Evening star., 1940-10-17
New York Editor
Hits Back al Flynn
For Attacking Press
Says Democratic Leader
Owes Apology to Papers
All Over the Country
BY the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
NEW YORK, Oct. 1.-THE Re-
publican State Committee made
public today telegram to Edward
j. Flynn from Tom R. Hutton, Bing-
hamton, N Y, editor, replying to
the Democratic national ckairmans
charge that newspapers are under
a financial dictatorship of their
advertisers.
=, "You owe an apology to honest
newspapers and newspapermen all
over the country" the telegram
said, for falling into an Ickes tan
trum of uninformed generalities
about the good faith of newspaper
men who have been consistently
fair through the years and on whom
40 advertiser pressure could be ex-
erted under any circumstances"
- Mr. Hutton declared that Mr.
Flynns statement damaged not the
honest newspapers of the United
States. but a presidential candidate
who deserves better than this at
your hands because he has intrust-
ed to you the most important job
in the presidential campaign of
1910.
Jim Farley would be the first to
tell you, if you took the pains to
ask him.
Calls it Political Blob"
"In adding your voice at this
70 Io1i +o1, aI
effort to discredit the American
newspapers you have committed a
political blob of which Jim Farley
never would have been guilty, which
Louis Howe would have vetoed and
which, imagine, is making Charlie
Nicholson wonder who is dispelling
the fog"
Mr.. Hutton said his paper, the
Binghamton Press, supported Presi-
dent Roosevelt in 1882 and is sup
porting Wendell Willkie this year.
Mr.. Flynn at press conference
yesterday challenged newspapers to
"tell why they feed their readers in
the news columns wholesale doses
Of partisan propaganda, instead of
adhering to the independence they
so often vaunt, and give their read
ers an even break on the actual
news of the day"
Urges Press House Cleaning"
"I wonder if they would dare print
the fact that the newspapers of the
country are under a real dictator
ship, a financial dictatorship of their
advertisers?' Mr.. Flynn asked at the
conference
'Their editorials about dictator
ships are not on the level" he said.
"They (the newspapers should
clean their own houses before they
talk about other dictatorships
Particularly" Mr.. Flynn said, Il
would like to ask the New York
Times, which prides itself on its
fairness, why they put the smear
story which is against the Democrats
on their front page, and yesterday
there was another story concerning
a Republican smear on the same
subject (racial prejudice and it was
buried so far back in the paper I
doubt if half the readers reached it"
Asked whether he included all
newspapers in his charge of a die
tated press" Mr.. Flynn said he was
talking about a majority of papers
who claim independence in their
news columns"
II believe we have a dictated
press" he reiterated, dictated by
financial interests and advertisers. +"
In answer to question. Mr. Flynn
said he had not discussed his views
on the press with President Roose-
velt
Asked whether he would call the
Democratic papers in this country
controlled. too" Mr. Flynn said he
believed that both Democratic and
Republican papers should give as
much space to one side as to the
other.
The New York Times today
printed this statement in part:
The Democratic smear doc
ument to which Mr.. Flynn refers
was given front-page prominence
by the New York Times for the
reason that it contained a direct
personal attack on Mr.. Willkie
because of his German an
cestry.
The Republican smear PAM
phlet to which Mr.. Flynn re-
ferred contained no direct per-
sonal attack on President Roose-
welt and thus lacked the news i'm
portance of the Democratic docu-
ment.
The nature of one document
made it a page l story; the ma
ture of the other did not"
Flynn AssailS Folder.
In statement to the press con-
ference Tuesday, Mr.. Flynn said:
For those who are disturbed about
smearing and the interjection of
racial issues into the campaign,
four-page folder which bears the
impriCt, Published for the Associ-
ated Willkie Clubs of New York
Should provide interesting material"
The. folder. Mr.. Flynn said, was
"a vile Slander on persons of all
races, German, italian, Scandina-
Wan, and others who have come to
this country to seek free way of
life"
Mr.. Flynn issued another state
ment. also, in which he asserted
that IAN alleged insurance aSSocia-
ton, presumably connected with the
Republican organization, has been
flooding the mail with statements
calculated to alarm 64,00O,00O life
insurance holders in the United
States"
Mr.. Flynn said he had received
a letter to this effect from Herman
A. Bayern, president of, the Associa-
ton of Past Presidents of Insurance
Brokers and Agents, which denied
the accuracy of these statements
and cited figures to show an in
creased stability in insurance COM
panies.
Cartoon of Lynching.
The racial folder, Mr. Flynn said,
was headed New Deal Dictatorship
A Cruel Dictator"