Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1910-02-11

| Nclo VIC Spui"olp SdudidopO III liSu
tenant governor.
The president of the New York
Butchers Dressed Beef Assn says
the newspapers are to blame for all
this agitation about high prices. And
in this Mr. Frederick Joseph is cor
rect. However, he is not correct when
he attributes the motive to desire on
the part of the newspapers for sensa-
| tional news. No reform of whatsoever
kind has come to this country in the
last ten years that has not been the
result of agitation by newspapers OF
periodicals. No new laws have been
passed by congress for the relief Of
the people that were not first advocat-
ed by the editors and publishers of
the country. 1t is true that a propos-
ed remedy is sometimes fearfully
twisted and almost unrecognizable
after congress gets through with the
operation, but there would be moth
ing in the line of remedial legislation
if it were not for the agitation by the
press Take for instance the move
ment against the Standard Oil Co, it
is all dua to the articles by Ida Tarball
published in McClure's magazine q
few years ago, supplemented by the
agitation by the weekly and daily
press. Another instance is the move
ment against Cannon. This agitation
started with the weekly press, and
| was followed in turn by the daily
press and magazines. Railroad leg
islation is largely due to the efforts of
the country weekly and the city daily
press. The campaign against political
graft in the cities aud the subsequent
prosecutions is due almost entirely to
the articles of Ray Stannard Baker a
few years back, which were also
supplemented by agitation through
the city dailies. The demand for
traiff revision was not recognized un-
til it was made through the press of
the country. There is certain class
of politicians who like to say and
make the public believe that the press
of the country cannot be depended
upon, that it will state almost any
thing for a fact, but if you will take
particular notice you will find that
man unscrupulous in his political
work; he wants the public to dishe-
lieve the press because he lives in
constant fear of exposure by the press
However, it is true, that in politics
the press is som .times biased, and
often the different editors honest
ly disagree upon certain ques
tions But always upon economical
and industrial questions the press of
the country is reliable, it advocates
certain doctrines aud the people take
up those doctrines and endorse them
because they can see that the press is
right. The people are not fools, even
if some politicians and some of the
favored interests assume that they are,
and some men in office insist upon
basing their policies upon that as
sumption. The press is still the
moulder of public opinion, not from
the fact that the people take every
thing in public print as gospel, but
| from the fact that, on the whole, the
press is right, and the people realize
it. By means of the press the senti-
ment for reforms and better and more
just Legislation is united along the
lines taken up and thereby made
effective. None of the betterments that
have taken place in recent years
would never have come into existence
but for the power of the press, and
all that is to be hoped for in years to
come will come through the press oi
the country, if it comes at all. We
elect politicians to Office in these days
the statesmen are on the farms, in
the shops, behind the counters, and
in the editorial chair. and by the
1.-The efforts Of the latter the former arr