Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-05-10

and Observer, and member OF the ma
tional democratic committee from
North Carolina. is one of the best
things that have appeared in print in
a long time. 1t is copied here from
the National Monthly, Norman F..
Mack's paper.
President Roosevelt was not the
sort of man who was in the habit of
| asking others to do what he could
himself. Indeed, his reputation was
enhanced because he was the type of
man who brings things to pass. He
was called strenuous because he un-
dertook to direct all affairs from the
number of children in the family to
the cessation of hostilities between
Russia and Japan. Many disagreed
with him as to this or that of his
many policies. but the majority of his
cOuntrymen applauded his intense ac-
tivity which was so tense in so many
departments as to cause his country
men to wonder at his versatile genius
and Cromwellian spirit Of leaving
nothing unregulated. And yet, though
Mr.. Roosevelt had invoked the power
Of the courts in cases that were of the
highest Importance, and though con-
gress put unlimited means at his dis
pOsal to prosecute what he called
'the malefactors of great wealth"
when he came to the remedy for the
chief evils that threatened our cOun-
try this strenuous fighter threw up
his hands and declared for publicity
as the only sure method of ending the
reign of monopoly and melting out
justice to those who oppress the peo-
pie by cunning. Publicity was, in
his opinion and the opinion of other
eminent men, the key that unlocks
the door where the worst lawbreak
ers are hiding, and without "Publici-
ty' no other agency was sure and
effective.
There is but one way of securing
Publicity" and that is through the
unbribed, uninfluenced honest press of
America. The Federal and state gov
ernments expend millions of dollars
annually for the enforcement of the
law, and yet in the most important
and insidious crimes these paid Off
GERS say they must abdicate unless
"Publicity"-that is the press-will
come to be the aid and sustaining
arm of the law.
The power Of the press was never
so admitted and emphasized as in
Mr. Roosevelt's public statements that
we must depend upon publicity. AL
most every day other public officials
pay the press the same high compli-
ment, and call upon this unpaid tri-
bunal to perform that which the paid
representatives of the people declare
themselves impotent to do. The
compliment Of the press carries with
it such responsibility as to cause the
editors of the country to consider well
what duty they owe in the enforce
ment of law and i'm the preservation
Of order.
Its Opportunity and Its Peril.
The newspaper of today is becom-
ing i'm the large cities a paying busi-
ness, as well as a medium of public
information, and herein lies its op-
portunity and it's peril. There is lit
tie temptation to the editor whose
paper is a paying business only when
his personality makes it bring him
bread and butter. to regard his paper
as "a vested interest" and to use it
for becoming rich. The papers in
the great cities with big circulations
have the constant temptation of say
ing nothing about wrong in high
places and of failing to do their duty
as upholders of law. Mr.. Jerome s
statement that all the New York pa
pers were controlled from the count
ing house was a libel on some as
fearless editors as the world has
known: but the question of how much
influence the dollar has in controlling
| the policy of some widely circulated
newspapers is one that, having been
raised by a man as we'll known as
Mr.. Jerome, cannot be ignored by the
men who make the papers and are
responsible for what they do say. a
newspaper controlled by the counting
house holds the same moral status in
the community as the harlot among
women. Therefore, the charge of Je-
rome was properly resented by the
virtuOus press of the metropolis.
What, then. is the duty of the press
with respect to law enforcement, see
| ing that presidents and governors and
judges declare that "Publicity" is es-
sential to upholdng the dignity of
| the law?
The duty of the press with respect
to lawlessness has become more diff
cult with the passing years. The new
| order Of crimes and new varieties OF
sin are quite different from those in
the olden times when lawlessness was
a rude and roughhOuse. Then you
found its expression in the fighting
and shooting of the frOntiersman. 1t
was personal and individual SHINING,
and it was easy TO say to the violator
of the law. Thou art the man The
man who held up the stage coach and
rifled the pockets of travellers had To
possess daring. courage. good marks
manShip and nerve. 1t was open ana
had nothing of the stilletto or green
goods deception, or Watering
get rich-uuick of frenZied hnance.
Brave men could and did pursue the
| horse thief and stage robbers; there
was a pitched battle, and the bodies
of the vanquished hung as trophies
from the highest trees. The press "t
that day did its duty fearlessly and'
comparatively, it was plain and easy.
The sinner who took life. who stole
property. who as judge was corrupt
the rich man who oppressed the poor
was injuring some individual. He
| had a victim, and there was pubic
| 80, l;r,,t.l a tho