The daily Nome industrial worker., 1917-05-16
THE PRESS.

that the greatest of financial firms subsidized twelve of the great ma tionaI dailies to forward definite in ternational policies which were faY- ored by that firm and it's interna- tionaI clientele. That charge was made upon the floor of Congress and those making it were evidently scandalized.
 However nothing was more com pletelv reasonable. The Press is not independent Il may affect no poll tical affiliations. but if there is business CT public service more IT. sidly dominated by the get-the- dollar policy we have to be shown
 In this it it following the line of every activity, but being an espe- ciallv public activity, it is the main reason why it's dollar scenting pro clivities should be easily ascertain able.
 Moreover, as everyone very well knows, the press is an important means of molding public opinion. Not necessarily through the editori- als which few people care to read but through the news columns. And when we consider the tremendous mower possessed by the great mon- jed interests in industry, commerce or finance, we may only reasonably expect that these should be great enough to dictate the policies that obtain in the papers which can be nut to such useful purposes-to the interests.
 The immense advertising favors which newspapers receive from the department stores and from otlier sources have been sufficient to pro,ec, such institutions from unfavorable men, tion in any of the columns of those papers which were patronized by such stores
 A man who worked on almost all the leading newspapers of the east says that he has yet to see one which will not have one or more firm and one or more subject which must never be unfavorably criti- cized.
 That tremendous interests have been able by simple say-so to dl- rect the policies of certain organs can without doubt be easily proven, but there are papers which them selves are powerful enough, one would imagine, to maintain policies in editorial pages and in news CO., lumns which would be above sus- picion.
 And it is here where our old friend economic determinism comes in. These proprietors of all such napers are very rich men, They have themselves financial operations on quite an extensive scale. Their interests are all lined up with those who are similarly engaged and the pages of their papers will reflect such interests in every line.
 There is for that reason no diff cultv in observing that there are no great papers which have an unnam' pered policy of rehecting the will of inc ncople. There is an absolute lack of democracy in the great pa pers of the United States when such questions as matters of industry, finance and commerce are being dealt with, and particularly when the labor question arises. that IS simply astonishing. No person when great strike is on expects to read a line about it, except very briefly and in very small print and in very small way in the back pages. There may he an editorial of excellently phrased hypocrisy tell ing the workers how injudiclous IS their policy and the need for greater consideration of the dear public.
 When the Industrial Relations Commission was engaged in ex- amining the leading men in finance and industry and eliciting facts that revealed the innermost condi- tions of industrial life, the great papers studiously ignored its exist ence and even yawned in wearied editorial way at the usclessness or such investigations and were pleased to be irritated that the captains or