The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1914-07-30

The Record has for many years been
a cOnsistant advocate of the dry side.
Every time the question has come up
rs local or q state issue, The Record
has advocated the dry policy in a prom
inent and forceful manner. 1t has
stood strongly for dry, clean town
and for strict law enforcement year
in and year out
So The Record believes it is able
to speak of the policy of the Anti
Saloon League with perfect fairness
for we are in hearty sympathy with
the objects of that organization.
The League has adopted a policy of
trying to force all the newspapers of
the state to close their advertising
columns to the other side of their ques
tiOn. In many cases the efforts made
in this direction amount to undigni-
fled bulldozing.
We believe that this is a narrow
policy and will result in doing the
cause much more harm than can be
offset by any imaginary advantage
gained by keeping the opposition out
Of few newspapers.
Newspapers in general believe that
the advertising columns Of a news
paper should be open to all sides
of any question or party principle
that is an issue before the lpeople.
This is a broad principle and is
more in the interest of the public
than it is to faver any party leaders
or newspaper enterprise.
1t would be a dangerous precedent
II the managers of any campaign could
by force of business argument or bull
dozing methods close up the columns
of any considerable proportion of the
state press against the other side.
Such a method of controlling the press
could be used by one side as we'll as
the other and ON any question that
comes before the people.
Many newspapers in this state do
not believe 1t = good precedent to make
an exception to this general. rule even
in favor to so worthy 4 cause as
prohibition-which many Of them sup
port.
The Anti-Saloon League of course
charges that the newspaper is out for
the money. But we know. that the
question Of the money at stake is a
small matter with most of the news
papers.
In the case of the Record, all the
advertising the Business Mems Home
League could possibly hand The Re-
cord would not cost much-at most
not to exceed two or three hundred
dollars.
For nineteen years The Record
has not taken a beer, whiskey, or
brewery ad and has cut out many
other ads of undesirable products and
business. The Record has turned down
in these years more than 10000 worth
Of business. because 1t did not ap-
prove of it. Many other country pa
pers follow this policy
A newspaper must be broad news
paper or party organ. If it is an or
gan supported exclusively by one par
ty or clique, 1t should be run exclu-
sively for that party or clique But
it is pretty difficult to publish an organ
for any party or single principle in
local field. :,
1t seems to us that the Anti-Sa-
loon League is over-exercised about
this advertising question. In all its op-
Grafton in this state it has never shown
any evidence of believing in the value
of advertising.
So far as we know no country pa
per has ever received even friend
ly note of appreciation for the many
columns of editorials given to its
cause. Then why has it so suddenly
become frightened at the value of ad-
vertising to the other side?
Another strange thing is the fact
that all this effort to lambast the pa
pers seems to be directed against the
country papers. Nothing is said a
bout the big city papers which get
most of the money and think that they
control public sentiment.
Two years ago good leader of the
movement stopped his Record be-
cause it took an ad for the other
side and subscribed instead for Dem
yer paper which not only ran 40 times
as much of the same class of adver-
tising but had its columns full of
beer, whisky, brewery and all sorts of
unclean advertising, and besides gives
its editorial support in favor of "iib-
eral" city and state.
| The Record believes in prohibition