Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1915-11-12
The Ancons.

'thing? am thinking of the men,
women and children who have been
ldefraudes by you and Of the others
who will suffer unless your form OF
villainy is stopped
Il believe suppression Of news is
more of a wrong than the printing of
piece of news that possibly might bet
ter not have been written. BY i'm
proper suppression a newspaper sells
its soul and betrays its readers To
l. my mind it is the high treason Of jour
nalism, No paper that permits its ad-
vertisers or the personal social and
financial friends of the editor to con-
}trol or faint its news and editorial
| columns ever has become big news
paper.
If there were no tight in this bust
i ness of ours it would lose half its
charm and without the incentive Of
opposition / believe the press Of
America would lose its yiriiity. And
/ that day, should It ever come, would
! be a sorry one for America For 25
! years / have been keeping a record Of
/ brickbats heavsd in my direction.
Ninety-nine per cent are anonymous
! letters The war started the letter
writer's afresh, l suppose every edi-
/ tor in the land was criticised last year
for not printing news it was impossi-
Bile to get. Would that we editors had
{ tT,a M, - &c csa-c IN ~ o,t- o-5t;cs tho mr.
erring instinct which can pick out
/ lies and truths in official statements
and enable US to say when a victory
is not a victory and when rout is d
strategic move Of military cunning
Il had one answer for these gen
/ tlemen and it ran something like this:
You say YOU know what is true
and what is false in the news that we
print. Come to Chicago and the Her
aid will pay you more money in a
month than you can make in your own
town in a year. You are the man the
whole country-yes. the whole world
is looking for, Telegraph me when
YOU start and I will reserve a room
for you at my club. meet you at the
depot and see that you are we'll taken
care of in every respect.
Guess how many accepted the prop
osition!
Turn to the other side of the
ledger Cast up the accounts there
and you have a credit balance that is
good for the soul The JOY Of one
little shivering orphan in Belgium
whose freezing toes were warmed by
wooden stockings from last years
Christmas ship pays for all, wipes out
the sting Of malice and heals the
wounds of unjust criticism. Were I tc
die tonight the thought that had been
instrumental In abolishing the Fourth
of July slaughter would set me on my
journey glad that I had lived, You
gentlemen in this business, all Of YOU
have your Christmas ships. your
Fourth of July erusades. your Good
Fellow movements, your battles
against loan sharks, your fights
against quacks in some form or the
other They are the joyous high lights
of our business, It is fine to win q
political victory, but it is more salts
fying TO make life better worth living
for those who have drawn no prize:
in lifes lottery.
1.-THE newspaper Of today occupie;
I the position of the herald of old Ii
] ancient days the ear held reign ant
I the sphere of influence was limited b!
1 aural range. The eye has been en-
throned and the whole world is oul
I field. In olden times the mighties
: voices reached thousands but fel
\ silent within the mile Our silen
voices defy distance and seek oul
! myriads behind brick walls We tall
| to those who never see US The thun
der of our presses dies away, but i
| has bred billion living tongues.
! Our responsibilities are great be
cause our power is so immense For
get the former and the latter wanes."