Williams news., 1903-06-06
NEWSPAPER MEN
 IN POLITICS
They Don't Appear to Make Much Headway in That FieId--A
 Few "Reminiscences.

10 THE EDITOR OF l HE NEWS. u is very peculiar circumstance, but nevertheless a fact, that when ever a newspaper man of national
 prominence becomes possessed with
 political aspirations and endeavors
 to reach some high office within
 the gift of the people, whether it
 be as governor of his state, United
 States senator at Washington, or
 perhaps reaches out further and
 wishes to win the highest office
 within the gift of the American
 people that of president of the United States he has about the hardest road to travel to success of any 'man who pursues any other vocation in life and who has the same aspirations. It makes no diff
 ference whether he be republican or democrat, the obstacles in front of him seem no easier to overcome. Instances are rare indeed in the po- litical history of this country where newspaper men have reached high political honors through the ballot box. It is true there have been a few who have been honored through appointment by the president, but not many ever gained anything through the ballot. It must, of course, be granted that every editor of a great daily newspaper, or even of the smallest weekly paper, cannot help but make enemies would be very poor newspaper man did he not-but it is not to these ene- mics that he can mainly attribute his defeat when he fails to reach any high political office he may as pire to. Should he be a candidate for the office of president and dur ing the campaign could catch a glimpse of the editorial pages of a considerable majority of the news papers published throughout the country, he could readily realize that his prospects for election were very dim. He would plainly see that the power of the press wished his defeat and desired that the other man should win. Newspaper men throughout the country, as a rule, stand we'll together in advancing the interests and welfare of each other in their endeavors to attain the highest notch in their profes- sion; but when one of their brethren has finally reached the highest pedestal of journalism, and also achieved national prominence, be- comes ambitious to win some lofty prize in the political arena, it then becomes noticeable that a large number of his fellow craftsmen of the press desert him and begin to use their pens and pencils in the most crafty and clever manner in order to "head him off" and drive him from the pathway of his high ambition. There are, of course, some exceptions to this rule-the writer merely speaks from gen. eral point of view. What is the req son for this putting on of the brakes by editors who wish to see that no member of their fraternity shall reach high political plane, if they can. prevent it? In municipal or county affairs, however, newspaper men generally meet with gratifying success, but when one of them be- comes more ambitious and endeav- ors to reach out beyond these boun- diary lines, it is then that many of his fellow craftsmen (men of his own party) begin stacking the cards" in order to accomplish his undoing, politically. He is given notice to "back up a little" and to not go any further in that direc- tion. One may turn back to the time when Horace Greeley ran for president against Ulysses $. Grant. Greeley made about the same kind of race against Grant that other