The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-01-25
WORLEY URGES A
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WURLEY URGES A
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The resolutions would also place the
association on record as opposed to
| the zone mailing system, in favor of
| more good roads. but opposed to the
| full program as outlined by w. c.
Markham, state highway commission
| er and call attention to the waste of
time, paper and money in the govern
ment publicity departments.
| TOwnsIey for President
| The election of officers late this
afternoon Will probably see-accord-
ing to the ASSOCIATION siate-the cleo
don of VIII Townsley, Great Bend. as
! president, and Major Chas. H. Browne
OF Horton as vice president.
! The principal obstacle of a frank
discussion of the relations of a news
paper to politics and politicians in
gathering of the Kansas brethren"
said Brinkerhoff in his address, lies
| in the fact that to a large degree it
could be made a discussion of the re-
| l2tions of the newspapers to their pub
| fishers and editors. 1t might be as
serted that every Kansas newspaper
/ man is a politician, altho not all
| politicians are newspaper men.
! Calling the roll of the Kansas press
soon would show that for the past
! fifteen years or so Kansas newspaper
4
! tributing personnel to the politics of
their state. For many years the law
| yerS were associated in the public
mind with politics. Every lawyer was
looked upon as political leader
| either real or prospective The peo-
! pie read less than they do now, and
depended more upon their ears than
their eyes for their information and
advice in the formation of opinions.
The lawyers largely furnished the
o. ,tory for political and occasional
| meetings and quite naturally had their
| place in political leadership and office
| holding.
with the increase in newspaper
circulation and popularity there
came a gradual change With the
printed pages which chronicled the
events of the world, the nation. the
! state and the county and the neigh
| borhood before them, the people de-
! veloped-a new process for the form
ing of their political opinions. They
Logan to depend upon the eye rather
! than upon the ear for their informa-
ton.
Turning To Newspapers
Turning to the newspapers more
| and more in political matters, the
people of Kansas began to take inter-
Lest in the men who made the newspa-
pers. The newspaper men injected
themselves into politics in some In
stances and in others were pulled in.
| Fifteen to twenty years ago the
newspaper men of Kansas began 10
come into their political own in ear
nest The Kansas editor had been q
near-cabinet officer and the recipient
of nationwide publicity. About that
time E. w. Hoch was brought from
the Marion Record office and in
stalled as governor. He has had four
successors. Two of them are actual
newspaper men, one of the others is
principal owner of a newspaper and
the fourth is generally credited with
knowing from personal experience
something of the financial affairs OF
several newspapers.
Journalistic candidates had one
grand carnival in the Kansas primary
last summer. Four men sought the
Republican nomination for United
States senator and three of them are
distinguished Kansas newspaper men
The Democrats had a chance to NOM
mate a newspaper man but did not
take him. Two other Kansas news
paper men were the high candidates
for the Republican nomination for
governor. One of them was serving
his second term as lieutenant COVER
. nor and had been a prominent legs
latiVe figure for many years The
other mans name has been practical
ly synonymous with Kansas politics
, for twenty years and he now is gov
ernor. The Democrats nominated 9
: newspaper man for governor. IN the
4 election last fall Kansas retired one
Kansas newspaper man, returned one
and sent another for his first term ir
congress. For twenty years Kansas
: has had from one to four newspaper
/ men in congress.
while it cannot be said that every
: postmaster in Kansas is a newspaper
man, this situation doubtless is he
cause there are more postoifices thar
. there are Democratic newspaper mer
in Kansas. Probably it could be said
that there is a postoffice in The family
of every Democratic editor in Kansas
Newspapers Make Politics.
1.-The newspapers make the politics
and the politicians. Bar politics com
pletely from newspapers and not much
| sleep would be lost by the people ovel
issues. Publish nothing about candi-
! dates and politicians and they soor
would cease to be candidates ano
J politicians.
THE day of the political newspaper
be successfully founded upon politics
One so founded almost always mus
look to politics for its sustenance and
! politics is q poor provider. a news
paper owned for political purposes i:
looked upon with suspicion and rightly
so. Its object is not to serve the PEG
pie who take it nor pay returns as g
legitimate business enterprise to its
owner. but to fill place as a too
for whatever political jobs the owner
has to do. The public soon learns the
object and looks with suspicion upor
the publication and advertisers use its
columns reluctantly"
Cavaness in Rhyme.
J. NJ. Cavaness of the Chanute Trib-
une, the associations poet laureate
and the real grand old newspa pei