The Portland daily press., 1898-08-16

lists as long rs MS arm OF papers great
and small, with amounts set against each
even more" That list is gone for the
present; but Mr.. Hooley says it exists,
ana he must he compelled to find it. No
names remain in the promoter s memory,
except The Pail Mall Gazette, and The
Financial Post, which were 1.-THE prlnci-
pal ones - AS to the rest. all he can say
is that 1--WE used to pay money TO iot OF
little .papers-papers which mlghe nasC d
month or two" But we await further
light-with the remark that so far, we
do not even gather that Mr.. Hooley had
any evidence as to the Use to which Mr;
Davies put the "press calls" The total
amount, according to the bankrupt, was
immense. He declares that these press
ca us represented e16,000 OF shares, ana
1naG those who had them got the rignt 10
call Tor shares at par or less than par,
with the certainty of making proiit
When they ran to a premium. his pnll-
osophy was Ito keep every body friendly
and, we may add, to keep the pubic In
ignorance OF what an honest critic might
say. Ii 1t is true that pressmen of any
apparent responsibility were open to cor
ruption OF this Sort and could even be
Contracted" for in bulk, then we must
know all about 1t at once, and these peo-
pie must be drummed out of the profess
ion forthwith, whoever they may be. But
even II it should be true, we are still
bound to point out that the proper name
for it was not blackmail, but bribery.
"A variety of the story is afforded by Mr..
Hooley's account of his relations with
that light of financial journalism. Mr..
were upon the most friendly terms, - is
the debtors explanation Of certain
check for 100000
81 think he would refrain from doing
me any harm, and sam sure should
refrain from doing him any harm.
6 l sold him 20, 900 shares In the Dun
lop before allotment for 9l0, 900 in shares
or cash at my option, and paid the cash. -
lyon cannot say that $40, GOO was in pay
ment for articles. I had contract with
Mr.. Marks, as with other people. If the
company had not gone to allotment he
would have lost the money" Therefore,
we imagine, it was made to be Mr.
Marks interest that the company should
go to allotment. It Is, of course, fair to
await Mr. Marks's explanation Equally
strange is the story OF Mr.. Jennings, also
of the Financial News, who had check
for $500. This gentleman ohanced TO
write Mandatory article in the Financial
News. Mr.. Hooley was charmed with it
thought it the finest thing he bad ever
read. Therefore he dragged the blushing
ad ha ba 9R Raus Of Of % anS r soa him him
e50p. This also, be it observed, may be
folly, but it is not blackmail.
At last, however, we come to the cases
on which Mr. Hooley relies. We cannot
say they are so gigantic as he led US to
believe, but if they are true they are
ugly. One is that Mr.. Beall had large
sums of money to square" the paper
which he controlled. That money passed
is admitted Mr.. Hooley AYERS that it
was pure blackmail; that Mr.. Beall came
to him and demanded money as the price
of journalistic bene violence. and that he
actually talked Of it as "blackmaip'
himself. Mr. Beall. 1t is only fair to say
promptly denied this impeachment, aud
declared that Mr.. Hooley came to him
and led him into one Of the innu merable
ideals in shares which lend themselves
the Financial Post case, in which Mr..
Hooley tells us that the responsible per-
sons advertised, asking intending invest
ors to read the issue of certain date,
and brought him singing attack which
would appear that day unless he paid up,
Offering kindly TO let him insert puff
of his own instead If he would give $1,000
down and $500 later on. Beyond that we
have little more, except the employment
of person named Broadley, who is said
to have had large sums to "do the pre-
liminary advertisements, or puffs or
booms, as Mr.. Hooley variously names
them. He again appears to have paid
confdingly in lump sums, and where the
money ultimately went does not at pres
ent appear. We do not take Mr.. Hooley's
statement as it stands, and we ask for
topic at once. because we hold 1T is thu
duty of the press to exercise an instant
vigilance throughout every phase of this
inquiry.