The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1919-12-30

ink manipulated on pure cheek and
confidence and the nerve of press
agent who circulated the clippings
made by or for his master the can
iidate. In some instances 1t was
handled by making a straight re-
quest for free publicity, and in some
cases it was handled by working the
old Confidence racket that got the
publisher to insert the articles in his
paper supposing that he was going
to receive some real business from
that source later on. Some of it was
he kind of matter that others were
laying for, and some OF it was the
kind that the old corruptlonists had
been getting by with in various in
direct methods.
Abuse Of the Press
Partly because of the high charac-
ter of the candidate, partly because
he was seeking an office that calls
for an exceptionally high clean
character, and partly because Of the
nerve that was exercised
in asking for it, he received some
publicity in most of the newspapers
of the state, was elected and de-
clared afterwards that he did not
pay cent to the press. If he had
paid a reasonable lump sum for the
service he got in the various papers
that responded to the requests, it
would have cost him about $3500.00
for his advertising. AS 1t was, he re-
ceived it free, and took his office
supposing that the press of the state
owed it to him to give him this$3500
worth of publicity. If each Of the
other candidates running for state
offices on the different tickets had
been treated with equal liberality by
the publishers, people would have
had little or nothing in their news
papers all thru both the primary and
the regular campaign but compli-
ments made up by the respective
candidates themselves or by their
secretaries. 1t would simply have
resolved itself into an endurance
contest to see which candidates could
cause the most complimentary things
to be said about themselves and then
have all these compliments endorsed
and repeated by other papers with
complimentary additions appended
and sent back to the first publisher
to be commented upon to show how
many other leading papers" also
shared that same conviction as to the
high character and great ability of
the man. How could you stand it!
Get Right or Quit
When the cleanest, checklist men
in the state get themselves printed
into office by such methods, when
the rank and file of the press of the
state will further such methods and
hereby dishonor the majesty of the
position, it is not altogether an I'M
mixed evil to have the price of print
ers' wages forced up to exhorbitant
levels and the price of print paper
doubled and trebled and then made
to get at any price. 1t
will not be altogether a dead loss If
20 per cent of the newspapers in the
United States have to suspend in the
next few weeks. Anything that
'orces the corrupt newspaper to get
down to a business basis and secure
Its existence by reason of a real pub
lie service or suspend, may be good
thing, but we have no guarantee that
the honorable newspapers may not
be swallowed up in the coming
crisis the same as the corrupt. There
Is every indication that the shortage
in the paper market will . last for
several years, because paper mills
cannot be built and equipped short
Of year, and very few mills have
been built in the last decade because
they were so Improbable. At the
crescent time the uncertainty of the