The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-07-31

The news that Webster City, Iowa, community with a marked tendency to- wards general municipal ownership. is going to start a daily newspaper of it's own, no doubt strikes the average mind as rather startling.
 This paper Is to be styled the Daily Graphic Herald and will be issued from the office of the Weekly Graphic Herald, the only democratic paper published in Hamilton county.
 Webster City began her career of mu- nicipal ownership many years ago, when the spread of socialism in this country, about which MT. Alfred Seton wrcte so illuminatively in The Forum last month, began to be politically noticeable.
 First she acquired possession of the water works Next she installed an cleo tric light and power plant. Then came the idea of q city heating plant and she adopted that. Now she proposes to run daily paper. an experiment which Will be watched here, and abroad, with In tense interest; for immense are the in trinsic difficulties of performing such a job with satisfaction to constituents and d fair measure of success.
  works. trolley raor. lighting plants, ba- keries or shoe sEf-p5 better than the same can be run by rsivste enterprise, with far less cost and far less danger to life and health, must be frankly conceded. But the conduction of a newspaper that will 'nl the blll is on the face of 1t very different proposition.
 All persons want the same quality. If not quantity, of water electric light, car service footwear and real honest bread, if they can get 1t, which only occasional ly they can from private enterprise; but all persons do not want he same news and views in the newspapers they buy for mental fodder or mental cocktails.
 Indeed, is 1t not fairly assumable that all the inhabitants of the progressive town of Webster City although they ap- pear to be practically unit on the sub ject of municipal ownership. do not think alike on other subjects? If they did. | Webster City would be the dullest place | in the world, which 1t certainly is not.
 Some of them doubtless believe in high tariff. some in a low, some in none at all. Other some probably admire Mr. Roose- velts policy of grabbing all the outlying possessions in sighl and building a new | curvilinear telescope, bigger than Yerkes' latest for the purpose of discovering more l lSlanOS CdpdDle pl DentNolenl aSSlnllld- 1 ton.
 Some others in Webster City tis like | ly, regard the present occupant of the chair of Washington and Lincoln as a most dangerous Juggler of the jungle. worse than ten Tammany tigers, and would like to sec our beloved country well shed of its Philippine brown ele- phant and not committed to the idea of | the paramount necessity of adding San | Domingo and Hayti to our colored conun- drum.
 Then again there must be women suf- | fraGists In Webster City. with quite a | little sprinkling of men and women who would like to put down rum in one way and. perhaps. naughty few who do do ' 1t in another.
 | Now when they all are taxed. be 1t ever so lightly. for the operation of their mu- nicipal daily. will they not be increas- | ingly dissatisfied. unless it gives them all | the news and views they want? How | is 1t humanlv possible to have clear. l unwohbling editorial policy. except with