The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1938-05-12
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them to be purely personal in ma
ture.
In the last two weeks, however
the differences between the Presi-
dent and his advisors, on the one
hand, and the editors throughout
the country and their Washington
correspondents, on the other hand
at last have been brought into the
open. That is, and believe this is
a fair statement, Mr.. Roosevelt has
brought the row into the open.
Dynamite Set Off
The match seems to have been
touched to the dynamite by Mr..
Roosevelt at a recent "off the rec
ord" session which he held with the
members of the Managing Editors
society. The society meets annually
in Washington and always during
their stay, they are invited to q
White House meeting. In the past
such meetings have promoted a bet
ter understanding between the edi-
tors and the administration, but the
last session appears to have done
exactly the opposite.
It is not permissible to disclose
what goes on in those meetings and,
not having been present, cannot
vouch for details of the recent
meeting. know, however, that here
to-fore the editors came away al
ways feeling that benefits of the
meeting had been important. At the
last meeting, according to common
understanding around Washington,
the discussion was heated. The Pres
ident's remarks to the editors must
have been vicious. In any event,
there were few of the editors came
away in a good humor. Indeed, at
q breakfast of the society the next
morning, one managing editor chal-
lenged his colleagues with the ques-
ton: "Are we mice or are we men?"
Again asserting my inability to
vouch for all of the statements that
have deluged washington since the
meeting, I know that many Of the
editors were 'red headed" or 'hot
under the collar" or whatever your
favorite expression may be. And
well they may have been If 1t Is
true that the President told them
they had no genuine knowledge Of
public sentiment in their several
communities, nor did they have any
real influence. But the croWning
shot, according to report, was a
pointed inference that the President
better understood what the country
needed than the editors.
Immediately thereafter the Amer
lean Newspaper Publishers associa-
ton at it's New York meeting, had
before it a report calling for the
elimination of politics and politi-
clans from control of the radio or
the press. The report cited Mr..
Roosevelt's frequent use of the air
lanes for his "fireside chats" and it
added:
"The unacceptable task Of the
American press is to guard against
any encroachment upon American
democracy by the federal govern
ment with radio as the instrument
of political power"
MintOn Lets Lose
That incident, of course, was not
ignored in Washington. While there
was no word from the White House,
the newspapers were the target for
an Incorporate speech by Senator
Sherman Minton of Indiana. Sena-
tor Minton has been a New Deal
mouthpiece through the last year
and only few persons believed that
he was speaking his own views. Most
observers thought he was dong a
Charley Mccarthy" for those in
the New Deal who NEEDED ventrilo-
uuist and a forum then and there
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