The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1912-05-26
LOOSE ASSERTIONS
AGAINST CLAUDEL'EN

ooala Star.

Mr.. L'Engles opponents, those in
terested In his detect are trying TO
bring it about Icy charging him with
being a blatant rludslinger and sensa-
tional Journalist, one appealing TO
prejudice rather than reason in his
controversies.
Nothing could be further from the
truth.
1t is to be expected, of course, that
the men whose crooked deals he has
exposed should hate and misrepresent
him, but what excuse can there be for
a journalist who should be well posted
and impartial, to make such state
ment?
1t is we'll understood among news
paper men that a sensationalist is one
vino prints any kind of a story in order
to sell papers, and the very sight and
sound of the word has come to sug-
gest indency and scandal.
The sensational paper delights in the
details of shocking murders, of sala-
cious divorce cases, but it's pages are
nearly always sold to some interest or
other, and seldom does it print any
thing that would enable the people 20
safeguard themselves from eXtortion
or oppression. Whenever it does show
up a corrupt influence, it does so al
the behest of some other influence,
What has LEngle done to merit the
appellation of sensational?
A few years ago the sessions of the
Florida legislature were infested, often
controlled, by swarms of lobbyists
One in particular had become so in
f1uential and so bold that he did not
deny his calling. He went openly and
brazenly to the state capital, estab-
lished headquarters, called Legislators
;v,+a III lot n
rewarded those who obeyed him and
made life a burden for those who de-
fed him. And the newspapers of Flor
ida, who proclaim so loudly that they
are the sentinels on the watchtowers
of the fortress of the peoples liber-
ties, did they expose this man, or rath-
er denounce him, for he had become
too notorious to need exposure? No
indeed; they never spoke of his work
and when they referred to him per-
sonally they did so in a complimentary
way.
Claude LEngle, in his paper, the
Sun, told of the infamous work of thi:
manifold the people of Florida from
| the Perdido river to Biscayne Bay, AND
made his operations so disreputabl'
that his power was broken and no leg
islator dared be seen in his vicinity.
When, after many unsuccessful
trials, the legislators who work for thu
| interest of the people framed an uni
form text book bill, designed to breal
the power of the book trust, and giv'
the people of Florida school books a
| reasonable prices for their children
| and the trust sent highly respectable
agents to Tallahassee, to lobby as cor
ruptly if not as Extensively as the dis
penser of red-top rye and lamp;
| cigars, L'Engle turned the searchligh
on them and helped to make more cas-.
! the work of the legislators who couldn'
| be bought and wouldn't be intimidated
In this and many similar If smalle
| issues did Claude L'Engle work witt
his pen for the people Of Florida
Financially, he carried on losing bat
| tie, for his paper failed, but his worl
| told.
| This is some Of what the time-serv
| ing press calls sensatIonalism.
| A Florida man tried to build a rail
| road from one Florida town to another
! A railroad corporation that considerer
all north Florida it's property. ham