The herald., 1920-10-21
PUBLIC OPPOSES
GOVT OPERATION
Canvass OF 5.154 Editors Shows
4,466 Communities Against
SociaIiStic Experiment.
POSITION GROWING
EiGhty-seven Per Cent In 1920 az
Against 80 Per Cent In 1919
Think Public Is Opposed
to Rsdicallsm.

The American public Is more In
tensely opposed TO Government opera
ton than ii was year ago, according
to the newspaper editors OF the coun-
try. Out OF 5,15i editors replying TO
q questionable sent out by the Press
Service Company Of New York. 4,4G6,
or So per cent. gave II 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 a similar canvass Of editors
on the government operation OF rail.
roads That QUESTIONABLE showed that
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 Comnu.
mites, has swung 3 per cent farther
away from sociallstic experiments
Eleven Million Circulation.
The combined circulation OF the pa
psrs whose editors replied Is ll.42S,
Sl7, which means, according To the
usual estimated ratio between circula
ton and readers, a constituency OF al
least ~ 100000. And this CONSTITUENT
cy Is pretty evenly scattered through
out the country, no considerable sec
ton Of any state being unrepresented
The estimate Of opinion based on this
thoroughly diffused ~ per cent Of the
country's population may, therefore
be considered q fair representation OF
the people as q whole.
Another feature OF the result is it
evident lack OF partisan bias. The
major political Affiliations Of the pa
pers represented are fairly evenly di
vidsd, being 1857 Republican ano
1880 Democratic. There are also Las,
independent and 49, miscellaneous
including labor organs, etc.
How little the results are affected
by the politics OF the papers Is shown
in an analysis by sections. 10 tn,
Southern section. for instance, where
replies came from IS Republican pa
pers and $50 Democratic, the per
centags against Government operation
was So; In the Great Lake section
with conditions reversed, AIS Repub
lican and l55 Democratic, the Oppo
sition was 81 per cent
Replies from the West, Middle Wes'
aud Southwest show that it is 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
80 per cent of thumbs down. pei
cent above the average-in the South
west, including Arkansas, Louisiana
Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Tex
as Texas, once supposed TO be much
given to Government regulation ex'
periments, returned 81 per cent Of un
favorable replies. Out Of the pa edi
tors replying from that state only
three edited Republican papers. The
81 per cent opposition Of the North
west, including Iowa. Minnesota, Mon
tana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Soutf
Dakota and Wyoming. and the SO pei
cent veto Of the Far West group. in
GLIDING Arizona, California. Idaho
Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Colo
RADIO, Utah and Washington, are sig
nificant Of the prevailing conservative
sentiment on this question even in
the more radical sections.
Judgment Apparently Unbiased.
The QUESTIONABLE closes with a re-
quest for the editors personal opin'
lon on certain concrete cases as fol
lows:
do you personally believe that the
Federal Government should own and
operate competitive industries TO pro,
vide: (a) Fertilizer? % Clothingi
(c) Automobiles? Id Farm imple
ments! O) Foodstuffs!
Substantially all the editors who
give 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
opinion he credited to his community
The percentage OF mos" ran: (a)
76; 90 80; (c) Sc; (d 50; te) 10.
While the questions were based on
general principles involved in the
Government participating in competl'
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. II 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
the replies from Alabama. where tbs
Muscle Shoals war plant is and where,
Of course. there 10 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 rs
were opposed to GO> eminent opera.