Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1926-12-09
AMONG THE MoLpERs


'But above all things truth beareth
away the Victory" Whenf II Lincoln
be right that 'he who molds public
sentiment goes deeper than he who
enacts statutes or pronounces decis-
IONS" we best be concerned.
Clinton w. Gilbert's Daily Mirror
Of Washington revealed this the other
day:
THE trial Of Fall and Doheny
should be one Of the famous trials
of the national capital Xxx
But when one thinks Of the Jury.
one wonders If there ever can be a
famous trial again. Here in the
capital twelve good men and true
were found quite easily, out of, I
think, twenty-four examined, who
knew nothing and had no opinions
about the oil scandal which a couple
of years ago occupied the first pages
of newspapers for several months.
They had read the headlines and had
not been interested to read any
further. Thought it was just some
more of the political sham fighting
that goes on in the capital. That
is very discouraging to us writer's Of
sensations that are supposed to stir
the whole Nation"
Writers Of sensations; super
inducers of thrills, panderers to
ecstasies, purveyors Of punk, no, no!
He doesn't mean that In one breath
he would not have us newspaper
writer's take ourselves too seriously
and in the next suggests seriousness.
II once the reader becomes assured
that what he reads Is but propagan-
da; or takes the sensations as the,
old topper takes his dram, not because
it Is good hut because he likes 1t,
aware all the while that dram drink
ing Is bad; II these comprise the
situation where shall be found the
nolder of public sentiment? Else
where, at any rate.
The writer who is willing to COM
pound vile wordy drains for the
money there Is In it is a thousand
times worse than the booze pedler,
assuming the average reader takes
stock Of his writings. Here is q
fellow named Mencken, who makes
. fat living at calling the kettle
black, and he receives his due from
the inmates OF a California prison,
from jail birds who possess righteous
indignation, which finds vent on
reading Mencken's allusion to o.
Henry as a Jail bird. They tell him
as near to his face as their environ
nlent permits that he is a self styled
intelligentsia, (which Is Latin for
shiftless Bohemians, tin-horn jour-
nalists and mental vacuums of the
shabby genteel stamp" They remind
the world that John the Baptist,
John Bunyan, Tom Paine, Voltaire
and several. other immortals also
were jail birds-and very much Of
something else, besides. OF course
the only fact Of any interest to the
Menckens is that they were Jail birds.
Evidently truth must be approx
mately whole to + .ar away the last
ing victory.
But to get back to jury Of our
, peers sitting on one of the most
important cases Of recent days, who
didn't read the news because they
thought 1t was merely political
propaganda! They mentally were too
lazy to make sure whether or not
it was propaganda, or too dense to
see the obvious need Of their doing
so.
Obviously, too, there are a lot of
people like these jurymen in their
attitude toward Senate investiga-
tons. Why? The answer is obvious.
And yet 1t might be very necessary
to Justice that there should be a
senatorial investigation which might
command public confidence. Evil
IDENTIFY some truth was ELECTED in the
oil investigation but the man in the
street had reason to be incredulous
respecting the worth of 1t. Abuse
Of such inquisitorial powers defeats
their end and indirectly incites dis
regard Of their findings. SO en-
couraging Ubiquitous practices which
these Investigations assume to check.