New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-30

hands !-of successful uprising hHa'"''
the war and the government conduct
ing II.
EITHER the Pope's proposals must
be received In a favorable spirit or the
war will he continued until all (thc
italics are mine) the nations at war
will be exhausted and the peoples re-
volt and Iiberate themselves from the
yoke that has been imposed upon them
bv .hortsighted and heartless govern
ments."
Was there not, possibly, behind that
covert threat against our "shortsighted
and heartless" government which ig-
nores Hearst's behests, the Hearst
made vision of Hearst-led revolution
O, the Hearst-mustered SOLDIERS OF
/ Peace" who, victorious in their re-
volt against the "yoke" of this war,
should establish in the place of power
whom but William Randolph Hearst!
One of the keenest European states
men of to-day recently said to me:
"Do you not overestimate the power
Of your Mr.. Hearst? Whatever he
call, for to be done, that your gov
eminent promptly does not do, but
does quite the opposite
True. With the government Hearsts
| influence is nil. Even less than nil,
| possibly, for it sometimes appears to
operate in the reverse direction from
his intention. But his power to sway
the minds of the loose-thinking, super
fetal, misinformed, infammable ele-
ment, those in whom facile emotion
supplies the place of thought, and i'll
considered prejudice the place Of judg-
ment-in short, the typical Hearst eli
entele--is growing in extent and dan
gerousness. Clear-sighted himself and
with his own ambitions ever held in
view, he leads the blind and the half
blind along perilous paths. He is spe-
cious enough to maintain an appear
ance of patriotism. On the strength
of his editorial avowas there could
be made out for him a strong case as
an enthusiastic American patriot, II
, the other side Of the medal were I'M
considered But Hearst must be rcck-
oned as force, not by what he says
in his biggest print and planest pct
ures, by his huge headlines, his flag
displays, his Raemackers cartoons.
These are camoufage. Behind the
screen, By scores Of such subtle, in
direct or .pecious methods as | have
indicated in excerpts from his own
publications, he is doing the work OF
Germany against the United States.
What Saves Him Is
An Imponderable Line
What saves Hearst from stern meas
ures is the fact that the line between
freedom and license Of print is obscure
and indeterminate, as is the line be-
tween treachery and treason. Toll
erance is a habit of mind in Americans.
Despite the strain which ha. been put
upon it by the seditous press it still
persists broadly enough to cover
Hearst, along with a multitude of less
menacing offenders. Perhaps this is
best. Perhaps it would be a serious
error to subject the Hearst publications
to martyrdom which they tempt while
still fearing it.
But for suggestion Of what Will
lam Randolph Hearst means to a ma
tion sternly Injured to war in its full
meaning, as this nation is not thus
far, let u, consider this propaganda
on behalf of foe from the point of
view of Germany. Imagine a William
r. Hearst of German birth, German
citizenship, German education and Ger
man habitat and livelihood Imagine
such a Hearst publishing in Germany
string of newspapers which constantly
sought to inspire:
(a) Hostility to Germsny's allies,
Austria and Bulgaria.
OBJ Sympathy with the United
States in its snti-Teutonic war plans.
(c) Obstruction to a successful Ger
man conduct of the war.
How long would such pro American
Hearst retain freedom of press or per
son in the realm of the Kaiser?