Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-31

| have believed that the German invasion
could not possibly be postponed for
more than two days; that the whole
country was in financial ruin and
wreck: that the radical leaders were
all anarchists with designs ON the life
and property of all the rich, and that
another Liberal victory would be Ii
| Cense to rob and plumber and sack
No American newspaper in the worst
onslaughts against political burglars
has ever used stronger language than
was applied every day in scores of
Conservative newspapers to the Lib
eral leaders.
At the very last of the campaign,
just as the polls were opened the
Times, the most staid, dignified and
solemn of all journals compressed its
views into this sentence: THE Lib
erals apparently rely upon the black
bread fiction, at which educated Ger
many is laughing, on pension lies, on
impudent appeals to every form of ig-
norance and on the invective of tho
gutter
Probably one-half of the space de-
voted to politics in the newspapers was
given over to our old friends "P. b.
Publico' and Veritas." Sometimes
| these communications We're interest
ing, but usually they were merely
| Iong-Winded eXpositions of personal
views or labored and extended expla-
nations of trivial incidents.
The organs on neither side made any
use of the news article bearing on
controVerted policies. Although both
parties maintained effective literary
bureaus and sent out great quantities
of exceedingly attractive campaign
documents and arguments the news
papers made no use of this material
except when they reproduced some
pictorial poster, or when they quoted
from such documents for the purpose
of inviting the public to purchase them
in pamphlet FORM
The interview the great American
channel of distributing political news
and views, is not used at all. The pub
lie men make all their announcements
and arguments in their speeches; and
if occasion demands an Immediate
statement it is made in the form of
a letter to some political friend, and
the letter is then made public through
the press.
One difficulty about the interview in
England is that the ordinary neWspa-
per reporters are not given that conf
dence which is reposed in them by
American political leaders. This is
not because the British reporters are
untrustWorthy, for the opposite is the
case. 1t is because the Stratified and
classified constitution of British So
ciety makes the London reporter get
his news from the fourth under-assist-
ant secretary, instead of from the cab
met member himself, as does the
Washington correspondent. Excep-
tions are made, of course, in favor of
the most prominent journalists
The Tory papers made the most OF
IiOyd-GeorgG's escape i'll poficemanS
clothing from the mob in Birmingham,
where he was to address a pro- Boer
meeting, and continually reprinted it.
They repeated over and over. after
many denials, what was known as the
Lord Savile charge" or the Lord
Savile lie" according to your politics
that Mr.. Lloyd George had cheered a.
British defeat in the South African
war While in his seat in the commons.
At the instance of the chancellor Lord
Sayile retracted the charge, but the
press kept it up.
The Liberal newspapers, supporting
the government, poked fun at the
noble lords in a fashion which would
have done credit to Americas liVeliest
journals They said the peers speeches
reeked with the stables and that GER
tain particular peers, naming names,
ought to learn how to be gentlemen
first and noblemen later.
Compared with American newspa-
pers the British journals in political
activity are directed with less skill,
are more partisan are more given over
to abuse and unsupported denunciation
of the other side.
Charges of corruption do not appear
in the British press as freely as they
do in the American papers at election
times. There are two reasons-corrup-
ton is not nearly so prevalent on ac-
count of the stringent laws, and things
which are considered corrupt in the
United States are here condoned or
looked upon as quite right. For in
stance, the press of an American city
would ring with charges of corruption
if a representative of a certain rail-
road combine were to run for congress
for the express and avowed purpose of
representing TINT railway system. 1t
is done by indirection, of course, but
no one would dare to do it openly. III
England the great business concerns
have men in parliament as a matter OF
right. English elections are much
more free from corruption than Amer
lean. but the British press cannot sue
cessfully claim the same superiority.
over here a man who reads the
Daily News is utterly impossible as q
social acquaintance, thinks the Con-
servatiyc; while a reader of the
Daily Express is looked upon by all
good Liberals as a potential cracks
man. They take things seriously over
here.
Tomorrow-Arizona