The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1906-05-04
The Man With the Muck Rake

I0NANI"I Nr WNN NtIN "AAA'tNN - ~ Nt'AA
proposed. the beneit OF his work sur
passed. perhaps, the evil that vert
with It. But OF Lawsons imitators
this cinnot be said truly In the
GREATNESS work Of exposure there Is
no time, scarcely is there desire for
the facts Men are tried and found
guilty IN magazine cornting-rooms be
fore the Investigation Is begun. what
we want is hot stuff. says the Man
with the Muck Rake what's the use
OF looking where we're not going TO
find it!7 Everywhere he goes snif-
ing for evil, You find him in Pana-
ma smelling for twenty-four hours and
then writing It up as the worst muck
heap in tive continents. You find
him IN Washington spending two
weeks In preparation for a general on
slaught on the senators, good, bad
and Indifferent You find him sosing
round the courts Of justice aad talk
ing his reckless generalities Of Fixed
judges and "jrries owned by the
trusts" It's all grist to his mill. Any
thing that can rouse qnreasoning pas
sion and sell his magazine. Always
hoping for the worst his hopes never
fan him.
A country which is governed by
public opinion Is governed by the men
who spread st. One OF the most in
tteresting phenom sna Of late years Isl
the growth OF the influence Of maga-
zines in the nel3 formerly monopolized
by the daily papers. Magazines enter
ed the province Of journalism with
certain great advantages in the work
Of forming public opinion They are
not bound by party affiliations. They
ma yselect the questions which they
think themselves qualified to treat
The intervals which elapse between
their publication dates imply deli
herate and dispassionate investiga-
ton Of the facts. With the advent OF
the magazines into the political and
social arena began that new journal
ism" from which the country has a
right to hope much--the journalism
which deals Thoroughly with a ques-
tion. accepting information only at
first hand and sparing neither time nor
expense to get at the facts Today
that new journalism, just risen to the
fulness Of its strength. is already In
danger. 1t found the country sick Of
commercialism and It has caught the
virulent disease. Circulation, and the
money and power that. circulation
brings. is fast becoming the aim and
object Of It's life No franchise steal
ing legislator, no insurance rasca'
stealing the money that belongs e
widows sad the orThans. does to his
country more cruel iniary than the
editor who loses all sense Of raspon
sibil,ty
There arc tsday three courses opei
TO US as a nation One is the cours'
of EllSins and Aldrioh In the Senate
!. Of Roger and Armour in the trusts
OF Spencer and his illS in the railroads
It Is the course OF obstruction to th'
declared vii Of the people, Of impud
ent determination to preserve a sys
tenn long since became intolerable. /
Is the eougse leading straight TO des
tructon There is another cours
which such men as these make us al
most sympaihize with at times. bu
which also leads to destruction.
is the course Of Debs and Of Hearst
Of the yellow iourasls and the magi
zine heroes Il Is the course Of th'
adjustment Of the government Of on
forefathers, the course at once OF tn
visionary and the sahemer, the cours
OF Socialism.
And there IS the Slrd course. Th'
course of the square deal The cours
which lays down as its Fundamental
principles that the government shal
not play the whole game Itself, bu
shall see that the whole game is play
ed fair and that the man who doesn'
play fair is ruled "a the field, It Dc
mands publicity, the vigorous enforce
ment Of the law. II calls upon the ms
tion for earnest and unsleeping SUI
port. 1t calls upon the new Journalism
to give the people honest facts, hell
ful sugges stions, constructive ideas
This IS the course that the America
, Magazine believes in TO the core
it, and 10 emphasize which, it adopte
the name it bears today This is tn
course which in the end must prevail
This is a repablic Of honest mel
The business which earns bread an
: butter for most Of us is honest bus
: ness. One by one the gaunt gra
Il wolves win be hunted down Eve
x now the pack Is thinning ont. o.