The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1901-11-27

or less-but it will find compensation In
the existence Of growing body of in
dependent citizens, both men and wo-
men. Independent citizenship may ex-
list without an independent press, but
without that daily stimulus it's growth
will be slow and its existence precar-
ious. Do you ask for an illustration OF
the value of independent citizenship
No more splendid one could be found
than the recent municipal campaign in
New York. and I am not sure but the
best part of 1t was the nomination OF
Edward NJ. Shepard by Tammany
Hall, There is such thing as pan
dering to decent public opinion" but
you may be sure that Tammany would
never have pandered in that way, and
to that extent, if they ltd not been a
great and growing mass of indepen-
dent citizenship in New York, to the
growth Of which Mr. Shepard has him
self so largely contributed.
But independence Of party is not the
only mark and sign of an independent
newspaper The proximity of Wall
Street leads me to say that it must
be Independent of financial influence
also. 1t must have no pecuniary inter-
est to warp it's judgment, either in the
stock market or in the broader public
affairs, which have to do with money
People who do business in Wall Street
are quick to detect in a newspaper the
existence Of a peCuniary influence
They can judge pretty accurately
whether the opinions 1t expresses IN
its editorial columns are paid for, or
not. They can generally tell whether
the conductor Of its financial columns
is specializing or not. 1 know that if
the Evening Post were under any sus-
plcions of this kind, no such testimon-
ial as the present could have taken
place, and that the faces 1 see before
NE would not be here
Independence of Wall Street suggests
Independence Of cash in general A
newspaper should be as Independent of
its own counting-roOm as of other
peoples. This is the seyerest test of in
dependence, because the temptation to
swerve from it is ever present, and the
forms of temptation are extremely in
sidious and of almost infinite variety
and shading; because, also, it fire.
qUently happens that the ownership of
the paper is not Identical with the edi-
torship. The owner of a newspaper, if
he is not the editor, will generally ex-
pect a certain amount of income from
1t, and will be apt to find fault with
any management of the columns which
Offends either subscribers or advertis-
ers. I have been in positions of edi-
torial responsibility, here and else
where, for 80 years, and have never
been obliged to argue a question of
newspaper ethics with the business
manager. That has been my good
fortune. But I know many editors
who have been. and are, daily sub
jected to that grind. They are not free
agents. Such a man works with a
rope around his neck. The business
manager in such a case is not generally
bad fellow. He is not tyrant or a
mtser. He does not consciously go
wrong. He sees things through glasses
different from those Of the editor. 1t
mas been his calling, his training, his
trade, to look at the cash-box as the
main thing in the newspaper, and very
oIlen The same rope that is around the
EDITORS neck is around his also. I
ahude to these things. not for the pur-
pose Of blaming or fault-finding. but
70 point out a tendency of the times.
The tendency is for newspapers. es-