Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-05-26

necessity OF improving its internal econo-
mics, because IT has power over the mar
ket; II has control of prices and thus Sc
cures its profits. and does not have occa-
SION to work for the improv ements that
tend to reduction of cost. And while in
many instances reductions in prices have
followed the formation of trust they
have always been in spite of IT and never
because OF II. tAppiaUseD. There never
would be any objection on the part of the
public to competitors in any line OF bust
ness engaging with each other in respect
of anything In which, though competitors.
they have yet a common interest. Suppose
the manufacturers of Buffalo united 10 util-
lie the water power OF Niagara Falls Mo-
body would characterize that as a trust.
suppose the merchants OF Chicago COM
bined to secure better transporta ton acil-
tiles for the city. Nobody would cherac-
terize that as a trust. And this is the test
whether an association between people In
the same business Is a trust or whether 1t
is combination for purposes of in
ternal economy-does the association deal
exclusively with a matter OF common in
ternal interest TO them. or does II deal with
their relations 10 the public?
The Associated Press Not n Trust.
Now. apply that test TO the Associated
Press. The business of the Associated
Press relates exclusively to a matter OF
internal economy. Ii relates to the gath
ering of news, and it does not relate to the
vending Of newspapers. There is nothing
in the articles of the Associated Press:
there is nothing In its trcit understandings:
there is nothing consistent with the pur-
poses of its organization which can result
In a combination between the newspapers
themselves, having for its purpose the
regul alton of the prices at which papers
are sold. And the sole object Of the asso-
citation is to regulate its internal economy
in its own interest and equally I'm the in
terest Of the public And every newspaper
man can honestly and conscientiously de-
fpni his scheme of pO-Onpra tinn with his
brethren in the news-gathering business.
(Appause.) And in this position I am
glad to say that / am confirmed by those
who are opposing US in the litigation be-
fore the court
There are services which the law from
time immemoriai has recognized public.
has regulated and has compelled to be at
the disposal of whatsoever sought them. The
most familiar instance is that of the COM
mon carrier and the elaborate provisions
of the interstate commerce law of the
United States, and the equally elaborate
provisions of the different state regula-
tons of railroads declare no principle which
was not an essential Part of the law Cf
the kings highway 200 years ago, and
which did not apply just much to the
commerce that was carried on in cattle
carts between the towns of Great Britain
then, as II applies to the commerce carried
on by the railways of this country today.
The nature of the function is not de-
termined by the dimensions of the instru-
mentality by which X is carried on. The
little skiff that carries passengers across
a stream not fordable is as much a vehicle
of commerce, is as much common carrier
as the great Atlantic liner. and is subject
to the same law. and is SO subject TO IL
because the function that il performs Is
essentially the same.
News Not n Commodity.
We are the victims of a mistaken termi-
nology. We speak Of news commodity
in the same sense in which We character
ize coal as a Ent a .pomep-+s
reflection will show that it is of an essen
TALLY different character. What is the re-
port of the Associated Press-that is all
that IL has TO offer to its members; that
is all that it could have to offer to any
one-is it commodity? Is IL something
tangible? The blowing up of the Maine
was that news! No: the report of that
event was news. The property of the As
ISOLATED Press was not the event itself
nor even the information of the event but
simply that particular narration of the
event Which one of its own agents. bccom-
ing the possessor of the information, I'M
dertook to convey to his employer-that
and nothing more. (Applause.)
you have men upon Cuban soil who Ven
ture upon the very verge of the battle who
have vent1red within the enemy's lines
who have emperiled their lives. and are
today possibly subject to be shot as spies
if they are captured. What do they bring
INTO the conduct of their business? Cour-
age, enterprise and intelligence. And these
llSH QUALITIES are tnelr own, and what they
achieve through them is their own and no
law consistent with free institutions can
compel them to share the fruits OF their
perilous industry with the coward and the
sluGSard who lags behind. Can il he possi-
bic that while one man is willing to go for
ward and to venture the perils OF a news
gathering service in a time like this anoth-
may sit comfortably i'm the rear and nm
dertake TO determine the value in money Of
the differential between cowardice and
courage, between enterprise and Incidence?
Great applause) Col. Fred Burnaby un-
dertook to report the war in Egypt He
reported it, not from affair, but from a place
in the ranks of battle, and he went down
in the front rank of battle with the thrust
of savage spear through his throat re-
GREETING, perhaps, that he was not able to
report his own death. (ApplauseD
Events occur. They may be within the
knowledge of thousand people. One mau
may have the quality of mind that enables
him to perceive in a given event something
of human interest. He is able to give TO
the report of that event a form-a literary
form-which makes 1t attractive. That re-
port Is his property, to dispose of absolute
~ as he will, and upon Whatsoever condi-
lions or limitations he chooses To impose
And there Fever was enactment of the
United States that put any limitation UNION
his right thus to dispose OF his own person.
al efforts.
Now, what do your reperters-what do
your newsgatherers carry into their work?
No privilege conferred by any law no
franchise granted by any state, no oppor-
UNITY tfat is not open to any one of their
fellow-citizens. Their report is a thing OF
brain and Drawn, and in IL is TO be found
nothing but that labor which responds to
the primal law of God-'In the sweat of thy
face shalt thou eat bread all the DAYS of
thy life. tApplause.)
THE property which you have in your
news, for purposes of immediate publica-
ton, is simply that property which a man
has in his own home stead. 1t is exclusive?
Yes; so is all ownership. The owner of a
horse has a monopoly of his use. That kind
or monopoly is of the very essence of prop
erty of all kinds-exclusive I'm the par
ticular thing which has either been pro-
duced by the labor of the owner or has
been bought by him when produced by the
labor of some one else. That property is
always defensible.
Members Of the Association.
We have here an association number
ing, if We include all those who by the
rules of the association may be fairly con-
sidered its members. something like seven
hundred. There are 2, 100 daily newspa-
pers in the United States. 1t, perhaps, does
not become me "a a representative of the
seven hundred to deny the assertion made