Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-18
FAULT OF NEWSPAPERS.
TRY TO Guido ONE ANOTHER
SCARLET DISPLAY LINES.
Correspondents Unfounded Stories Of
Mob Violence-Injury Caused to
the State by the Publications.

the State by the Publications.
BY WILLIAM e. CURTIS
Special Correspondence Of The Star and the Chicago
Record Herald.
DENVER. July o. 1905.
Denver has bad reputation among the
people Of the east-a reputation for sensa-
tons. for extravagances. political conspira-
cies and corruption, dramatic marriages
and divorces-which Is undeserved and IS
due to the yellow journals which are print
ed In this city and to the efforts OF ire
sponsible correspondents to make living.
Everything Is magnifled as much as posi-
tle: everything is treated In the superla-
tive degree.
Denver Is the victim Of exaggeration. If
you will read the headlines in the news
papers any day you will recognize what /
mean. If somebody falls into an ordinary
ditch he is represented as plunging head
Icing into bottomless chasm; II some serv-
ant girl receives a legacy of a few thou
sand dollars from an uncle up in the noun
tains she is described as the heiress of MD
lions. Everything that happens, no matter
how trivial or commonplace. is magni1ed
into sensation. under a mistaken idea
that the public Is easily deceived when, IS
matter OF fact, the newspapers themselves
are the victims of their own presentations.
young woman who tends the news stand
at hotel remarked:
"One papers just about as bad as the
other. You can't rely on any of them;
they are half full of lies and half full Of
exaggerations, and everybody knows It, so
nobodys fooled!'
Wild Stories of Correspondents.
Last fall. during the trouble with the
miners at Cripple Creek, the correspondents
OF eastern newspapers at Denver, Colorado
Springs and other places did the state an
infinite amount Of harm by similar exag-
gerations; by representing that the dis
turbances were ten times as bad as they
actually were, and II will be a long time
before Colorado can recover from that rep
utation. l received letters from people who
impression that half the cities Of Colorado
Springs, but were afraid to come for fear
they might be shot down In the streets or
have their houses burned over their heads.
On my return to the east l was questioned
by several good people who were under the
impression that half the cities Of Colaroda
We're controlled by mobs and the other
half by vigilance committees. They got
their Ideas from the dispatches sent to east
ern newspapers by correspondents in Den
yer, Colorado Springs, Cripple Creek and
other places. These correspondents made
their dispatches as sensational possible
in order to get them printed, and paid for.
If they had stated the facts; if they had
given accurate descriptions of conditions,
the newspapers would not have published
the news. because it would have been COM
monplace.
It is true that there have been sensa-
tional events in Denver, Cripple Creek and
the rest of the state, connected with poll
tics and labor troubles, and the eastern
public became accustomed to reading eX-
citing news from Colorado; but then dis
turbances are not chronic nor more fire.
quent than elsewhere, and the real Denver,
the real Colorado, is very different from
what has been represented. sH'T''
The Denver newspapers are chiefly reSpOn-
sible for these Misrepresentation. Compe-
ttion is SO keen that they try to Guido each
other in scarlet display lines and exagger-
ations, although I believe that serious,
conservative newspaper, printing nothing
but true and useful information, would be
cordially supported by the public and could
do much to set Denver and other cities of
Colorado in their proper light before the
world.
Senator Patterson's Outbreak.
We have recently had an illustration. The
responsible editor of two Denver papers
(morning and evening". a member OF the
United States Senate, has been summoned
before the supreme court of the state
by q committee Of the bar associa-
ton, to show cause why he should not be
debarred from practice and punished for
paper, he accused that tribunal of dishon-
esty. corruption and partisanship in de-
clsion affecting local politics Last year the
legislature Of Colorado passed an act con-
solidating the county and municipal govern
ments Of Denver and making them one and
the same. When the act took effect the
officials then in Office. who happened to be
republicans, were supplanted by another set,
chosen at a special election, who happened
to be democrats. The opponents Of the
merger went Into court and, after a full
and fair hearing the supreme court of the
state declared the act unconstitutional and
most Of the proceedings under it unlawful
and void. This decision threw out the DEM
ocratfc officials who had been chosen at the
special election and restored to Office the
republicans who had been displaced.
Mr.. Patterson, member OF the United
States Senate. lawyer OF long experience
and the responsible editor of two newspa-
pers. became so hysterical over the dlsplace-
ment of the democratic officials that he lost
all sense Of propriety and attacked the court
In a most violent and Incorporate manner.
Strangers who read his comments would
have supposed that the court was governed
entirely by personal and political motives
and had been induced by corrupt influences
to render an unjust and dishonest decision.
His attempt to convince the people that the
highest judicial tribunal In the state is I'M
worthy of confidence was resented by the
bar association, which has called him to ac-
count Mr.. Patterson has made an appear
ance in response to the summons. but the
court has been generous enough to postpone
a hearing until next October rather than
interfere with his plan to visit the Philip
pines as a member of Secretary Tafts
party. The incident has created profound
impression and has served to convince the
thinking people of Denver that the reputa-
ton Of their city and their state needs
good deal of looking after, and that their
reputation in the east needs repairs. There
is not the slightest doubt that In their mis-
taken zeal and false enterprise the Denver
newspapers are keeping away useful capt.
tai and immigration and are attracting to
the city and the state undesirable classes
who seek excitement and adventure.
The Frivolous Few.
There Is no doubt that Denver is live
town and fast one A certain portion of
the people are extravagant. and are al
ways doing sensational things, but the real
Denver is very different. and the solid
stratum of the population is not RESPONSE
BILE for the behavior of the frivolous few
who come down here from the mining
towns In the mountains to blow in their
money, or migrate from the east to get
easy divorces. Several men have made a
million or two In few months and squan-
dered IL In a few months more Perhaus