The National tribune., 1906-06-28
THE MuzzLEp Press.


publicans or Democrats through thick
and thin, has measurably weakened. In
stead there has come what every think
ing man must regard as far more dan
gerous-the baneful influence of rank
commercialism. Newspapers are now
room. which receives its orders from
the business interests of the COM
munity. While these business interests
are of the highest Importance and
should-receive earnest attention and
consideration throughout, they are very
frequently rankly unscrupulous of the
general good. We have seen this thor
oughly, we might say brutally exhibit
ed in Chicago. The condition of things
in the packing-houses must have been
known to the fullest by every news
paper man in Chicago. He has had to
shut his eyes and ears to much that
stirred his very soul in disgust and
anger. Even the yellowest papers have
been as guilty as the more respectable.
The yellow papers are supposed to live,
shocking revelations" They are go
ing around perpetually with a muck
rake to find murders, domestic trage-
dies, offensive scandals. moral stenches
of all kinds to exploit for the delecta-
ton of their morbid-minded readers.
Yet these papers have been absolutely
silent upon morass of wrongdoing the
stencil of which. ike that of Sodom
and Gomorrah, reached even unto the
heavens.
This is because their counting rooms
are in slavish subjection to the great
business interests" Because the pack
ers We're making immense amounts of
money out of their daily offenses against
morality, decency and the health of the
whole civilized world no newspaper man
in Chicago dared expose them. He could
not find the columns of a single news
paper open to him to tell a moiety of
the awful truths that he and everyone
who came in contact with the condi-
tions fully knew. Worse than this. there
was a swift, energetic and remorseless
throttling of any exposure that was at
tempted to be made. This was particu-
larly noticeable at the time of the en-
balmed beef scandal, when a matter of
such vital importance to the people of
the country as the health and lives Of
their sons in the volunteer army was
directly involved. How much or how
little truth there was in the allegations
as to the character of the meats fur
nished the army was never allowed to
be known. Ordinarily and under con-
this country very little part of what
was alleged at the time would have
been sufficient to start every newspaper
man in the country into active investi-
CATION and the development of the truth.
Nothing of this kind was permitted. The
matter was hushed up at once with the
summary process of denouneing all the
aceusers as sensationalists and liars.
The oldtime way would have been, and
the people would have insisted upon it,
for the accused packers to have vindi-
Gated themselves by thorough show-
ing to unprejudiced investigators of the
goodness of their products. They would
not take the trouble to do this. They
did not court any investigation. They
did not make any offer of throwing open
They asked for no test of the quality of
their goods. They simply yelled false
hood" and "lie" at the accusers. and the
whole press of the country servilely
echoed their clamor-
The matter has again been brought to
public attention by the remarkable
statement of Nelson A. Miles, Lieuten-
ant-General, L. S. A, on the retired list.
In the older and freer days of the pub
lie press of the United States such a
charge by so eminent an authority
would have been the signal for gen.
eral investigation, and papers would
have Wed with one another in their
efforts to get at the truth. Instead the
word seems to have been passed all
along the line to meet Gen. Miles's
This is certainly not the way to treat a
matter of such vast moment. No mat
ter what opinions each of us may en-
tertain with regard to Gen. Miles's
course in recent years. the fact remains
that he was a splendid soldier during
the war OF the rebellion; that he was
one of the best of division commanders;
that his gallantry and patriotism are of
the highest class, and that he was a good
enough officer to be retained in the
Army until retired by legal Limitation
and to rise to the highest position in it.
He was for years in command of the
whole Army of the United States. Such
man cannot be disposed of by a sneer
What he says must be listened 20, and
be Investigated. Even though he be in
iuenced by vanity and a deep-seated
grudge against the ruling powers in the
War Department, with whom he has
had lifelong, bitter quarrel. still when
he talks of things pertaining to the gen
eral good of the Army he should be
! listened to attentively. 1t is true tina,
the Regular Army has always been af.
| fiicted with yirulent factional fight.
among its higher officials. and that prob
ably much of Gen. Miles's animus is due
to one of these. Still. we repeat thai
| when he speaks of matters vitally af.
fecting the health and efficiency of the
Army he is entitled to an earnest hear.