The state herald., 1917-03-16

- SAAACAAS0A AUWok4RClup VI huo
It tacit alliance with tie minions Of
sect and srganizations. powerfully
financed and skillfully ofiicered, whose
maseaon In life 10 to legislate people in
y norality and goodness? 1t matters
not my friends. whence emanates this
insidious movement II is enough to
know that II really exists. that 1t 10
not chimera e q myth. Such let
ter 10 an insult 70 the intelligence and
the integrity Of every publisher il
America. and there y NO redress for
the studied affront.
Quoting from one who has made .
long study Of this insidious advance up.
on The freedom Of the press. let these
statements have place In your minds:
The aght for censorship Of the columns
Of the newspapers will not stop with at
sAcks on liquor advertisements. or. indeed.
with attempts to control advertise mentA
Several states now prohibit the manu-
facture o. sale OF cigarettes. and It 10
inevitable that legislation against news
papers carrying cigarette advertisements
y such states will be urged.
After the advertising department OF
every newspaper and maga zine has been
subjected to censorship. how can the news
columns remain free? What Of horse
racing reports. stock market quotations:
Sunday baseball tnformation-indeed, why
not suppression OF Sunday papers. and Of
Monday papers printed In whole or In
part on the sabbath?
But what Of editorial liberty? II II b
decreed that the use of liquor and OF
cigarettes is hurtful alike 10 the individual
and to society. is 1t not an act OF hostil-
ity TO the state and 70 the church for
an editor to praise an old wine. or -
refer indulgently to the 'makins" Of .
cigarette or to oppose n any way tbs
cause Of prohibition?
How long will It be. I wonder. before
American people are Jared into reaiiza-
tion that soon they must look for djcta.
tion a. to what they may eat or drink,
as to what lines Of business they may
engage In. and as to how newspapse
may be edited. and what forms OF ad.
states?
And. gentlemen Of the Associated
Ohio Dailies, we are to blame. We
have created the Frankensteins that
are now turning to rend us limb from
limb. Drunk with power. riding .
wave OF fanaticism in Z sea Of pater.
nalism, the creatures Of our own max.
Ing seek our destruction. The vaunted
power Of the press is no more. The
locks Of Sampson have been shorn by
the Delilahs, miscalled statesmen, and
the press grovels before oiiicialdom
grateful for a look, kind word or o
less importunate kick than usual
Intolerance Of officiaidon.
Two years ago. before this body,
painted picture Of the growth Of
governmental ofiiciousness, which was
more prophetic than I knew. Your
attention was directed at that time to
the increasing insolence and intoler-
ance Of ofiicialdom and the prediction
was made that. unless checked and re-
pressed with stern hand, II would
rise up to strike down its creators. II
Is in no spirit OF arrogance OF boast.
fulness that these facts are recalled,
but In spirit Of sorrow and humilia.
ton. Our sins OF omission and CON.
mission are engulfing us. Instead Of
rising like valiant fighting men. true
10 conscience. to honor. to the spirit OF
freedom and progress of civilization,
to strike down our shackles. we sit
like hoary dotards wrapped in tho
sackcloth and ashes OF lament and re.
pine. How long. o Lord! How long
shall this endure?
Where are the forward looking men
Of today? Certainly not In the halls OF
legislation. State legislatures from
the Atlantic to the Pacific are feeble
counterfeits merely OF n doddering
congress. Here In Ohio why can wo
not have constructive legislation On
the subject OF taxation? The answe.
is painfully simple: because we lack
constructive statesmen In the general
assembly. Too great . percentage Of
the membership can not lift Its cars
from the ground to take good.
square. honest look upon the neces-
sities Of sections and taxing divisions
remote from the bailiwicks to which
they look for continued lease on ON.
cial life.
A Dartmouth professor IL sponsor
for story that sptly portrays the ~.
uation In which we find ourselves.
A householder was dismayod one night
by the sudden extinguishmcnt Of the elec-
tric lights In his house. In n little while
II becnme apparent that the darkness
would probably continue through tho night
unless the break could be located and corr
rected. Unable at that hour TO secure
the services OF an expert electrician the
householder hit upon tho happy scheme Of
deaching the batteries from his doorbclls
and connecting them with his electric
feed wires. But no light resulted. Next
day the EXPERTS came to remedy tho
trouble. and seeing the hapicss eSpcdlcnt
Of the owner. remarked;
Don't you know that II takes 800 times
more power TO produce light than Il takes
TO produce noise7"
There II the whole situation In Q
nutnheli. We are troubled with low.
voltage statesmen. the tiny dry cells
Of whose brains are Just powerful
enough 10 make unceasing racket.
while grcnt dynamic minds that might
hood the world with Legislative light
and wisdom are disconnected from the
machinery of government.