the responses of the members on the floor below. He checked the names before the responses were uttered, and in Cnly five instances was he compelled to change his marks. In other words, he knew how all those 300 men, saving five, would vote; and he could have sat down before the roll call was begun and made up tally sheet with this remark able accuracy. There wasn't member on the floor, not even leader for or against the bill, who had anything like so clear an idea as this of what the re- suit was going to be.
 Newspaper correspondents in Wash ingtOn have nothing to do but watch what is going on, study the men who are making laws and controlling poli- tics, converse with senators, representa- tives and all sorts and conditions of men who are likely to be possessed of infor- nation, and give to their papers the re- suit of their observations and inquiries. A good deal is said about the unreli- ability of the press. A large class of persons appear to think it smart to say to themselves and to one another, "If you see it in a newspaper it isn't so." But let me tell them that donow know a correspondent for the press in Wash. ington, and l know them all, who isn't as particular to be accurate and trust worthy in what he writes-that is, as accurate as possible, for the ideal is never attainable-as he would be weroh he 8 lawyer making up his evidence or writ ing out his brief.
 The one struggle in which we are all engaged is to get facts and to report them pleasantly, concisely, faithfully. The representatives of the press at this capital are not sensation mOngers, they are not even partisans, except in a mild degree, and under compulsiOn from their employers. Invariably the correspond ent of a party paper is broader than his paper, and would make his news and his writings savor less of political bias if he