Palatka daily news. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1919-1994, 1922-07-04
SENATOR SIMMONS
DEFENDS THE PRESS.

While the metropolitan press is be-
ing assailed in the senate in the in
terest of tariff extortiofists, it does
not lack defenders in that body. The
able democratic senator from North
Carolina (Mr. Simmons), former
chairman of the finance committee,
not only defended the integrity of the
press, but exposed the reasons for the
assault in his usual clear and forcible
manner in a recent speech. In part,
he said:
81 assume that these gentlemen
Republican tariff makers) are not
after the importers and the depart
ment stores so much as they are after
the newspapers of the country, the
press of the country. That is their
objective. We dbl not hear much talk
about the activities and tn esinister
motives of these importers and de-
partment stores until we began to
read into the Record these editorials
from the great metropolitan newspa-
pers of the country denouncing this
bill in unmeasured terms. 1t was
these editorials that drew their fire
But it became necessary to ascribe a
minister and a corrupt motive to the
newspapers, especially of the repub-
ican press, that were so severely crit
icizing and denouncing this bill, and
then for the first time, coming in
force, in overwhelming force, we saw
and heard these assaults upon the de-
partment stores and the importers
For what? For the purpose of fixing
an Interior and unworthy motive upon
the newspapers for their attacks upon |
the bill.
when these great newspapers de-
clared themselves, and when their |
lead was followed by the big papers
of all the large towns Of the coun-
try, without reference to whether
they were importing centers or not,
when senators on the other side saw
that the elamor against their bill,
which started with these newspapers,
was being taken up by the smaller
dailies and weeklies throughout the
and saw the number, day
after day, of these assaults from re-
publican sources, from newspapers
that had always supported the the
DRY of protection and republicanism,
with respect to whose partisan re-
publican affiliations no question could /
be made, they saw the necessity of
Immediately finding some plausible |
excuse for that attitude on the part |
of this large number Of newspapers !
throughout the country, not only of |
their own party, not only Of the dem |
ocratic party, but Of the nonpartisan
press, Of the trade press. In fact, !
this movement was led by the COM
mercial papers of New York and Chi
cago. and by the republican papers of /
those cities and of other large centers. |
And so, the senators from North Da-
kota (McCumber) and Indiana WAT
SOM are simply using the department
stores and the importers as the evi-
dence in their indictment against the
newspapers Of the republican, faith in
this country. l say tina their evidence
has broken down as against the i'm
porters and the department stores.
HAS a more serious charge than
that ever been framed or presented in
the American senate-a charge that
the great newspapers, the chief
sources Of public information, eonsti-
tuting as they do one Of the republics
chief safeguards. have suddenly fall
en- from their high estate and sur
rendered their editorial and news col
umns to an unworthy assault upon