Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1915-01-19
portance While the railroads did not obtain all they ask
ed for the decision notable as indicating change Of
sentiment in regard to corporate interests"
SECRECY AS TO NATIONAL DEFENSE.

SECRECY AS To NATIONAL DEFENSE.
Senator Lodge and his son-in-law Congressman Gard
ner, spelling for fight with Great Britain and at
the time want Mexico invaded and would not mind
taking whr at Germany and the other beligeren Eu-
ropean nations They making things unpleasant
possible for national administration which is trying its
best to preserve strict neutrality and prevent deuge of
boodshed in the new world like that which has engued
the nations across the sea.
They especially crtcising Secretary Garrison for
his reply to the congresman resolution In regard to the
national defense The secretary is accused of withhold
ing from the public information to which it is entitled and
Of assuming in general public be-damned policy.
Wedo not so construe Secretary Garrisons statement
If he should make public the details of our national de-
fense it would place in possession of possible enemies of
the country information that otherwise they might not
be able to obtain On the other hand the people of this
country not unpatroc to place the desire for
intimate knowledge against the danger involved in its dis
Semlnation to the nations OF the world.
II Secretary Garrison wanted to play politics at the
expense Of dvugng important national secrets he would
have made far different reply to Congressman Gardner
and at the same time place himself under odum that
will not now attach
This is entirely beside the question of national pre-
paredness but the poorer prepared the less we
should tell the other fellow about it.
At any rate men like Lodge and Gardner pestfer-
little runts in time of worldwide crisis, when so
much at stake and is necessary for public officials to
weigh carefully every act and official utterance
The actual average daily circulation of the Capital
Journal for last week $685. and will be in the neigh
borhood Of 1850 this week. When the present manage
men took hold of the paper less than year ago there
were but 1000 subscribers when all the dead were
puned off, and this growth Of 1900 has come since April
without any special effort In fact the Capital Journal
has solicitors at present and yet its circulation grow
ing rapidly as ever, evidently because the clean,
newsy character of the paper peases the people of this
field This condition is especially gratifying to the pub
shers who hope to improve the Capital Journal in all
respects until it is paper worthy Of the second city and
capital of great state Newspapers are not quickly
built up but the result of steady growth and improve
ment and following this idea the Capital Journal hopes
before the present year end to be bigger and better and
far more widely read than at the present time Its crcu-
aton nowbacked by mailing lists and office records
is very credtabe indicating family of readers of 25
based the accepted ratio Of five readers to each SUBJ
scrber and in this respect it challenges comparison with
any other newspaper circulating in the central William
cite valley field