The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-11-12

successful issue. 1t must be of
service today, not only in politics and
morals, but in aiding in the solution or
problems that are part of the daily
life of the people. 1t must not only
urge the public to swa. thu crook, but
should plead with them to swat the
fly. 1t must not only fight for a clean
city administration, but must fight
alongside those who are preaching
the doctrine of a clean home. 1t must
not only decline to receive the dirty
dollars that come from lying, murder
Gus medical advertising, but it should
teach the people how to keep we'll
There has been a great forward
movement along these lines in the last
decade. The average newspaper IN
America today is a clean paper, an
honest paper. There are not many ex-
amp1es left of Virtue on the editorial
page and Vice in the advertising col
umns The advertiser of honest goods
doesn't like to sit in the same pew
with the quack, the loan shark, the
mining swindler. the oil pirate and
the merchandise faker. And. in the
that will sweep the few remaining
Augean stables.
s ngle Standard of Honor.
There is no better investment than
a single standard of honor, honesty,
truth and integrity from the title to
the last agate line on the back page
Truth, cleanliness and decency are the
greatest dividend payers on earth.
''Thus far have dwelt practically
on the pleasurable side of newspaper
making, for there is delight in doing
good, particularly when helpfulness
walks hand in hand with success.
There is another side of the picture,
howeVer-the side of perplexities,
it might be possible to
hold even the scales between men who
differ on religion, politics, political
economy, sociology and all. other top
les, isms and happenings which create
discussion in the world. No man can
serve two masters, and I have found
it equally difficult to satisfy those who
hold divergent opinions on any public
or private matter. But when both
sides kick, you feel measurably GER
tain you are not far wrong.
ct have little sympathy with 1.-THE
myopic individuals who believe, or
printed about crime. crime would
cease or decrease. They are wrong.
absolutely wrong. The punishment of
public opinion often is more potent
and dreadful than that imposed by
judge or jury. Scores of times men
have come to me and pleaded for the
of the stories of their
crime. And in nine cases out of ten
they have urged wife, children and
family the reason for concealing
has been, why didn't you think of
them before you did this thing? I am
thinking of the men, women and
children who have been defrauded by
you and of the others who will suffer
unless your form of villainy is
Wrong to Suppress News.
'I believe suppression of news is
more of a wrong than the printing of
a piece of news that possibly might
better not have been written. BY inn
proper suppression a newspaper sells
it's soul and betrays its readers. To
my mind it is the high treason of
journalism. No paper that permits its
advertisers or the personal, social and
financial friends of the editor to con-
troll or faint its news and editorial col
umns ever has become a big news /
paper
IF there were no fight in this bust |
ness of ours it would lose half its t
charm, and without the incentive of
lea would lose it's yirility. And that |
day, should 1t ever come, would be a |
sorry one for America. For twenty
five years have been keeping a rec
ord of brickbats heaved in my direc- |
ton. Ninety-nine per cent are anony |
ter writers afresh. I suppose every !
editor in the land was criticised last |
year for not printing news it was i'm
possible to get. Would that we edi- |
tors had the omniscience of our crit |
cs. the unerring instinct which can |
pick out lies and truths in official |
and enable us to say when /
-out is a strategic mover of military
cunning.
just One Answer.
IT had one answer for these gen
lemen and it ran something like this:
:. .