The Mena weekly star., 1919-04-03
FACTS vs. FICTION.

In the story of a recent antl-roau meeting held at Cove, as reported by < representative for The Star, who all 50 ia a respected citizen of that place, one anti-road speaker was quoted as charging county officials with being acrooked," and specifying, in particu- lar. County Judge H. W. Finger. The Star. having confidence in it's repre- sentative, did not hesitate to print the article as written.
 Judge Finger, on hearing of the af- fair. and meeting the alleged purvey- or of the charges of crookedness, did not feel under obligations to put the soft pedal on his remarks, and then the usual thing is said to have hap pcned-The Star was accused of printing a false report--that same old gag that has been handed out since newspapers began to tell what people say and do. Tn fact, orators who talk more than they think--or in She ex- ritenent of the moment let their de- sires run away with their better Judgment, often are good deal shocked ethe day after" when their utterances are held up to them in black and white. The lurid atmos- phere if the forsenic arena is lacking Lit then is just clear cold type--and facts. Newspaper writers know this, and generally fortfy themselves to meet it.
 And, in the specific instance under discussion, The Star is now prepared to aver that, based on the clear-cut testimony of not less than half dozen ,reditable citizens who were there, it's report was true to the let ter
 It Is this enthusiasm for an ideal that frequently leads men over the fsne of truth into the shadowy. realm of imagination.
 Another case at point may readily be found in the advertisement in the Weekly Star signed by Joe Lewis, J.. E. Taylor and ]. c, Crump. Here it is:
 There are approximately 5000
 landowners in the district. Order
 granting road says TIPS.
 Now that statement was made in cold type as fact, not guess, and three men are responsible for sending it abroad in an effort to lead the tax payers to believe that the road advo- cates and the county judge, if you will, were making an effort to put over" 2 crooked deal--and yet these three men are prone to prate on fair dealing as their standard of action.
 Now for the other side;
 Interested parties who desired to know the truth. employed Monroe Martin to make complete canvas of the tax records. It required about six weeks labor to do this, and when 1t was done Mir. Martin reported that there were at that time TIPS tax payers on real estate in the district. Mr. Martin was hired as an efficient and capable man for the work, and his report was accepted as correct.
 The other parties, after a very few days effort, declare that Martins fig ures are false, and that there are "ap- proximately 5000 landowners in the district
 Going a step further in seeking facts as against fiction, it is definite y ascertained that there are in Polk county. according to the tax receipts issued in 1918, 3,673 who paid tax on land, and all who are posted, know that in a good many instances more than one receipt was issued to single taxpayer But, forgetting that, if the claim of the antis is cor rect, there would be but 673 owners of real estate outside the district, which contains 240 square miles as against 660 square miles outside. It looks like another instance of desires running away from the truth.
 And, when the matter is analysed, those other statements that are be- ing made that the farmers are going to be made to bear the burden of building the road are just as weak, just as peurile and foolish and as far from truth as the others.
 Yes, The Star wants the road built, and then others, one after the other. until every part of Polk county can be reached from every other part over a good, all-the~year-rou road. But keep this in mind, Mir 0bjector, The Star does not want one foot of that road if it has to be based or built on fraud, and it holds that the people are entitled to know the truth about the petitions, the number of landowners, and all the details, and it has no objection to calm, thoro ard honest investigation of the records, but it does object strenuously to ir- responsible statements that seem. from their very nature, intended to create suspicion and hatred, and dis content where there is no reason for such. That sort of thing smacks of nothing but cheap demagogy, an ap- peal to ignorance, prejudice and pas sion--the sort of thing that tears down all the good efforts and builds nothing of value in return.
 AH