Semi-weekly interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1881-1905, 1892-04-15
PURVEYORS OF NEWS.
WALTER WELLMAN WRITES OF WALK
ING ENCYCLOPEDIAS.
Gov the Washington Correspondent Gath
ers and Dispcnscs Information of Cur
rent Events-His All Embracing, Birds
eye View OF Legislation.
lsnecial Corresnondcnce.l


there ~ no profession so interesting as
the profession of journalism. Here We
have professional politicians. profession
nj statesmen. professional lobbyists. pro-
fesSional farmers, professional every
thing; but of them all none form such a
compact, picturesque. little understood
and withal 80 useful corps of.wurker,
as the newspaper spondents. Being
"a member of this corps, hope | 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
| shrewduesS 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 ala attempt 10 pass certain
! bill, on the nominations to be made 10y
the great political parties, or anything
/ of thar sort in which information and
| disCerumunt are requisite to the making
| of "a good estimate. than the judgment
of all the senators or all the members of
| house. or bota combined. | will tell
! You why when senator or "A repre-
sentative Wait, l. inquire about some
thing nc hunts up u newspaper CORE
| spondcrt Experience has taught him
where - yea for trustworthy infOrma-
| ton. OF course the correspondents are
constantly asking the statesmen for
news. tpo. and thus VIC have here an adj
mirli.c sH-..," - roc,y-ucity in the
| spread - li....,:.. rS". Bn. there is a
/ marSAle Sc. -.lcp between what the
! statesmen k:.r- and what the scribe.
/ know
/ TIE tiy~t l,r,'v ,rc thin->-thc lcgis-
| ration .n which they are directly iu,, =
este}. ;he iv,iuc. Of thcir particular o
I tiuu .t tie .uc...y aud 50 ou-byttcr
I ,hal a.. o.a. - ...IoW-; but their g,u-
| er..i Informal .u !. uU'h more limited
! .haa tE.' g ,sy respondents The
latter Euuw :'"Gt al That all Of the
! stdtt.ncI LiJw. Their Information l.
encyclopedia They know tue senate a.
well as thr NOES, of representatives, who
wrote Cong. ,~iuau Blank 5 speech, what
was done in me last executive session,
what tins or ttar leader If bis party l.
WORKING for and how he intends 10 ac-
Comph.h II. the political drift 10y states.
cOtcficS. sections uf country, the country
as whole. who are IN favor Of given
bill and who are not. and ~ thousand
other things. These men make 1t the
business of their lives TO know things:
they spend all their time hunting for
facts. They are trained 10 the work
their scent j. sharpened 10y necessity,
they have splendid opportunities and
ii u -,
they be the bes, informed men in Wash
mgtun:
Newspaper men know better what is
likely 10 happen IN the senate or house
than the statesmen themselves. The
latter have IA narrow view, confined To
their particular friends, the line of leg
islation emdnating from their commit
tees. The view of the scribe Is rs from
a birds eye He sees it 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 a. accurate an idea Of
the situation and their own strength a.
the newspaper men had. While the
antsilver leaders were giving up the
fight aud acknowledging that they would
be beaten by thirty or forty majority, the
CORES ondents saw that the vote was
going To- be very close, perhaps not ten
majority either way. Iou will remcm-
ber that the first or test vote came ont
dead tie.
During this roll call, which was one
Of the most sensational ballots We have /
ever had III the bouse. was much inter /
ested III watching u certain newspaper
man who sat beside me with tally /
sheet ia his hand When IA man voted
yea he made a mark at the left of hi~ |
name. and those who voted nay were
checked at the right. As the roll call /
proceeded the pencil Of my friend pre- /
coded the RESPONSES of the members on /
the tloor below. He checked the names |
before the responses We're uttered, and 4
in only five instances was be compelled /
To change his marks In other words, /
he knew how al those 800 men. saving 4
five, would vote; and he could have sat /
down before the roll call was begun and 1
made up tally sheet with this remark 1
able accuracy. There wasn't member .
Un the floor. not even leader for or
against the bill. who had anything like |
so clear an idea a. this of what the re-
suit was going To be.
Newspaper correspondents IN Wash
ngton have nothing to do but watch
what is going on. study the men who
are making laws and controlling poll
tics. conVer-" with senators. representa-
tives and all sorts and conditions of men
who are likely 10 be possessed of infor-
nation, ana give 10 their papers the re-
suit of their observations and inquiries,
A good deal is said about the unreli-
ability of the press. y large class Of
persons appear tQ think it smart To say
To themselves and to one another. IF
YOU see 1t In "A newspaper 1t isn't so.
But let me tell them that donow know
correspondent for the press in Wash
ington aud | know them all. who isn't
~ particular To be accurate and trust
worthy in what he wrires-that is, rs
accurate a. possible, for the ideal is