The Republican journal., 1902-04-24
SOME APRIL FOOLING.

How Clever Journalist Started Paper to
Establish a Military Dictatorship in this
Country.
dustin Mccarthy in the independent
| have Just been reading with pecu-
liar and personal interest an article by
W. l.. Alden, a New York journalist
and author, who has been for some time
on this side Of the ocean. The article
to which refer is one of those chapters
OF autobiography which are entitled
I'm the Days of my outh, and appear
weekly in my friend T. P. O'Connors
paper, NJ A. p. Mr.. Allen tells us how
in his early New York days he was once
guilty of a practical joke which grew
to such large proportions that may be
excused for mentioning 1t. The idea
of the Joke was to see how much adver-
tisement could be obtained for nothing.
and with the object of giving this sport
ing idea chance, Mr.. Alden had some
few OF his friends start paper in New
York to advocate the conversion of the
United States government into a mill
tary despotism under an emperor. The
jokers raised enough money to print
the first number OF the paper The
fmperialisJ was published on the 1st of
April as an appropriate day for the
issue of such an enterprise i'll Journal
ism. The ImperiSlist was instantly
assailed by the American press of all
political shades The Democrats de-
clared that it was published i'll the
interest of Gen. Grant, who proposed
10 make himself emperor. The Republi-
can press cried out against it as the OF
gan Of the defeated sUutherners who
We're striving to overthrow the republic
with the secret help OF the Democrats.
The sOutheInerS StlgmatlZed it as the
organ of a base plot 10 implicate them
III an ignoblt conspiracy. The I'M
peualist was rutfed for time into
big circulation and then it began to
collapse. and the Joke was allowed to
come to al end
Now comes my personal interest in
the story. | was living in New 1olk
at the time when the Imperialist made
its first appearance, and | was then a
regular contributor to the columns of
the independent. 1t was in the edi-
torial rooms of the Independent that L
saw the first number of the lmperialist.
The title of the paper attracted my Gu
riosity. and | took up the journal and
began to read it through. 1t seemed to
be a somewhat astonishing enterprise
to start in New York a journal which
prOfessed to have for it's object the
overthrow of the republic and the set
ting up of military emperor. My old
friend. Oliver johnson, then one of the
editors of the Independent, was seated
at his desk in the room, and | turned
to him and asked him, Are you Amer
leans going to stand this sort of thing"
What sort of thlng?' he asked very
naturally, Then | told him had been
reading the Imperialist, and that the
Imperialist was advocating the estab-
ishment of military emperor to rule
over the United States. Oliver John
son did not seem in the slightest degree
disturbed by this portentous announce
ment He replied in the coolest and
the most Indifferent manner, as if the
subject was not of the slightest impor,
tance. We'll, | suppose if any one
thinks we ought to set up a military
emperor, he has right to say So:' and
he went Oh with his editorial work Just
as if the ImperialiSt had never started
into existence,
] remember being greatly impressed
by his answer at the time. | had but
lately come from Europe, where the
journalist who openly advocates a
change in the established form of gov
emment would be likely to have expert
ence of his country's penal laws, and it
was something new to me to find the
doctrines OF the lmperiallSt treated by
devoted Republican as if nobody cared
three straWs whether they were preach
ed aloud OF kept i'll secret | have told
the story many times since those days,
and always as an illustration of the
best way in which to deal with treason
able doctrine But | never knew until
this day that the issue of the Imperial
ist was practical Joke; and can only
say that my friend Oliver Johnson's
philosophy would have been Just as
sound even if the Imperialist had been
serious enterprise.
The writer remembers the ImperaEst
very well, and must admit that he was
one of the fooled 1t was a handsome
ly printed and ably written paper: but
we remember setting its projectors
down as fools for thinking that such
ideas as they put forth could prevail i'll
this county, Editor Journal.