Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1920-10-01
THE CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE"

Governor Cox charges that h Re-
publican press of the country is en-
| gagged in a conspiracy of silence"
against him. Mr.. Cox must have as
low an opinion of the intelligence OF
the American people in supposing that
he "a get them to believe this as he
exhibits of integrity of the American
voter when he discusses the possibility
Of the purchase OF the presidency
with money.
All that any individual needs to do
to explode this latest bubble blown
by Mr.. Cox is to recall what he las
read in his Republican newspaper
since the San Francisco convention.
or, if his memory is defective, to visit
any Republican newspaper Office and
look over the files of the paper for
that period. 1t may be understood
that in their treatment Of the news
Of the political campaign there is
no material difference between the
representative Republican papers
and those of the opposite faith. But
Mr.. Cox makes his charge against
Republican papers.
The citizen who investigates will
ascertain the following facts among
others:
Republican papers have given
full publicity to the activities of
Governor Cox from the day of his
nomination until the present time.
Republican papers have given
daily reports of Governor Cox
speeches, the larger papers re-
producing the speeches almost in
their entirety, and the smaller
ones giving liberal extracts and
comprehensive summaries.
Republican papers have devot-
cd much more space to the activ-
tiles of Governor Cox than they
have to the activities of mate
Harding.
Republican papers have been
exceedingly liberal in giving front
page position, with appropriate
headlines. to the u~tterances Of
Governor Cox.
Those are facts which do not need
to be demonstrated. They are with
in the Knowledge of the reading pub
lie, and evidence to substa initiate the
statements is available to everyone.
The Republican papers of the Jul
try have not given this seemingly dis
proportionate amount Of attention to
Governor Cox for the purpose Of do
ing him favor. Their publications are
prepared for the information of their
readers. and not, primarily, for the
benefit of either Governor Cox or
Senator Harding. Governor Cox has
travelled farther and talked more
than Senator Harding. Aside from
the. character of his remarks III has
produced a greater volume of ma
terial for publication. He being a
presidential candidate. the readers of
newspapers wished to know what he
had to say. and the newspapers have
supplied them with the information.
Governor Cox has chosen a sensa-
tional and spectacular form of bchav.
ior and utterance which lends itself
peculiarly to publicity. He has had
the publicity. His standing before
the American public is not as good
today as it was when he began his
campaign. Why? Because he has
received in overlooking measure the
publicity which he denied having re-
ceived. Through the newspaper re-
ports Of his ~utterances the people of
the United States have become bet
ter acquainted with him than they
were. and there is every reason to
believe that the better they know
him the less they like him. That is
not the fault of the papers. They
have merely been doing their duty
J 1t is the fault of Governor Cox.
A. conspiracy of silence in this case
would be about the worst political
blunder that Republican apers could
commit. And in this campaign there
could be few more effective Republi.
can documents than a collection OF
| the addresses NJ (soyarpor Cov