The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-09-17
nrrUp1IoAxsUrronr IN rnBrnrss
me Conspiracy or PROPOSED Republican News
papers Against Their Party,

me Conspiracy OF Ir0feesea HepwuVcnu ROWE
papers Against Their Party.
To THE EDITOR OF THE sUN-sfr, Your re-
marks to-day concerning tho treachorous course
tho Republican party pursued by the
Tribune and tho Press, noninally Republican
papers, applies with equal force to tho Mail and
Express. an evening paper Of tho same proten-
sions. Not long ago this last threatened the
Republican organization with the entire loss OF
newspaper support II it should refuse to have
tho disastrous candidacy Of Low thrust upon IL,
with the sole exception Of TIL Sun. Tho infer
once from that throat is that tho bargain made
with these thrco newspaper conspirators against
the Republican party was that they should con-
tinuo in tho Low conspiracy through thick and
thin. and up to tho last moment.
Ihope they will keep their word. They are all
organs Of personal spite merely, and their spirit
and methods render their support injurious
only to the Republican cause. with tho sin.
core, b~road.minded, and powerful advocacy of
The Sun alone, the Republican party will DO in
far better case. Every citizen Of New York.
whether Republican or Democrat, respects and
honors THE SUN for its course. from the very
moment Of the adoption of the Chicago plat
form, and all Republicans especially are grato-
full to 1t as the most powerful champion the
cause Of national integrity and civilized order
had in the last campaign. Everybody, agree
ing or disagreeing with its political prin-
ciples as thus manifested, knows that they
arc sincere and disinterested. Its support
Of the Republican party ct present 10 recognized
universally as an expression OF political honesty
and high patriotism, uncolored BY the partisan
ship which s~ustains q party perfunctorily only,
and therefore without producing conviction.
Everybody who reads THE Sun understands
that 1t is expressing only opinions held by 1t in
truth and sincerity and with absolute convto-
.tion. Ono Of the gravest defects of our recent
journalistic development is that It has boon ao-
companied by q manifest loss Of such sincere
conviction, with the result that newspapers
have attained to great circulation without ex-
ercising any real formative influence on public
opinion. They are distrusted universally.
No ono believes in their earnestness and sim
cerity. Their political utterances have no moro
effect on tho public than water on q ducks
back. There Ia q hollow ring to their most
solemn pretences Of conviction. Hence n paper
like THE Sun. Individually sincere, has . field to
itself In important journalism. and 1t is render
ing a service in the sound political education
and moral elevation Of the people for which I
am profoundly grateful.
One paper like HI SUN is sufficient to Undue
the Republican party in New York with the
spirit of fidelity to Its principles upon which de-
ponds the vitality Of a political party. It
pNANSN tbo kAuth Al ~ hOoAN oAo SA V
know that 1t believes what It teaches.
The desertion of tho Republican party by the
three papers named at this grave time In the
history Of the party and the country will have
the consequence Of opening the eyes of all Re-
publicans to the falseness of their leadership.
and they will have to mako even louder
bids for Mugwump support In the effort
to make up for their lost patronage. Not one of
them is q prosperous paper az 1t Is. The
Tribune, I am told by those we'll informed as to
the subject, has dropped to q circulation which
is exceeded by that Of papers published in COM
paratively small interior towns. The Press is
losing money largely and steadily. Tho Mail
and Express is as feeble in Its support as it il In
its intellectual ability. All told. their political
influence is of small account. The Republican
party will lose little in losing them, and the loss
is made up, with q ten.fold gain added, in tho
powerful influence welded by THE Sun. an In.
huence greater hero and everywhere through.
out the Union than any ever before exercised by
an American newspaper. lido not say this In nat
terry. but simply speak the bare truth rs it is
known to the people generally and as it is con-
stantly expressed to mo In conversation.
observe that some Of the Protestant weekly
religious papers arc backing up the Low con.
spiracy as an enterprise impelled by peculiarly
exalted moral and religious motives. Those
papers have been infected with M~ugwumpery
for a long time. and that disease in them has
brought about a large and steady decrease in
their calculations. They do not appeal to either
virile political sentiment or strong and vital re-
ligious conviction. Their present investment in
the Low undertaking is likely to turn out as dis
astrously for them as did their other ventures
into M~ugwumpery. Their past Importance has
gone, and they arc moro and moro falling into
hopeless decrepitude. Their political influence
In nothing and their present rel;oiou. tn6n.n.~