The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1920-11-02
Canvass of 5,154 Editors Shows
4,466 Communities Against
SGciaHstic Experiment.
OPPOSITION CROWN
Eiohty.seven Per Cent In 1920 40
AGAINST SO Per Cent In 1919
Think Public Is Opposed
to Radicalisr1.

The American public Is more IN
tensely opposed to Government opera
ton than it was year ago, according
10 the newspaper editors Of the coun-
try. Out of 5,154 editors replying to
Il QUESTIONABLE sent out by the Press
Service Company of New York, 4,466,
or sc per cent, gave it as their Juds-
ment that the people Of their commu'
mites were overwhelmingly against
the Government competing in business
with its own citizens.
In 1919 the Press Service Company
conducted q similar canvass Of editors
un the government operation OF rail-
roads. That QUESTIONABLE showed that
B3 per cent of the editors considered
heir communities against Govern
nent operation Of public utilities.
Apparently. then, if editors estimate
public opinion accurately, that opin-
ion in a year, considered by commu'
mites, has swung 8 per cent farther
away from socialistic experiments.
Eleven Million Circulation.
The combined circulation Of the pa
2ers whose editors replied Is 3l,42S.-
ST, which means, according to the
Usual estimated ratio between circula'
ion and readers, constituency OF at
east 100000. And this constituent
~ is pretty evenly scattered through.
,ut the country, no considerable Sec
ion of any state being unrepresented.
The estimate of opinion based on this
thoroughly dlffused "A per cent of the
.ountry's population may, therefore,
10 considered a fair representation OF
The people as 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-
vlded, being 1857 Republican and
1850 Democratic. There are also 1,4So
independent and 462 miscellaneous,
including labor organs, etc.
How little the results are aftected
by the politics Of the papers is shown
ia an. analysis by sections. In the
Southern section, for instance, WAere
replies came from IS Republican pa.
pers and $50 Democratic, the per-
centage against Government operation
was So; in, the Great bake section,
with conditions reversed, 47s Repub-
lican and 155 Democratic. the oppo-
sition was 81 per cent. :
Replies from the West, Middle West
and Southwest show that it IS a mis-
take to consider those sections vastly
more favorable to radical Government
experIments than the East. The rad
tcals can get little comfort out OF the
50 per cent Of thumbs down. per
cent above the average-in the South
west including Arkansas, Louisiana,
Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Tex
us. Texas, once supposed to be much
given to Government regulation ex-
periments, returned 90 per cent OF un'
favorable replies. Out U the 244 edl-
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, South
Dakota and Wyoming, and the IS per
cent veto Of the Far West group, In
Guiding Arizona, California. Idaho,
Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Colo
rado, Utah and Washington, are Sig
nifcant Of the prevailing conservative
sentiment on this question even IN
the more radical sections.
judgment Appar emily Unbiased.
The QUESTIONABLE closes with re-
quest for the editors personal opln'
ion on certain concrete cases as fol-
lows:
DO you personally believe that the
Federal Government should own and
operate competitive industries 10 pro-
vide: (a) Fertilizer? (b) Clothing:
(c) Automobiles? (d) Farm imple-
ments? (e) Foodstuffs?
Substantially all the editors VINO
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
opinion he credited to his community.
The percentage Of mos" ran: (a)
76; (b) 50; (c) Sc; (dD So; (e) 79.
While the questions were based on
general principles involved In me
Government participating in compati-
tive business. the so-called Muscle
Shoals Bill now before Congress was
used rs a concrete example OF Gov
ernment operation scheme. Under this
bill Government-owned corporation
would be given broad powers to oper-
ate and develop Government plants
and properties. 1t would produce at
Muscle Shoals various fertilizer prod
nets and sell them In competition with
PRODUCERS and merchants In the FER
tilizer business.
Tho strength o. tns opposition %
Government operation IS indicated by
fne replies from Alabama, where the
Muscle Shoals war plant !s and where,
Of course. there is intense interest