Arizona silver belt., 1894-02-10
USE GS,s ABUSE.


 telegraph as a medium for transmission ot dispatches. In late years the enor- nous growth of this medium has been watched with the keenest interest No expense now is consideration which stands between the acceptance or re- iection of news matter. The policy of kadfng iuurnEls is to furnish all the news, let the cost bs what it may.
 The incentive or the conception of this policy dates from ls70-lS71, when Archibald Forbes, the great English war correspondent, reyolutionized news. paper journalism by his boldness in daring to send dispatches by telegraph concerning she Franco German war, From tue moment that he sent over the wires column dispatch of the scenes at Metz, July 2Sth, 1870, dates the birth of newspaper enterprise The hnpecunious care aud tie severe ortho- doxy that characterized the backbone of the press was broken. The appetite of the public was stimulated by the feat Forbes undertook, and although column by telegraph in 1870 was con sidsred marvellous, at the present time it is not even an incident
 So rapid has been the advancement of this system that it would be indeed surprising should it be free from de. fleets. Nevertheless while certaia de- gree of latitude may be allowed for errors in accuracy of information, the latitude must be abridged, or limited, as much as possible This limitation, however, seems to find few supporters; no one seems desirous of calling halt 50 the march of system which with sacA sOCceeding day becomes more and more abused. The public may we'll de- mand an explanation as to why so much of the matter is unreliable, and conjec- tural; as to why paper in one issue should announce astartling occurrence, and in the succeeding issue confess that the Teport of the previous day was groundless and void of truth. That such condition exists and confronts tho public daily cannot be contradicted
 It is self-evident that the responsi- bility for the accuracy or inaccuracy of news accounts rests either in the news paper office or in the telegraph compa- nies themselves, and it might be safe to assert that the responsib. .lity is about equally divided. The companies do not hesitate to send any dispatch of- fered, nog do the papers hesitate to &C., ceps and publish what is rSesivsd. Occasionally when telegram of con siderable sensational importance is re- eeiyed, a prstense of investigasisn- is made, but it Is only presense. The report is published and all other papers on the following day have copied ex- eerpts from 1t Then comes a contra aiction, and every paper feels sense of fiatness. The tale has no founda- Sion, the Associated Press, the United Press, or sone of the telegraph com. Panies, or the paper first to secure the the report, has been deceived it's ere 3uSity has been played upon, the bait was tempting, the hour of going tc press wss near and the chance was shought to bo in favor of the truth ol the dispatch and it was published. What is the consequence? Possibly nothing serious, possibly the loss oi subscribers Perehsnce libel suit, ol worse ssflI-the odious besmirchmeAt of unsullied reputation.
 The readers ask why incorrect mat ter Is published? The answer is that under the magnitude of the telegraph, system AS it at present stands, tn, truth cannot be distinguished from tn, ialse. The power of the electric wir, Is for goodo for evil and as it SOW il the mixture of tho two qualities is even A noted bishop once said that "eyil wa, more picturesque than goodness, be cause it contained more variety ant vas the salt and pepper of life. Ina this is pertinent is appreciated by thos, desirous of deeeiying the pablic
 Anyone has the right to send dis patch to a paper. Any citizen O Globe could wire false, sensationa story to an Eastern paper and it woul, De published. The freedom. is to, great, the latitude too wide, and if th' newspaper, or the telegraph companiei cannot of their own strength discrimi nate between the false and the authen tic, it is time that the government should gsep in, as it does in European couhtfieg ard either supervise or leg islate in such manner that error ma, be less frequent, and care more nee sssary eoucomitaRt in the sending an' in the publication of news. As the sys tem is to-day, it affords scope for tn Hsest interruptions deception. Tn wires may and are debased to serve tn purposesof disfOHest politicians; the, make or unnaks' men in an, instant they build or wreck She finances Q business ffrsnss they excitS to danger eus degree the temper of 9 communit