Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-04-29
Therefore

speech" came from all parts of the
hall.
Toastmaster N. C. Wright of the
Cleveland Leader hammered in vain
for order, while Mr.. Williams stood
tmpassive but obstinate and waited
with folded arms to be heard.
This is a disgrace to the press of
the United States; 1t must end" shout
ed Adolph S. Ochs, proprietor of the
New York Times, as he stood on his
chair behind the POSTMASTER and beg
ged for a word.
Offers to Say 1t For Him.
"Mr. Williams, 1 promise you, has
less than 40 words TO speak; let me
say them for him"
mo! MOI" yelled the diners
"Mr. Williams says began Mr..
Ochs.
mol MOI" broke in the thoroughly
angered diners, with added insistence.
Mr.. Ochs sat down, while the orches-
ira thundered Dixie" but Mr. Will
liams still kept his seat and a SEM
blance of calm was not restored until
Rev. Newell Dwight Hills of Brook
lyn, with a witty and felicitous speech,
brought laughter that drove out anger.
At Annual Banquet.
The directors, executives and mem
bers of the Associated Press and the
American Newspaper Publishers asso-
citation had met at their annual joint
banquet at the Waldorf-Astoria to for
get for a while that there are politics
and aeroplane flights to follow, mine
disasters to cover, murder and divorce
trials. legislative inquiries. tariff dis
cHssturEr and race suicide; and to sink
tor the moment their wholesome rival
ries as competitors in a sense of their
fellowship in one profession, the
fourth estate" and a realization of
their cooperative endeavor to inform
S0,000.000 of a reading, thinking peo-
pie, their subscribers and critics.
GaynOr Opens Attack.
Mayor Gaynor said in part:
"You have given me the subject,
The Press in It's Relation to Public
Officials and told me to speak plainly
and freely; that that is what you want;
that your object in associating togeth-
er is to improve the press. Those hav-
ing power should exercise it Justly.
kindly and moderately. That makes
their acts all the more effective.
measure my words in saying your pow
er for good is immense. Your power for
evil is not as great as some may think.
That is especially so when any of you
deliberately try to do evil by false
hood or mere scandal
Let me illustrate by mentioning
one thing out of many. AS late as the
18th of this month w. r. Hearst print
ed in his principal newspaper here the
facsimile of a draft on the treasury of
this city for $4,000, with headlines
and an article attributing such draft
and the expenditure to the present
mayor. The headlines and article as
sert that fixed the award and amount
and paid it, and the draft of the treas
ury is printed to prove it
Date I'm Large Letters.
But when you look at the draft as
given in the article (but how few peo-
pie scrutinize it that closely) you per
ceive that the date of it is left blank.
have brought it here as printed in
this newspaper to show you, and here
It is. When you look at the original
1raft, which l have also brought here
Tor you to see, you see the date of it
at the top in large letters and figures
IS Dec. 81, 1909 which is before the
present city government came in.
when you examine the said orig
nal farther you see that it also bears
plainly the date when the audited
voucher, which established the claim
as a legal liability of the city, was re-
corded in the controllers office
namely, Dec. %, 1909 This date is
also omitted in the newspaper copy,
IS you perceive. In other words, two
state prison felonies-namely, forgery
md classification of a public document
were committed in the eaPerness. of