The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1920-10-28
Canvass of 5,154 Editors Shows
4,466 Communities Against
! SociaIistic Experiment.
OPPOSITION GRO WING
EIQhty-seven Per Cent In 1920 "a
Against So Per Cent In 1918
Think Public 10 Opposed
to RadicalIem.

teunoky VPpOS0u W 0CNSAAAhSAt VPS~
ten than 1t was q year ago, according
to the newspaper editors Of the coun'
try. Out Of 5,154 editors replying to
q questionable sent out by the Press
Service Company Of New York, 4,466.
or SO per cent, gave 1t as their judg-
ment that the people Of their commu-
mites were overwhelmingly against
the Government competing In business
with it's own citizens.
In 1919 the Press Service Company
conducted similar canvass OF editors
on the government operation OF rail-
roads. That questionable showed thar
So per cent Of the editors considered
their communities against Govern
ment operation of public utilities.
Apparently, then, II editors estimate
public opinion accurately. that opin-
ION In a year, considered by commu.
mites, has swung 3 per cent farther
away from socialistic experiments.
Eleven Million Circulation.
The combined circulation Of tho pa
pers whose editors replied is IL, 428.-
BIT. which means, according to the
usual estimated rate between circula-
ten and readers, n constituency Of at
least 100000 And this constituent
cy IL pretty evenly scattered through
cut the country, no considerable sec
ton Of any state being unrcpresented
The estimate 81 epinien based on this
thoroughly diffused "A per cent Of the
country's population may. therefore,
be considered lair representation OF
The people as whole.
Another feature Of the result IL Its
evident lack Of partisan bias. The
major political Affiliations Of the pa
pers represented are fairly evenly d.
vided, being 1857 Republican and
1850 Democratic. There are also 1,4S5
independent and 462 miscellaneous,
including labor organs, etc.
How little the results are affected
By the politics Of the papers 10 shown
In an analysis by sections. In the
Southern section, for instance. where
replies came from e5 Republican pa
psrs and $50 Democratic, the per-
centage against Government operation
was SS; In the Great Lake section,
with conditions reversed, 47S Repub-
lican and 155 Democratic, the oppo-
sitlsn was 81 per cent
Replies from the West, Middle West
and Southwest show that 1t Is q mis-
take to consider those sections vastly
more favorable to radical Government
experiments than the East The rad.
icals can get little comfort out OF the
10 per cent Of thumbs down. per
cent above the average-in the South
west. including Arkansas, Louisiana,
Missouri, Kans, :, Oklahoma and Tex
q. Texas, once supposed to be mucn
sivsn to Government regulation ex.
oerimonts, returned 90 per cent Of un-
favorable replies. Out Of the 244 edi-
tors replying FROM that state cniy
three edited Republican papers. The
az per cent opposition Of the North
west, including Iowa. Minnesota, Mon
tana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South
Dakota and Wyoming, and the ~ per
cent veto Of the Far West group, In
Guiding Arizona, California, Idaho,
Nevada. New Mexico, Oregon, Colo
rads. Utah and Washington. are sig
nificant Of the prevailing conservative
sentiment on this question even In
the more radical sections.
I. judgment Apparently Unbiased.
The QUESTIONABLE closes with re-
quest for the editors personal epin-
len on certain concrete cases as fol'
lows:
do you personally believe that the
Federal Government Should own and
operate competitive industries to pre-
vide: (a) Fertilizer (b) Clething7
(c) Automobiles7 (O Farm nipple
ments7 Cd Foodstuffs?
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 the fact that In many
cases the editor differed from the
spinion he credited to his community.
The percentage Of mos" ran: ta)
.7s; (by So; tc) SO; (d) 81; (e) 70.
While the questions were based on
general principles involved in the
Government participating In competi-
tive business, the so-called Muscle
Shoals Bill now before Congress was
used as a concrete example Of 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. 1t would produce al
Muscle Shoals various fertilizer prod
,ucts and sell them In competition with
producers and merchants in the fer
tilizer. business.
Tho strength Of the 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 in getting Its expected
psace-time operation under way at the
earliest possible date. Fifty editors
from that state replied, Of whom 81
were opposed to Government opera
tton. 8 In favor and 4 doubtful.
49,