The record-union., 1896-03-29

NSpecfal alCOTreSpO0QenCe Ol ttecoFU- -OlAIOILf
SAN FRANCISCO March pa dis
ceuraging g.insight into this towns state
of moral feeling has been afforded with
in the past two weeks. One would1
think that such a5revelation as has been
made about the s"Exarniners would
cause general pain as wen as surprise.
OF course it was to be expected that-the
politicians and the boodlers and the
journals. daily and weekly, which live
largely on what they can beg, borrow
and extort would be made happy They
are given the double satisfaction of re-
venge and the solacing proof that one
persistent critic is no better than them
selves But that decent men should re-
jciee. surely that can be only because
they do not stop to think, and give way
to the shallow exultation which come.
to most of us when any sort of pretender
has the fair diczey of seeming lifted
from the uncsean linen of reality. 1t is
unpleasant to record, but 1 encounter
very few men, even those who usually
are judicious, that do anything but
grin over the exposure. They do not
stop to count up the cost to California.
- The Examiner" has had faults
enough, but there was reason to believe
that at least it was honest. The great
wealth of its owner was naturally taken
as a guaranty that the papers voice
could not be purchased. 1t was known
to be erratic, sensational and prone to
cater to the crowd for the sake of popu-
larity and profit, but it was assumed as
q self-evident thing that the EXAM
:, ilier,'' being in no need of dirty money,
was above seeking or accepting it. The
value 10 the community of a journal
to he ina cd hxro oof1 To he
appreciated in San Francisco; neverthe-
less to judge by the general chuckling,
it is not.
said in my last,letter that I did not
believe Mr.. Hearst individually had
taken the subsidy of 81 900 a month
( from the Southern Pacific knowing it
to be a subsidy, and I still hold to that
T.. belief. Unfortunately, there are not
many around here who share my con-
!. fl6ehce. When I wrote, the Exam
iner,p after its first denial, had re-
uained silent for nearly week under
d charge that ought to have stung it to
fury On Saturday morning last it
spoke. explaining that the 81 900 a
month had been paid on $4,000 con-
tract for advertising in its Worlds Fair
edition. On the same afternoon what
purpOrted TO be the real contract was
published. Though it has been widely
printed. copy it here, since I need it as
tfe basis for some remarks. The SEN
-tence- in brackets was, it is stated on
., Southern Pacific authority, omitted at
the request OF the 'Examiner's'' repre-.
sentative: ~-r--------
d 1.-The company .tfsa to enjoy immunity
: from hostility in the columns of the
4. t1xaminer) is not to. be the victim of
~ do 4iO flsc f0f-
Misrepresentation; that the Exam
@ iner' will not seek to create hostile SEN
timent in the minds OF the community
against the Southern Pacific Company,
or any of the interests it represents, and
that while not stipulating as against all
criticism. it agrees that criticism shall
not proceed from any motive of malice
or malignity, and that such criticism as
= may be found necessary to keep and
maintain the confidence of the public,
to the extent that any public sentiment
. may have been created from other
sources, is to be avoided as much as
possible" ee~.R
If that is genuine it is perfect model
of a blackmail contract. On Sunday
the day after its publication, Mr.. Hearst
telegraphed from New York declaring
that if any such document existed it
must be a forgery; that he was in
Egypt when the advertising engagement
was entered into, but that Mr.. Palmer
the Business Manager, who represented
him here at the time, assured him that
he had signed no contract of the sort,
,s nor even discussed such a transaction
The Examiner" also, on its proprie-
tors authority, denounced the quoted
contract as spurious. Everybody looked
for the immediate production of the
contract In fac smile by the railroad
company but up to this writing it has
not been forthcoming, and. what is
aetilf more remarkable, the Examiner
/, has made no demand for it's production,
or for a showing of the innocent con-
tract, ffaone there be, on which the ad-
yertising was given. That there is a
contract Of some kind there can, of
course, be no doubt. The Business Man
aGer of the paper, writing to Vice-Pres-
ident Crocker on March 81, 1894 (the
Examiner has printed the letter.,
said:
"A few days ago, while talking with
Irving NJ. Scott, he informed me that
the Examiner was in receipt of a
subsidy from the Southern Pacific, to
wit, the sum of $1,000 per month, paid
monthly for thirty months, and he
stated that the time was arranged to
cover two sessions of the legislature
He had the most intimate knowledge
of the matter under discussion, down
to the smallest details, which he could
only have received from someone high
in the councils of the Southern Pa
cific"
It is also admitted by the Examiner
that when $4,000 of the $4,000 had
been paid the Southern Pacific refused
further payments, distinctly on the
ground that the company was not re-
ceiving fair treatment during the rail-
read stril1e) and that, therefore. the
Examiner had broken faith. And the
.''Examiner' did not sue for the re-
Eeaining $4,000.
That is the case. on its main lines,
against the Examiner" Assuredly,
{ it is black Until Mr., Hearst insists on
the fullest publicity-on the produc-
tipn of the contract-no matter who
signed it or what its provisions are.
and until he explains why he did not sue
for the $4,000, only his personal friends
can believe that he was not privy to
the sale of his papers influence and
his own honor. ] am myself disposed
to believe that he is protecting some
body, which is generous, but the sacri-
flee is greater than one man should
be required to make for another. It is
not credible that Mr.. Palmer signed
the D1lhliShed contract He is a man of