The record-union., 1896-05-24
THE MONITOR
BOASTS OF THE BIGOTS.
THE CALL
THE A. p. A.
10 "A bAIlIAIN
A STRAIGHT QUESTION.

Up to this writing the Cali has said
nothing; neither has the Chronicle"
nor Examiner but there is conster-
nation in the office Of the first-named
and demoniac exultation in the offices
OF the other two. All the subscriptions
obtained by the Call" at the expense of
its rivals by opening its columns to the
controversial writings of Father
Yorke, are imperiled. A Monitor" has
been left on every Catholic doorstep,
whether at the cost of the Monitor or
by the liberality of the Chronicle" and
Examiner" 1 don't know, and the can
vassers of the Calls" esteemed con-
temporaries are abroad urging the peo-
PIE Of the Roman communion to cast
from them General Spreckels' unholy
sheet And they are doing it in droves
The General is in a deep excavation.
His interest as a politician commands
silence, his interest as journalist com
mands speech. Whichever way he
fronts the knife is there.
OF the meanness, the baseness Of a.
press which has no policy except to
truckle and dodge and trim and mole
for subscribers, nothing can be written
underground war which is being made
on the "Calls' subscription list. Both
the Chronicle and Examiner have
had repeated experience of the Catholic
lash, and they are insuring that that
lash shall be kept in good order for
their own backs again. Time was when
no San Francisco paper would dream
of disobliging the Catholic Church They
tumbled over one another to anticipate
its wishes. But the a. P. A has come
up, and the editors assume that the
price Of speaking a word of disagreeable
truth about either, is that the offended
side will desert en- masse to a more
cautious rival. And the assumption is
correct enough, for the press of San
Francisco has educated its public, and
taught it that it is not the editor, but
the subscriber who edits the paper The
press here is not guide to the public
but a slave to the public-to the least
| intelligent and most bigoted portion OF
it. It has not occurred to any of the
proprietors of the wealthy morning dali
lies to make a time investment in eslf-
ownership. A paper that should adopt
the plan of doing its own thinking and
:, {
would at first lose heavily beyond a
doubt But at the end of year its
right to speak it's mind would be ac-
knowledged and the era of large profit
on the investment arrive. Father Yorke
cries out paSSionately, and with perfect
! truth, against the cowardice of the press
/ in avoiding the smallest editorial men
| tion of a question which deeply inter
| eSts a large percentage of readers, but
no power has been SO efficient in breed
/ ing that degraded timidity as Father
! Iorke's own church. / have edited
newspapers here, and l know Precisely
/ the same motives which induce the press
/ to be afraid of the church now impels
+ them to be afraid of the churchs en-
emy. 1t is tit for tat, and TO that extent
/ not distresSingly retributive, but II
makes one ashamed of journalism. ST
j long as there are men who have The
! power to lead up against bold
I newspaper a mass of vengeful prejudice
/ so long will We have the spectacle of &
gagged press such as the Cali ant
Examiner" and Chronicle" are offer.
ing. But as two such forces are now a
work, opposite in interest, it is inevita
J
belAon, though it may not last long.
| situation like that of the Calls" fol
/ example, is impossible of maintenance
And when the Cali breaks loose for it:
lifes sake, the Others VIII be under com
pulSion to do that which they most hatt
| TO do-recogniZe that they must Sacri
I flee a few subscribers TO retain many
| Even the cunning of throwing a spra
to catch whale is as yet beyond them
They want to get the whale and keep tn
sprat too. 1t is but just to note tina
amid all this journalistic, intellectual
and moral squalor, this collection o
quaking kow-towers and nickel clutch
ing faint hearts, one San Francisco
paper has had the pluck and and tn
wit to speak with an American voic'
and give word of impartial advice t
religious bigots on both sides Of the line
1t is the Bulletin
No death has occurred in years tha
has affected more people in San Fran
cisco than that of Henry d. Bigelow
the writer. He became known to th'
State a few years ago by performing th'
remarkable feat of making his way t
SontaS and Evans the outlaws, In thet