The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1920-10-20


thoroughly dlfrused A per cent Of tho
country's population may, therefore,
be considered a fair representation Of
tho people as q whole.
Another feature Of the result 10 its
evident lack Of partisan bias. The
major, political Affiliations Of the pa
pers represented are fairly evenly di.
vided, being 1857 Republican and
1850 Democratic. There are also 1885
Independent and 462 miscellaneous.
Including Labor organs, etc. -,
How little the results are affected
by the politics Of the papers is shown
In an analysis by sections. In the
Southern section, for instance. where
replies came from 65 Republican pa
pers and $50 Democratic, the per-
centage against Government operation
was 50; in tho Great Lake section,
with conditions reversed, 47S Repub.
lican and 155 Democratic, the oppo-
sition was 81 per cent.
Replies from tho West Middle West
and Southwest show that it 10 . mis-
take to consider those sections vastly
more favorable to radical Government
experiments than the East The rad
icals can got little comfort out Of the
30 per cent Of thumbs DOWN. per
cont above the average-in the South
west including Arkansas, Louisiana,
Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Tex
%. Texas, once supposed to be much
given to Government regulation ex-
periments, returned 81 per cent of I'M
favorable replies. Out Of the PA edi-
tori replying from that state only
three edited Republican papers. Tho
81 per cent opposition Of tho North
west, including Iowa, Minnesota, Mon
taha, Nebraska. North Dakota, South
Dakota and Wyoming, and the SO per
cent veto Of the Far West group, In.
GLIDING Arizona, California, Idaho,
Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Colo
RADIO, Utah and Washington. are sig
nincant Of the prevailing conservative
sentiment on this question even In
the more radical sections.
-. Judgment Apparently Unbiased.
The questionable closes with re-
quest for the editors personal opin-
ion ON certain concrete cases as fol.
lows:
'sDo you personally believe that the
Federal Government should own and
operate competitive Industries to pro-
vide: (a) Fertilizer (b) .Clothing7
(c) Automobiles? (dD Farm imple-
~ E~nSr<rffs9
Substantially all the editors who
gave estimates Of their readers opin-
ions also expressed their own by re-
plying to this last question. Proof Of
considerable effort to avoid personal
bias is found in tho fact that In many
cases tho editor differed from the
opinion he credited to his community.
Tho percentage Of mos" ran: (a)
20; (b) SO; icy SO; (d) 80; Toy 70.
While the questions were based on
general principles involved In the
Government participating in competi.
two business, the so-called Muscle
Shoals Bill now before Congress was
used as a concrete example of a Gov
eminent operation scheme. Under this
bill a Government-owned corporation
would be given broad powers to oper-
ate and develop Government plants
and properties. It would produce at
Muscle Shoals various fertilizer prod
ucts and sell them In competition with
producers and merchants in the fer
tilizer business.
Tho strength of tho opposition to
Government operation IS indicated by
tho replies from Alabama, where the
Muscle Shoals war plant is and where,
of course. there Is intense interest
and local pride 10 getting its expected
peace -time operation under way at the
earliest possible date. Fifty editors
from that state replied, of whom 80
we're opposed to Government opera
ton, s in favor and doubtful
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