The Rathdrum tribune. (Rathdrum, Idaho) 1903-1963, 1920-11-12
Canvass Of 5,154 Editors Shows
4,466 Communities Against
SOciaIistiC Experiment.
OPPOSITION WING
EIehty.seven Per Cent In 1920 as
Against eS Per Cent In 1918
Think Public 10 Opposed
Co RadIcallsm.

~0~t
to the Newspaper editors OF the coun-
Try. Out Of 5,1bz editors replying to
q questionable ssnf out by the fress
Service Company Of New York. 4,400
or 90 per cent, gave 1t AZ their 1udg-
ment that the people Of their commu-
mites were overwh slmingiy against
the 0overnment competing In business
with tn own catiSenA
In 1918 me Press Service Company
conducted similar canvass OF editors
on the government operation Of rail-
roads. That question: aire allowed thar
S3 per cant Of the editors considered
their communities against Govern
ment operation Of public utilities.
Apparently, then. IL editors estimate
public opinion accurately, that opin-
lon I'm q year, considered by commu-
mites. has swung s per cent farther
away from socialL stic experiments.
Eleven Min bn Circulation.
The combined circulation Of the pa
pers whose editoks replied IL 1.42S.-
BIT, which means, according to the
usual estimated ratio between circula-
ton and read Srs, q constituency OF ae
least $4,000. 600. And this consdtuen-
cy 10 pretty Svs,nly seatterSd through
cut the coE.ntry. no considerable sec.
don Of ayAy state being unrspressnteo.
The sst.amGke Of opinion based on tnAs
thorv aghly diGussd ~ per cent o. inc
cev.ntrys population may. therefore.
b,s considered q fair representation OF
the people a. q whole.
Another lecture Of the result In III
evident lack Of partisan bias. The
mater Political ahHliations Of the pa
psra represantad are fairly evenly de
yided. being 1857 Republican and
l.06O Democratic. There are also 1.Aoo
independent and Ae2 MISCELLANEOUS
including labor organs etc.
How little the results are aKscted
BIZ the pelitles Of the papers In shown
In an analysis by sections. In the
Southern section. for instance, where
raulies came from as Republican pa
n pers and $50 Democratic, the psf
Osntage against Government operauon
! was SS; In the Great Lake secuon'
, with conditions reversed, A16 KepuO-
Acan and 1855 Democratic, ths oppo'
sl ton was 81 per cent
Replies from the West, Middh Wes'
s,d Southwest show that 1t In mis-
g tsl&a to consider those sections vastly
mo, V favorable to radical Government
.xoa viments thxm the East The rad
. icals ,yan get nstls comfort out OF th'
h 30 nex, can't OF thumbs down. POI
Y can't al eve the average-in the South
, west. Including Arkansas. Louisiana
Missouri. Ksnsas, Oklahoma and Tex
'e as Texas. pace supposed TO BIO mucl
y xiyen to. Government regulation OK
nerimsnta,. returned 90 per cent OF un
favorable replies. Out OK the go eI
tors plying from that STATE ON
three edited Republican papers. An
% per cent opposition OK the Nsrtl
west, including Iswa, Minnesota Ael
y. tana. Nebraska, Nerth Dakota. Scut
Dakota and wyoming, and the " pe
- can't ystA Of the Far West group, IL
Guiding .Arizens. California. 1aah'
: Neyads. New, Mexico. Oregon. Coli
: r.do. yIbah and Washington. are sill
ni6csnt of this prevailing conservativ
snntine ut on this question even
the mors radical sections.
Juasn,snt Apparently Unbiased.
The quastisnnNirs closes Win
quest fer the eUktoT . boAsVAA w
ion ON certain cehcrete cases az 70
lows: =,
"Do you personally believe that IL
Federal Government should own az
operate competitive Industries to pr
vide: ts) Fertiiizsrf (b) ClothinI
: (c) Automobilesf (O Farm impl
"A ments2 (s) Foodstuffsf
Substantially ell the editors wi
- gave estimates of their readers Cpl
ions also expressed their ewn oy Z
< plying to this last question. Proof
considerable effort to avoid person
bias Is found In the fact that In ma
! cases the editor differed from {
epinson he credited to his communal
The percentage Of "nos" ran: {
re; (b) 90; te) 90; td 81; (e) 70
. While the ausstisus were based
4 general principles involved In {
Government participating in comps
tive business. the so-called Nus
4 Shoals Bill now before Congress v
used as q concrete example Of g.
eminent operation scheme. Under I
bill q aforementioned corporate
4 would be given broad powers to op
,~s ate and develop G0ysrnmsnt plAl