The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1903-11-15


the American press. Add to all these
the ubiquitous correspondents of the
Reuter- agency and we have a mass of
reports upon happenings in continental
capitals and Asiatic countries which
come by cable and are published on
this side of the water, but which ig-
more the distinctive American view of
every question. They naturally con-
denim any action of the Car, Kaiser
| or foreign prime minister that is in
| imical to British interests or ambitions,
and they han with satisfaction any
political movement that tends to ben
eft Great Britain.
| We Americans have shuddered too
often in the past-the recent past as
we'll as the past that is more remote
because somewhere upon the surface
of the earth the British OK was in
danger of being gored. Reading Brit
ish reports almost exclusively, we have
: misjudged great nations and have been
| injuriously stuffed with British preju-
| dices. While a better day is now
| dawning, it is difficult not to think
that in our recent dealings with Rus
! STA in regard to Chinese matters Brit
| ish suspicious directed against its for
| midable rival and accepted at Wash
F. ington as facts because they appeared
| in the London Times, endangered the
cordial relations which have always
, existed between this republic and the
| Cars government. When we in
America report and interpret for our
selves the actions of the nations of
! continental Europe, we shall have TAX
/ n lone fr;I ~ n ne
| independence in thought and diplo-
| macy.
Under the efficient direction of Mr..
Melville E. Stone, it's general manager,
/ the Associated Press is doing much to
bring about this desirable emancipa-
! ton Some of the great newspapers
of the country ara assisting in the work
by maintaining capable correspondents
of their own in the principal European
cities. The Spanish-American war gave
the first great impetus to the move
ment to shake off the leading strings
of London. Then came the revolt in
the Philippines, followed by the Boxer
disturbances in China and the siege of
the foreign residents of Picking. Amer
lean newspapers thus were led to dis
patch staff correspondents to remote
parts of the earth, who used the ca
bles freely in telling of the marching
and fighting. The first news OF the
destruction by Admiral Dewey of the
Spanish fleet in Manila bay, as we'll as
reports of later battles in the Philip
pines and in China, cost American
newspapers for cable tolls a good many
dollars a word, being sent under the
urgent rate, or three times the or
binary commercial rate, thus taking
precedence over even government dis
patches. In the Philippines carrier
pigeons We're employed by some of the
American correspondents to convey dis
patches from the battlefields to Manila.
The first intelligence which was SNUG
gled out of Picking by the two cores
pondents with the besieged members
of the foreign egations-Doctor Nor
rison. of the London Times, and Doc
tor Coltman, Of the Chicago Record
went through the enemy's lines and
across the hostile country to Tientsin
hiding under a handful of rice in the
bowl of Chinese beggar. The Orient
only within the last few years has be-
come a field for American newspaper
enterprise.
The news of the whole world is of
great Importance to London all the
time. for the Englishman is in direct
:. touch through his investments or his
government with every nation far and
near. The growth of American trade
and American territory and the widen
ing field of American diplomacy makes
American news far more valuable to
the American newspaper of today than
it was to the newspaper of ten or
even five years ago. The construction
of the isthmian canal and other de-
velopments which lie in the near fu-
ture will enhance still further the inn
portance of such news.
What conclusion shall be drawn as
TO the accuracy of news as it appears
in the newspapers from day to day?
In what has been written above in
regard to foreign news the fact that
the coloring which is given it con-
sciously or unconsciously has an inn
portant effect upon the reader, has re-
ceived attention. More than this. we
all know that false reports are circu-
lated by the public press, uninten-
tionally for the most part. Perhaps
the chief sources from which misin-
formation is drawn are the world s
bourses. Stories concocted for the de-
liberate purpose of raising or lowering
the price of stocks are rather common
Some of them find credence for sew
eral days before their cleverly woven
meshes of falsehood are torn asunder.
A rumor that this or that monarch
has been killed or that war is threat
ened between two great nations usu-
ally serves to shock the sensitive money
centers sufficiently to give stock gamb-
lers a chance to make profit There
have been venal correspondents who
for a price, have sent false reports
Their number in this country let us
hope, is small. Discovery of their