The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-09-10
DEPENDENT ON REPORTERS

The old echool statesmen did not
like reporters and abhorred an inter
view. The late Senator Harris. ~
Tennessee. would not give statements
20 reporters AMI regarded their new
fashioned ways OF getting what he
was doing as something tn The nature
OF an inpertinence. Ransom and
George and Hampton 70 a less de-
gree were opposed 10 \ publicity
that the modern newspaper gives 70
all the acts OF public officials. IN
England. in the days Of Dickens. no
reporter was allowed in Parliament
Il is recorded that when william
he would sit in the strangers gallery
In the House 81 Commons with closed
eyes, -endeavoring TO fix IN his mem
Org the points Of discussion 20 that
he could from memory reproduce
the scene Withou the aid Of notes.
When Charles Dickens was reporting
the House Of Lords. he had TO stand
with tired feet for hours among the
crowd at the bar ~flrtively reporting
the proceedings.
All that has changed nov, and to
day the modern public men care ten
times more about how their speech
reads in the home paper than how IT
sounds in the halls Of legislation. Nine
times out Of ten il is delivered for
home consumption and few Of the
legislators pay attention to IL. A
writer in MacmiIlan's Magazine says
that on the second OF December, 1902.
when the education bill was before
the House of Lords, the Marquis Of
Londonderry, president of the council
of education, refused to begin his adj
dress until the reporters arrived.
They were delayed and the great ma
chinery Of parliament was not put in
motion until they We're on hand
President Roosevelt is soon to make
q our through the Middle West. We
are told that he is now denying him
self to callers in order that he may
. the speeches he is to de-
liver on that trip. Why does he write
them out so long before the date Of
delivery? SO hat they may be put in
type and sent to every daily news
paper office in America, where the
editors may read them in advance
and be ready to print editorial COM
ment in the same issue of the paper
that contains the speech. Even then
he is dependent on the reporter to
give the local color, the reception,
-. l-o,as +to -nnnoh u-o c
changed by local conditions.
Many public men have been saved
bv the discretion and wisdom of the
newspaper reporter, and most Of the
men in public life recognize this fact
and appreciate the service rendered
by men who are always behind the
scenes. Now and then. however, you
find a man in public life who has
made a fool Of himself, and who
seeks to shield himself by declaring
at never said it." In ninety-nine
cases out of one hundred the polite
ian did say it, and never thought of
DENYING the statement until he
learned the morning after that he had
put his foot in it. Instead of seek
ing 90 make his peace with his con-
stituents in an honorable way, he
throws the blame on the reporter and
MANY never know that he has SIAN
dered an innocent and honorable gen
tleran TO save his office. Some pub
lie men who deny ~utterances that are
hurtful hold the highest positions and
the reporter submits to the wrong
for fear he will be ~boycotted and be
denied the right to earn his meat and
bread. Usually the public man who
is most ready to slip out of his error
by putting his lapse on the reporter
is the man who owes most Of his
prominence and much of his success
to the But, in his ele-
walton, he forgets the pit from whence
he was digged and despises those
upon whose shoulders he climbed to
high place.
rTISrp A1vES A