Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-01-05
GOVERNOR PENNYPACKER DEFENDS
SALUS-GRADY "PRESS MUELLER"
Tells How He Fought to Exercise Control Over
Newspapers and How He Won Verbal Tilt
With Charles Emory Smith

|
was man of commonplace ability, with
round. good.looking face. dark eyes and n
pleasing voice. which could make the most
| ordinary and conventional uttcrances sound
as though they had some meaning. To
| evolve an idea was beyond him and he
never undertook tho. task. lie had gone
| in youth from Connecticut To New York,
| and later had como from New York Ia
| Philadelphia, and like many others whom
| ! shall not undertake to mention hc was
| forever seeking to make Pennsylvania take
| on the aspects Of the place of his birth,
which he had abandoned because IL af.
forded him no opportunities II Smith had
been a. all n wise man he would have said
that the bill had no tcrrors for newspapers
like the Press ho would havc welcomed
an effort ut Improvement, beneficial to real
journals and would have left the odium 10
hc borne by such sheets as tho North
American, whose standing was such that
II ever any decent person was caught read
ing II hc excused himself by saying that
he had picked II NJ on tho cars But there
was an appeal to his vanity. lie was made
10 hclicv" that he would stand forth here.
after as the defender of the liberty of the
press alongside of those heroes in The past
who had confronted real dangers Since
the danger had isappeared all Of this was
opera houffc; but Smith was n serious.
minded man, with little sense of humor
and he failed to catch this aspect of tho
situation. He committed his speeches TO
memory. / have heard him many times
and his oratons and stump speeches often
wound up with the description of the
pathos with which born American in far.
away oppressed China bcheld the Stars and
Stripes, the Flag of the Free. ITc had not
gone very far in his address on this occa.
sion before he referred to tho insolenco Of
tho Legislature. I stopped him AT once aud
said;
They may hc mistaken but cannot bo
nSolent, because they are vested with
authority. Therefore, nothing that thcv
do can be insolencc Besides they arc
like myself, - branch of the Government
and IT would not become me to listen
to any offensive terms applied to them
We must all treat them with respect.
! think, therefore, Mr. Smith, YOU had
better coniino your remarks to argu-
ments upon the merits or domerits OF the
hill.
Routing" the Enemy
had done the same kind of thing many
n time in court, but doubtless il was an
unusual experience for smith In all prob.
ability he had committed to memory an
Grafton in which there was much dcnun.
citation intended for wide distribution NV
interruption had disturbed his mental
processes He was untitled for eytcmpora-
neous discussion, was very much over.
weighted by his opponents, and even In
the opinion Of his newspaper friends who
were present ,he made failure Smith
had given these friends to understand, AS
] was told that his influence with me was
such as to prevent the bill from becoming
n law. His Grafton was printed. not as IL
was delivered, but as it was intended to
have been delivered a cunning man. look
ing to what he thought to be his own in.
terest. would have gratfied him, and veto
ing the bill, would have earned the praise
II not the approval, of n set Of men whose
voices extend far and are to some extent
potent. timid man. signing IT, would
have said nothing and left the Legislature
and the party leaders to share with him
the buffcts. | made the bill a law and
gave my reasons published with the stat.
ute taking the full responsibility and there.
~ 'NN 'l''Il hlNS'll an OF inc 1aNCllnS
that could be hurled. No moro was I a
persona grata in the editorials The rea-
sons given in support of the act were never
answered. they could not be- but the pub
lie was made familiar with the fact that I
wore boots, that my hair, of which il may
be incidentally noted there is a full SID
ply was often browsy, and that hunted
bugs in Wetzel Swamp and other places.
Artists were employed to exercise their
ingenuity and prostitute their talents in
making ugly pictures. and the newspapers
as the children are wont to say. made
"snoots' at me. In one sense the attacks
were a tribute. since, after raking the field
with the aid of money and research as I
have no doubt occurred they We're unable
to find that had ever taken money which
did not belong to me, that had ever he.
trayed anybody to his disadvantage or that
! had ever led any but the decent life of a
gentleman. Besides, they overdid the mat.
ter They made me known all over the
United States, and people felt that there
must be some character in "A man who did
not fear the united power of the press and
could come unscathed out of contest
with it,
ETn>iS, iHn 81 ths hs Salus-s;rady IA blu in Mondays
much less have spolen themseIvesto ,,,.