The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1912-10-15
Rel Issues Avoided.

N.'> ~NseNN Viz I've PSabiiSe'Ii SOAil-
mlttee is ordering the papers OF
its party 20 confne their editor
Ia. discussions to matters which
are not issues in the campaign. in
the hope Of diver;ing public at
:entioa from the real issues. The
:hail man Of the Republican State
committee is the chairman of the
State Board of Control and as
such is familiar with the extrav-
agances Of the present State adj
mlnistration and those which
have proceeded it since the Re-
puolicans obtained control of the
State. He knows they are sub
ject to attack and while the Dem
ocrats ere conducting their State
campaign strictly on the lines of
State issues, and demanding to
know why . many more millions
of dollars were expended during
Republican administrations than
under Democratic rule; why w.
M. o. Dawson was selected at
SIS, 600 year to defend the Vir-
ginia debt suit, when he had
never practiced law before; why
the debt suit was so handled that
a judgment of $7,000,000 has
been rendered against the State
when it was generally believed
that a proper presentation of the
case would have resulted in q
victory for West Virginia; Why
State funds are wasted by being
deposited in failing banks in
which State officials are financi-
ally interested; and other mat
tiers of the same kind; the Re-
publican chairman is trying to
divert the attention of the pee
pie to other matters which are
not issues in this campaign at
all.
The discussion of these sub
jects by the Republican press
has been forbidden; and Charles
Brooks Smith, who has been on
many sides of many matters at
various times in his career, is
muzzling the Republican news
papers with instructions that
they are to discuss only such
matters as he directs. Mr..
Smith is the Director OF the
Press Bureau" Of the Republican
State Committee, and the one
who is undertaking to do the
muzzling. Mr.. Smith has under
taken to communicate TO the pap
ers of the State, in behalf of the
State committee, just what they
are to confine their discussion to
during the campaign, and in
his list Of subjects there is not
one that is an issue in the cam
paign or that is of equal impor-
tance to the matters which are in
Esue.
While the people of the State
are inquiring as 10 how their af-
fairs have been managed under
Republican administration and as
to the public record of the var
ious candidates from whom they
must choose and the platfoi ms on
which these candidates stand,
the Republican S ate committee,
whose chaii man is a State official
and knows what inquiry into
these matters would develop > he's
his director of the Press Blu
reau" mUzzle the Republican
press, forbid the discussion OF
these issues and direct the dis
cussion only of such subjects as
have no bearing whatever on the
campaign and are not in any
sense of the word issues in the
contest.
No doubt the same instr uctions
have been given to the Republi-
can campaign speakers. Ger
tainly they are evading the is
sues in their speeches. They act
as though they have been muz-
zled and they are acting as
though they were carrying out
the orders OF toe committee that
State issues will not stand dis-
cussion. That the press is being
instructed as to what it shall dis
cuss and how it shall handle the
subjects is shown by the letter
sent by the Director Of the
Press Bureau" of the Republican
State Committe, Of which the
following is q copy: