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

Independent Journalism

| You may ask what | mean by indie
! pendent journalism. That phrase has
more than one Specification. 1t is some
times used to signify mere neutrality
| between political parties. A newspaper
of this kind aims to offend neither
party, so that it may gain patronage
| from both. That is not independence.
| An independent journal must offend
| both parties, and all parties, or must
! hold itself ready to offend. when they
go wrong. A political party is COM
posed Of men who have Joined together
for various reasons and purposes
some to promote public interest, others
to get office, others to get jobs and to
| plumber the taxpayers. There is a ten
dency in political parties to fall under
the control of the office seekers and
the jobbers and robbers, because they
| give all their time to party manage
ment Such a condition may exist
while the mass of the party is as up
right as the twelve apostles. Indeed,
the masses of all political parties are
upright. They are the public. and they
seek the public welfare. Most common
| ly however, they believe that their
own party cannot go wrong, or at any
rate cannot go wrong as the other
party certainly will, if they come into
power. This is party spirit 1t has ex-
| listed in all ages and in all countries,
and has by no means been restricted
| to the uneducated classes. Even DIR.
Johnson, in defining the word wing in
his dictionary, said that ''the devil
was the first whig"
| Now it is the duty of an independent
| journal to tell the public what the par
| ty leaders are doing, both when they
are doing well and when they are do
| ing i'll and to point out the conse-
| quencCs Of their acts. And here let
| me read you a few words clipped from
! an old editorial of the Evening Post
! which l judge from its consummate
| style was written by my predecessor,
| Mr.. Godkin:-
| Nothing does more to diminish the
! influence of the press and to enable
! even knaves to despise its criticisms
| than the too common editorial prac-
| tice of agreeing beforehand in return
! for circulation, to eat every dish, how
| ever nauseous or injurious, a political
! convention may prepare. 1t is, Of
course, open to any man to decide for
/ himself that he will, on grounds of
public safety or expediency, vote for a
! candidate who does not come UP to his
/ standard either in integrity or caDac-
/ ity, provided he does It in silence, or.
1 if he defends it, defends 1t on true
grounds. A public journal. however
| can discharge no duty in silence Tts
| function Is 10 I3Ik aDOut what men are
thinking most about and, above ALI
to furnish its readers with reasons for
doing this or leaving that undone
When nomination is made, it has
| either to commend or condemn il and
its first duty to its readers is to make
| its commentator or condemnation
! sincere and truthful. This II cannot
do if it be under any sort of obliga-
ton to applaud the action of a marty
convention under all circumstances
| This 1t must do if its applause Is. In
the long run, to be worth much.
Journal which is known to be ready to
eat its own words to make black an
pear white, and white black. to rec
ommend in the strongest terms for ne
highest office this year a man whom II
last year described as unfit for even
the lowest, cannot render a partv
much service. Its opinion can harfjIy
nave any great influence on the for
/ tunes OF a canvass. Readers who seek
! from a newspaper any assistance i'm
FORMING a Judgment on public affairs
are generally among the first To he
dlsgusted by undisguised unscrunu-
lousness. tergiversati ton. or venaIitv
| An independent journal. if If is true
TO It's calling. will offend all DoIiticaI
parlles by turn-will offend them more