The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-07-28
ROSCOE MITCHELL REBELS
AGAINST HEARST POL CFS
North Carohnian Would Be No Party to Plan of Cooking
+ Up News to Support Editorial Contentions-So He
] Promptly Sent In Resignation.

W AdhS q BdH
The case of Mitchell presents the
problem in concrete form. Hearst.
When ne employed Mitchell, happened
10 hlre q reporter VINO was ready TO
hSnt Tor which can never
De wholly enforced. | believe. until
the pubilc takes d hand. The secret |
OF Hearsts Niagara taking is ont be-
cause Mitchell wasn't a usual Hearst |
reporter. He was new TO Hearst al |
though old to important departments |
Of journalism.
Inc first time l saw Mitchell he was |
on tne emo OF a telephone wire and
the home of E. II. Hartman, at Arden |
was on the other end. Hartman was
oyfnS, according to some reports, and
according to others he was already
uead. me men on duty as near as
they could get to Harriman's hOm.
were plainly excited as the climatic
point in d big situation was approach
ing.
Mitchelfs Passion for Facts.
L noted Mitchell because he was
working at high tension and at the
same time was cool. | noticed in what
ne sent down to his paper d little Later,
a real passion for cold facts. There
! were none OF the fowery trimmings
mat other reporters wrote in.
l heard Of him again a little later
Al oyster Bay, soon after Roosevelt's
return from America, yellow newspa-
pers published so much inaccurate
matter that h Colonel shut down on
them all-save one. Roscoe Mitchell.
l heard, was given the privilege Of
coming to the Colonels home once a
DAY, and carrying back to the tele-
graph station at Oyster Bay such news
as there was, for distribution as he
saw fit, to other reporters.
met Mitchell again while we both
were assigned to Woodrow Wilson'S
I "a I" Tor thu -
Syracuse, while the now well-adver-
t1sed trap was being set to put Mr..
Wilson in a position hat would make
him appea to be a pleasant com
panion Of Murphy, MI. Wilson felt
compelled to give a confidence Of the
utmost importance to some one Of us.
We were together on q porch outside
Of a club house in which Murphy
was already seated al the luncheon
table, and Mr.. Wilson was momentar-
lily expected to resume a seat which
he had abandoned
Wilson Keposes Confidence.
OF the group Mr.. Wilson chose
Mitchell as the one in whom to repose
f his confidence. 1t was that he wished
Mitchell to gather all the reportoria
I party together and keep them read,
s for an immediate return to the candi
dates a in the railroad station. TIL.
rest of the confidence was that thing;
wCAO SOiIS OdulN"tilat MI. w llSO1
might at any omen withdraw from
the days proceedings. l was anon,
n those told to stand ready for a hur
S ried return to the train. | neVe
o knew until the train was On its wa,
e back to New York and MIR. Wilson
himself tOok up the theme with tn
e rest of US, why it was that one Of tn
reporters d given US such an un
V usual message.
This bit of background to the Mitch
n ell incident at Niagara is necessar
e because it will throw some light OF
IS h manner IN which ne was receive
there.
s At Vera Cruz.
h last time Mitchell figured i
n the news before he was sent to Nj
II agara was when American WarShip
II were about to depart for Vera Cru;
1t became a newspaper secret" tina
n the Navy Department had refused t
take any Hearst man along on a wal
y ship. 1t also became a matter OF Par
Re Row discussion that the Hearst execu
tives turned to Roscoe Mitchell VIII
a recently accepted employment o
id Hearst's American. Mitchell tele
n. phoned to Josephus Daniels, Secretar
of the Navy, and received a ready pei
l. mission to join the fleet. DAME,
throughout the campaign had been i
charge of the publicity section of tn
b. Wilson headquarters and knew al
,e could judge Mitchells work as it ha
lie been delivered to other papers.
I'd Mitchell YER to Vera Cruz aboar
a United States warship and soon afte
he returned he found that the Hear;
4 newspapers were in another mudd
1T with the government departments.
is 1t is important to consider this niue
die, because it has a bearing on tt
,d peculiar personal responsibility,
Mitchell assumed at Niagara.
in In the Hearst headquarters in Ne
York it became known hat the Was
or ington bureau was all in as
nd handling the mediation conferences
Niagara. that none of the Washlngtt
he men were on speaking terms wit
the mediators. More than that. the j
formation conveyed to the nome Off
oil was to the effect that one Of the m
= diators had torn a Hearst reporter
card up and had thrown the fragmen
II in his face.