Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-07-12
Public Lacks Information.

anu the StdT CndfnDeT-
Public Lacks Information.
As long ago as March. 1867 a writer
IN Harper's Magazine said: THE Ameri-
can public are little superstitious about
the Associated Press. and the feeling re-
suits from that common and natural
cause of all superstition-ignoran
That such ignorance exists now. as it did
then is undeniaby true. But ii would be
altogether unfair to suspect that this
iack OF knowledge on the part of the pub
nc Is due to any effort by the associa-
tlon or its management to veil in secrecy
either its scheme of organization its
method of operation: Any one who is
VIII md no obstacle. Neither the men,
persh1p nor the management has any
apology to offer for the work. Instead
1t Is believed that the association is en-
gagged IN distinctly meritorious en-
deavor.
Does the Associated Press receive or
distribute to its members all of the news
OF the day? BY no means. Nor is il iu-
tended that it shall. There are news
nelds which. however important. it is
forbidden to enter. These are the fields
which by the proprieties are left for eX-
ploration to the enterprise of the in
dlvldual newspapers. What may il do
and what may it not do? II may and
Snouiu report tne CONSEQUENTIAL events
fairly. or as nearly as is possible for
human beings to do SO. 1t may not go
further And herein lies in large meas
ure the misunderstanding of the well in
tentioned public
AS an illustration. II ''pogrom' &C.
ours in a Russian town. the Associated
Press should tell dispassionately the story
of the event But it is not permitted to
even say whether the thing is right or
wrong. If President Wilson goes to the
al 90 &hn
statute exempting American coastwtse
vessels from the payment of the Panama
canal tolls and if Senator O'Gorman or
Republican House Leader Mann or
Democratic House Leader Underwood
takes issue with President Wilson. the
Associated Press calmly reports both
sides and must give no hint that either
side is right or wrong.
Value of Its Service.
But. says some one. this sort OF mega
tive work has no value. 1t sees great
wrong and makes no sign of disapprovaL
1t sees a movement for the betterment of
mankind which is of the highest moment
and does not lend hand to help the
thing along. Let US see. There is ah
underlying belief that the American peo-
Pile are capable of self-government. If
SO. they must needs be able to form
judgment. And we conceive it to be of
very great importance that the people
be given the facts. free from the slightest
bias leaving to them the business of
forming their own judgment. Let us see
what any other method of dealing with
the news of the day must mean. If a
news agency is to present somebody's
view of the right or wrong of the world s
happenings. whose view is it to be- And
what assurance are We to have that this
somebody's view is the right view? And
if it is the wrong view. what them
1t was out of all this that there grew
cooperative Associated Press. The
business of news gathering In dominant
way was in the hands of three men,
They were responsible to no one.
They could send out to the newspapers
anything they chose and no one could
call them to account A large number of
newspaper proprietors revolted. They
felt that. far beyond their own interests.
there was great public question IN
volved. They set about the development
of plan which should insure an honest
truthful and impartial reporting OF events.
After elaboration they concluded that
the safest way was to organize a cooper
alive association of newspaper proprie-
tors. representing diverse interests, and
thus put the institution under pledge to
report the truth. and. to guarantee i'm
partially. the news service was to be
subjected to the scrutiny and the censor
ship of the varied views of its member
ship
Won After Hard Fight.
Thus the business started. 1t took four
years of hard struggle to wrest the bust
ness from private control: and then it
succeeded. The cooperative association
was accepted by enough publishers to
make it a success. The very underlying
principle was that it. its method of or
ganization and its news service should be
subject to criticism.
With appreciation of their RESPONSE
pIlity and a full recognition of their
duty to the American people. they sought
TO work out the problem before them I'm
the best possible fashion. If they did
not succeed then the effort of as patri
otic and well minded a set of men as this
country has ever known is a failure. At
one stage of the contest they pledged
themselves for hundreds of thousands of
dollars as guaranty fund to break the
chains which at the moment bound the
American press to enslavement by the
three men to whom I have referred.
I have no thought of SAYING the AS
ISOLATED Press is perfect The frailties
this l am certain: If in its form of or
ganization or its method of operation it
is in violation of any law. divine or hu
man. it is the very last institution In
sibility. If any one can devise or sug-
gest better way to do the WORK il is
seeking to do 1t will be glad to adopt
it or to permit some one else to put it
in operation. The thing it is striving
for is a truthful. unbiased report of the
worlds happenings under forms that are
legal and not only conformable to stat
utes. but ethical in the highest degree.
.RESISTS THE COLLECTION
OF TAXES BY VIRGINIA
Oliver Durant Claims Residence in
District of Columbia-News
of Culpeper.
Special Correspondence Of The star
CELPEPER. Va. July 1.-THE case
of the state of Virginia and county of
Culpeper against Oliver Duran,. to re-
cover delinquent taxes amounting to
about $4,000. was called again this week
in the United States district court at
Alexandria. Judge Edmund Waddill pre-
siding for the n,Irnose of <oL;,o f,,r,ha,