The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1911-11-24
SAYS CLAUDE is NOT A JEWEL
OF CONSISTENCY

81 SAC last ISSUE VI Clduu0 IL EuSl6 >
Dixie we note prominently featured
upon the front page an editorial under
the caption, GA Strong, White Light
on Vice." from which we quote the
following: Dixie has been governed
in the discussion of men and meas
ures and in publishing important
news matter by three fixed rules
which the editor made in the begin
ming of his newspaper career, and
which have been strictly adhered to.
publication in Dixie must measure
up to the following: First, is it true?
Second, will it do good? Third, is it
clean? Dixie's fixed policy in this le-
gard has made it the most widely
quoted of any Florida newspaper"
Further on in the same editorial is
cited quotation from Everybody's
Magazine, censuring the character of
reading matter which is frequently
placed before women and children by
the daily press, which we are told
'sustains Dixie's contention as to the
duty of publishers" and in which we
find the. following statement "You
parents who are permitting a publish
er to send unclean advertising pages
into your home, for his profit, at the
risk of your childrens morals and
health and prosperity-better a mill
stone were hanged about your neck
and you were cast into the midst of
the seal"
The foregoing is certainly good SEN
timent, which should receive the
hearty endorsement of all conscien-
tious editors and publishers, but what
we cannot understand is the strange
inconsistency exhibited by the editor
of Dixie in failing to apply this fne
theory in the conduct of his own pa
per. We recall that several years
since, Claude edited in Tallahassee a
paper called the Sun, which was for a
time somewhat conspicuous for the
amount Of booze advertising which it |
contained Suddenly, it's editor tx
perienced religion upon the subject, |
the whiskey ads were removed, and |
the Sun came out in explanation with |
the following editorial statement: 81
know that whiskey is the curse of the
world. The law of prohibition seeks |
to be rid of the curse. Therefore, I |
am for it. And that no man may say
that the carrying of whiskey adver- |
tisements in the Sun is inconsistent
with this enunciation, all whiskey cd /!
vertisements will be dropped" That
was in August, 1907, and the Eagle
of August % commented favorably
upon this action as follows ''Whatso-
ever else the Sun may be, it is bold,
and with characteristic b0ldness it |
has mdae a clean-cut declaration for
prohibition. No paper can consistent
ly advocate prohibition, and at the
same time advertise the whiskey
curse, which it condemns"
But now, let us return to more re-
cent history. In the same issue Of
L'Engles Dixie in which appeared
that recent scathing editorial denun-
citation of "unclean advertising" we
find no less than nine booze advertise
ments. These ads are mostly solicit
ing mail order business, and are mail
ed regularly each week into dry ter
ritory-the state of Florida being
mainly dry as the result of local op-
ton in the various counties. Claude,
as editor of Dixie, which carries whis-
key ads, tells us that nothing can be
published in that paper which fails to
measure up to the following standard:
First, is it true? Second, will it do
good? Third, is it clean?" AS editor
of the Sun 19OO Claude stated: Il
know that whiskey is the curse of he
world" and dropped all whiskey ads
from his columns.
There are thus two questions Wnlch
naturally arise: First, as Claude has
acknowledged whiskey to be the
curse of the world" does he mean to
tell us that an advertisement which
extols the alleged merits of this
curse" is true; that it will do good
and that it is clean? Second, if a
man will, as an editor, accept money
for advertising an article which he
has declared to be ''the curse of the
world" would he not, as congressman,
do things for his own personal benefit
which are not in line with his public
declaration of principle?-Estero
American Eagle.