The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-02-11
CHARGES AGAINST THE
 ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Associated Press is to be con- gratulated upon the attacks made on it. Only a few weeks ago it was li- belled by the Masses, for which the editors are to answer in court; and to-day it is the Sun that has carried out it's oft-rumored intention of ask ing for a prosecution under the Sher- man Antitrust law. It has so long been the habit of irresponsible Con- greSsnen to assail the Associated Press upon the ground that it ss a. News Trust, or monopoly, that, s@s a member of the Associated Press, the Evening Post heartily welcomes re- View of its activities by the law ofH-t cers of the Government. We do not know of a single member of this As sociation who would willingly violate the law of the land, or who would not be glad to be informed of anything done in contrayention of the statutes. IT by these attacks the integrity of it's news service and it's faithful observ- ance of the law. can be established in the minds of certain agitatoTs and ll- beIlers, great gain will have result ed. if only by reassuring the public as to a chief source of it's news supply.
 So far as the Suns complaint is concerned, it does not seem to us worth the paper upon which it is written. Many of the facts and let ters it prints to-day relate to a totally different organization-an Illinois cor poration which has notsbeen in ex-i istence since 1900. The present As sociated Press, let it be said once 1 more, is a membership corporation, comprised of certain papers banded together for mutual co7operation. It is not profit-rnaking concern, for it seeks and makes no profits; it has no stock upon. which to pay dividends, and does. not pay interest on the. bonds which are held by certain particfpat- ing newspapers. It does not even sell news, but delivers it's news at cost to members and subscribers. No one can buy it's news over the counter; the Sun tried it. and was informed that it must seek membership. That it has not applied for such membership is point of obvious interest in conn ec- ton with it's present application to the Attorney General. The Associated Press's officials are responsible to the membership of more than 500 news papers,; from them iskdrawn the news or the>s country If, as the Masses charged, the Associated Press is mere ly a sewer into which are poured lies, falsifications, and nisrepr resentations of conditions among the working peo- pie of this country. then the indict- ment lies against inc 80O associate ted newspapers. As a matter Of fact, 1t is to the interest of every one Of them to keep the service accurate and fair.
 As for the Sun s complaint that the Associated Press issa monopoly, the simple answer is that it4has keen and effective sco1npeti4ion by the United Press to which many Associated Press l newspapers subscribe in addition to carrying the Associated Press news. There are other services to. which a newspaper-oWn may turn for news, such as the Sun, or Laffan, and the Hearst services. But the Sun also complains that it and others are nn- justly excluded from the Associated l Press If they are, it is plainly not "a comp1eta mope epolys but should. all l those not members be taken in, as the Sun seems to desire, it could then be l attacked as the perfect mouopoIy 1 which the Sun is so anxious to pre- vent As 9 matter of fact. news is free, and can be obtained by any one or any group of newspapers with the means to seek it Who could mo I nopoIize the sending Of news from
 London or Paris to New York; The thing is sunthinkab1e so long as cable companies are public service corpora I tionss compelled to accept any decent i telegrams offered to them.
 Should the courts hold that menu i bership corporation must admit to its
 ranks any one seeking entrance there l would be an end to all clubs, co- toperative and mutual-beneft associa- sl lions. It may be that the right o1
 local veto which keeps some appIi-
 cants out of the Associated Press has T been too figid1y adhered to: but ir
 such case there is possible an appea3
 to the whole membership at its annual
 meeting insA pril. and this appeal has
 Frequently been resorted to It is
 hard to see how the Sherman Anti.
 Trust law applies in these premises
 Not only can all who so desire organ.
 ize competition against the Associated s1 Press, but if they do so they can gel 1 telegraph facilities from the con1pssn-
 ies at the same rates as the Associat. l ed Press, into the same towns ane
 cities, through the same territory | Moreover, anybody can with draw
 from the Association on six months,
 notice, and the public may be sure that there would be Withdrawals 1T s number if one-quarter of the anega- tions against the Associated Pres were true. Again. any newsDaps, Which ofends against accuracy ant ! truth by imposing fa1sehootsss upo1 the Associated Press can be expelIe5
 from the Association, or Suspended
 the right to fine for breach of conf l dence in the releasing of news is ken
 in use Tn fact. the Associated Pres
 can live only as it is efficient and hon
 est in it's service to it's members
 If there is anything of a nonopol,
 in the Associated Press it would seen
 as if it could only be met by a rulIr1.
 of the Supreme Court or new l:.y
 declaring that press association. whose traffic is across interstate pun
 daries must be regarded as common
 carriers This, we believe, NwouIs
 remedy. nothings for it would rende
 chaotic the newspaper p1lsin ess, Ia,
 every established newspap per open t.
 blackmailing competition, and wol11s in no wise improve the news service
 but probably fnjure it.
 Colds. constipation and headach
 are three common afflictions and re , lieving the constipation helps the col < and stops the headache,. Use role
 Cathartic TabIets- becalIda fhev ar