The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-03-06
SPEAKERS CONDEMN
A.P, AS MONOPOLY
Two Thousand Cheer Defenders
Of Men Charged With
labelling It.
SAY IT FALsIFIES NEWS
PinchOt and Steffens Criticise
whitman for Lending Him.
self to Attack.

| Two thousand men and women. hllina
every seat and crowding the aisles Of
Cooper Union last night. chcered Amos
Pinchot and other speakers as they bit
teriy arraigned the Associated Press and
District Attorney Whitman for the pro
lection he has afforded 70 in the prosecu.
ton OF an Indictment for criminal iibe
against Max Eastman and Art Young
editor and associate editor Of The Masses
These speakers charged that the state.
ment OF Assistant District Attorney Ar.
thur C. Train that the indictment ohars.
ing criminal libel OF the Associated Press
would be dismissed and that the case
would 20 to trial on the indictment charg.
ing criminal libel Of Frank h Noyes. the
president of the Associated Press, indi.
that no investigation shall be made OF
the Associated Press as a monopoly tina,
controls the output Of news.
Prosecution OF the frst indictment
would force the Associated Press to prove
that It does not color. falsify and sup.
press news. The prosecution OF tho In
dictment naming Frank u. Noycs us tho
person libeied will force the defendants
to show that he personally Ii guilty Of
what was charged against tho organI-
zation OF which he Is president.
cartoon published In Tho Masses on
June IS. In the subject OF eAs indict-
rnents The first indictment that OF
November IS, charged that the Associated
Press had been iibeled. Thirty days later
the second indictment WIS returned,
charging that Mr.. Noyes had been libeled
II IL alleged that the cartoon OF the
Associated Press Is really IA cartoon or
Mr.. Noyes.
Monopoly Qaesti0s Dodwed.
IL the case went 10 trial on the nr.t
OF these indictments" said Mr. Pinchot.
the first speaker. the whole record and
policy or the Associated Press would be
investigated. Under the second indict-
ment no question OF "A news monopoly can
arise. but only the question as TO whether
or not the cartoon Is OF Mr. Noyes II
doesn't matter about Mr.. Noyer, but IL
does matter II tn. Associated Press IL a
common carrier and a monopolistic CON
Germ which gives out only such inforrna-
ton as will lead 10 conclusions desired by
the officers in control of IL.
Free speech IL great que stion, but II
- second to the question as To whether or
not We can get information on which to
base our free speech. | am willing to
stand behind the charges and TO say that
'b' fNospNtit'u f'ltSs ipts color It's news
that II Is not an impartial vehicle for the
conveyance OF news and that IL is a
monopoly not only in restraint OF trade
but also in restraint of truth.
Melville +. stone, Frank b Noyes and
oswald Willard have come to the. defence
OF this institution They say II ~cant be
partial, a colorer of the truth or unfair
because II IL membership corporation
consisting of ssi newspapers and because
its policy IL governed by these papers
While II Is true that the S9t newspapers
have vote on the policy of the Associa ted
Press II is not true that they are the con-
trolling force. The bylaws OF the organiza-
ton provide that bond ownership shall
be the controlling element
For every SIS In bond ownership there
IL single vote. so that for $1,000 there
would be forty votes and forty men each
having bond ownership of 81 900 would
have 1900 votes and could outvote all the
others IN the organization. There is the
Niger In the woodple that will not he
mentioned unless this case goes to trial
ON the hrst OF these indictments. I hope
we snail md out who these bondholders
are and then We shall know the reason
FOR the attitude OF the Associated Press
In controversies between capital and
labor"
Mr.. Pncbot and the other speaker,
criticized the Associated Press for pick
in. out The Masses as the object OF IL,
complaint He said the same charges had
been made by THE SUN, the Washtnotou
Posf. Golfers Weekly and by William
Dudley Foulke. ex-president OF the Civic
Federation OF the United States. In a
Toronto speech and more recently In
reply TO Don G. Seitx. He said there
had hardly been a time since Its forma
ton when the Associated Press could
not have sought vindication of similar
charges, but that for some reason 4, baa