New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-03-18
THE JOURNALISTIC DISTURBANCE.


These be parlous times. indeed Assuredi!
,hc end of the century Is not the beginning Vi
the millennium. There's no lying down toge'hcr
Of any lion and lamb. nor hardly OF any TWO
lambs without woolpulling and caterwatiiins.
No little child Is leading around with Il s'rihs
fancy matched pairs OF carnivorous ana gram
iniyorous beasts ON the contrary the average
..li,tle child goes round with chip on MS
shoulder and leads ont with his left against VINO
oyer touches the chip Here we have been nav
Ing trouble In Venezuela, trouble In South
Africa trouble in Abyssinia. trouble In Cupa
and trouble in the Kenucky Legislature. NO
great bloodshcd, 20 he sure; ut least not enough
TO reach The hon SEES brides; but such nm out
pouring of crimson language and redhot DIS
course as must have painted the round gloDe
red and reused the Jealousy of the canal super
intondcnts on ruddy Mars. If words were really
as sharp-pointed as they SEEM they would ny
this time have ncarnadincd the mulutudinous
seas and whclmed the world in slaughter Fortn-
natcly. they are only wind. So though the
times are turbulent and tempestuous, they are
not actually sanguineous.
We had hoped that the happy family OF metro
politan newspapers over which the whi'"-
winged dove of peace has so long hov'rci ana
twlttcrel and futiercd lis wings and waved
impartlally It's long. beautiful, icmized Dill
might escape the prevailing epidemic ana con
tinue swapping news and compliments ana con
ordinations on increased circulation In the har-
monious and mutually trustful manner when
has so long taxed the admiration and provoKed
the envy o? the rural and religious press. We
felt the moro assured OF ii from the happy end
ing of an affair which several weeks ago seemed
10 threaten the peace of the brotherhood Thit
was when long cabegram. describing pub
lie demonstration in Paris in which Mr.. Joseph
Pulitzer conspicuousy figured. was published In
"The Ncw-Yofk Herald with Mr.. PuliZcrs
name omitted. astcrisks appearing In its place
wherever II occurred This was Interpreted by
many habtual readers OF THE Herald" as
chara cteristic stroke OF humor: playful. but
harmless. For our own part, we are free TO say
that II seemed TO us uninienional. our theory
being that the shOvel-noscd sharks, known to he
quite numerous along the cablc-bed, from sheer
jealousy bit Mr. Pulltzcr's name ont or the dis
patch wherever II occurred as II flashed across
the ocean bottom. The shovc-nosed shark Is
narrow minded sclacian, very rapid in It's move
mcnts and with no sense Of humor But while
several hundred millions of readers OF THE Her
add and "Thc World were holding their breath
in anxiety lest the obscurity Of the humor might
lead TO a misunderstanding between two potcn-
tdes and the peace Of the world be disturbed,
(thcrc came another communication to The
herald" transmitted by mail from Paris, TO
avoid shovel-nosed sharks. and published on the
editorial page with display. stating that II was
all IA mistake, due to a sudden outburst Of humor
on the part OF some undcrling in "rhe Herald
office This relieved tension and mankind
breathcd freer.
But trouble has broken out since. Doubtless
the general epidemic. A few weeks ago Mr.
| Pulitzer, who has probably done more for the
! human race and at lower rates than any other
| potentate Of modern times, decided TO make an
| other cut in rates. This out Of pure phan-
| thropy For, as he expressly stated, with him
money was Of no account. What he wanted was
not only to abolish privacy and publish every
thing that anybody did anywhere but publish
| it at such rate that no wayfaring man need
go without the knowledge Of what his neighbor
| had for dinner and where he got it,. Mr..
Pulitzer agreed to sell i. all for cent. His aim
was not TO amass wealth, but 10 diffuse useful
| information. This naturally awakened the In
| tercst Of the civilized world 1t was not strange
| that In very few hours all the principal
| crowned heads and Prime Ministers and such,
who had never before had an opportunity to
| enter largely into the public life Of the world,
began sending kilograms and cablegrams to Mr..
| Pulitzer. explaining their purposes and plans
| and their views on current questions. With
| "rhe World" selling for Il cent they could hard
| " do otherwise without subjectlng their motives
| to suspicion. Many Of these Mr. Pulitzer. with
| characteristic generosity, published In full, In
some instances printing fac-simies as an evil
dence Of good faith, nothing being more con
elusive than the autograph accompanying n
| cablegram Stacks and stacks Of them are still
awaiting publication, until the product Of the
| paper mills Of the country comes somewhere
near meeting the demand Of "'rhe Worlds in
creased circulation.
| Unfortunately hOwever-and this, we think.
is entirely due to the Epidemic OF trouble which
has given the dove Of peace the grip-d0ubts
have arisen as to the authenticity Of some Of
these cablegrams We are passing through a
period Of incredulity as well as an epidemic Of
trouble One Of Mr. Pulitzer's cablegrams was
from High Muckamuck at Madrid, and 1t so
happened that after II had been exploited In
the United States Senate the High Muckamuck
or the High Muckamuck's Private Secretary, OF
some such person, wired back to the Spanish
Minister ut Washington that he had never sent
any such dispatch, and as a matter Of fact did
not know Pulitzer from q side Of sole-leather