The Washington herald., 1906-11-04

is proving a helpmate in the best sense
of the term.
The Hearst newspapers are so well
known. their character so thoroughly un-
derstood, that it Is unnecessary to speak
OF them al length. Their like is not to be
found on the face of the globe. limitations
are in evidence in many cities. but they
know not the Hearst game" so-called.
and the best of them are but poor patterns
Of the real thing. Originally. the Hearst
newspaper led in enterprise in getting the
news-the live. stirring news of this coun-
try and of the world. High salaries were
paid to newsgatherers and gigantic bills
for telegraph and cable tolls were settled
without a second thought. But this has
been a lesser part of the Hearst game"
in recent years. It has given way large
! ly TO economic and social prOpagandas.
to Onslaughts upon corporations. 20 cru
sades for municipal reforms. and TO mer-
| ciless, never-ceasing warfare against the
money baTons The aim. evidently, was
to bring the Hearst newspapers closer
/ home to the people; 10 have them fight
the peoples battles. But this was not all.
/ their efforts and outdo their sensational
! contemporaries in the quest for human
! interest news-stories Of the pathetic or
the tragic side of Ife-with pictorial en-
! bellishment galore to catch the eye.
To the more intelligent reader-tO the
average, well-balanced newspaper man
! the Hearst newspaper is an abOmination.
There are men in Hearsts employ who
/ frankly avow they abhor the kind Of work
! they are doing. But the Hearst news
/ paper is widely read. There is no doubt
Of that
! The STATS of the Hearst service COM
prise workers Of the highest efficiency.
/ Many of them have been recruited from
! conservative fields, and it is a curious
| fact that not few Of these. once in the
Hearst service" proceed TO out-Hearst
/ Hearst. unless held In cheek, 1t is TBS
/ sible-yes, probabie-that as the result
OF this disposition the Hearst newspapers
/ sometimes go to greater lengths than
/ Hearst himself approves. At any rate.
/ there are signs at intervals of putting
on brakes"
There is no doubling the capacity Of the
! leaders in the Hearst newspaper game.
/ They are bright and shining lights in
newspaperdOm. Brisbane and Chamber
/ lain. in New York; FarrelIy. IN Boston;
/ Foster Coates and c. P. J. Mooney. in
| Chicago; Nicholson and Robart, in San
( Francisco; I.owenthal, in Los Angeles
all these are past masters in the Hearst
/ school Of yellow journalism" as the
! conservatives style IT, Whether you ike
this school or not the men who make
the school are bound to challenge your
admiTatiOn-nOt for what they are doing
but the way they are doing it. They. not
Hearst's political peutenants, are TO be
credited, Il credit attach. with making
Hearst the great factor he is to-day
Take Foster Coates. for example He
probably would admit he knows nothing
about politics. and does not want 10
know. But the talent and skill he gives
TO the paper he handles insures it a read
ing and an influence that rebound greatly
to the interest of Hearst himself. and
dwarf into absolute insignincance any
political maneuvering that may be going
on at the same time.
Those who know are of one mind re-
Garding Hearst's political managers. He
suffers rather than profits by them With
the exception of Max Ihmsen. who
appears 10 have made an enectv
medium of the Independence League. the
Hearst managers, to put it bluntIy. are a
mongrel crowd. a payroll brigade. that
feed and fatten upon any movement with
which they are identified They con-
eHFa ay-s1 1~~ H.
ceeds, 1t is in spite of them. and not be-
cause Of any effort, honest or otherwise.
they may put forth
Arthur Brisbane, editor Of the evening
paper in New York, stands apart in the
Hearst regime, distinct and distinctive
quantity. Many people say he made
Hearst Others think Hearst made Bris-
bane. There Is truth in either opinion.
Brisbane is a socialist. Hearst is not.
Brisbane inherited his sociaIistic iJeas:
came by them honestly. His father was
a preacher Of socialism A weII-to-do
mana thinker-the elder Brisbane lived
in the day when radicalism was not run
ming rampant as it is to-day. It cost
something to be a socialist then. He was
taxed to express his views. Horace
Greeley charged him pretty penny line
when the elder Brisbane got into the
columns of the Tribune, and then he got
into the advertising columns only. Twice
the elder Brisbane was expelled from
France. The memory Of the French rev.
0lution was fresh. and France kept close
watch upon socialists and agitators.
Preachers Of socialism were under con
stant surveillance. The elder Brisbane
was peace-loying He was never bent
upon stirring up strife. but sought only
to better the condition of mankind; to
eqUalize things on this mundane sphere.
His was an unhappy life. and the story
of it is worth the reading The good
he was. able to do he fairly had to fight
to do. The career of his son shows what
a new and different generation this is,
Arthur Brisbane is not only allowed TO
preach through the press, but is paid
handsomely for his preaching. He likes
to recall how his father had TO pay to
get his ideas into Horace Greeley's paper. 1
His salary is the largest paid to any news
paper man. 1t is even said to equal
that received by the President Of the
United States. This may or may not Da
SO, but, whatever it is, he is worth it to
his employer, for his editorial preaching |
his triple-leaded, doube-column cham !
pionship of the common people-has ar
rested and held the attention of the /
masses as nothing else in the newspaper |
line has ever done in this country.
Brisbane is said to be Of the world /
worldly; to have really little or nothing |
in common with the common people: but |