The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-03-03
Fair Enough

| Fair Enough
tEdiotr's Note.-The Star and the News accept no
and often disagree with them as much as many Of
his readers His articles the good purpose of
making people think.
BY WESTBROOK PEGLER
KANSAS CITY, - Ordinarily when couple
of newspaper owners start betting one another
with fearless denunciations and daring hbels
the rest of us in the business figure they are
just about right and that the thing is all an
act anyway, but believe we going to find
that this public gut-letting between Robert
R. Mccormick of the Chicago Tribune, and
Marshall Field Of the Chicago Sun is a historic
affray and anyway I like to go on about it.
It is not confined to the city limits of Chicago
because Mccormick long ago staked out a
circulation field for himself which he calls
Chica goland, extending way down to st. Louis
and up to Detroit, so when he gets into
fight and starts youre-anothering with car
toons editorials and needed news stories he
leaves the ring, 50 to speak, and goes brawling
through the asles and up the stairs and
through the balconies.
This contest is all along of McCorrnick's
prewar noninterventism and his continuing iso-
iationism, and his kiver-to-kiver detestation of
the new deal. He is tough opponent but he
often leaves himself out of position like a
rough-andtumble man in battle up an alley.
For example, he poses as military expert
and goes by the. title of Colonel and to hear
him tell it you would think he invented gum
powder when the fact is that he had only
a little battle experience as an artilleryman
in the other war. Also, to lacerate Field, who
for a long time was one of those absentee
Americans and still speaks with a Mayfair
accent, he likes to take belts at our noble
British Allies and, at times sounds like Bill
Thompson, the mayor who was always going
to bust King George on the snoot But Field
has not done very well in exploiting his
openings and I would say his trouble is that,
as Al Smith once said of young Ted Roosevelt
in a contest for the governorship of New York,
the young teller amt there. Mccormick is a
|newspaperman and Field is just rich man
who knows so little about the publishing bust
ness that he has been a sucker for a number
of smart promoters decided to the PROPOSE
ton that God made chumps to be taken. In
New York he started out with a regular cell of
communists and even now that thing of his
has more taboos and restrictions than the
Beobachter and this doesn't make him look
too good when he starts measuring his
patriotism against McCormcks because even
say that the comnies are enemies within,
whereas nobody has ever been able to show
that Mccormick had any Bundists around his
place.
That business about the advisers is the tip
off on Field. I used to do Sports for McCor-
mick and I am telling you nobody gives him
any advice around there. But Field might be
compared to some civilian suddenly appoint
ed general who has to have a committee to
tell him the name Of that long thing with
wheels under it that goes BOOM when you
pull the rope. Right now in Chicago Field is
in good hands at last with Glen Randall, an
old U. P. executive in charge of the business
side, and Frank Taylor, a really wise and
solid practical neWSpaperman running the
news department. Who makes policy I don't
know, but some other old-timers with whom
have discussed this phenomenon agree with
me that Field is strongly reminiscent Of
Hearst when he was young and wild and tearing
up money. And funny thing about the Ran
dau connection is that Glen used to go to
storn1ing up and down the country telling edi.
tors what swell news service the U. P. had
for sale and Field has been bowling his head of
that the Associated Press is news monopoly
and demanding to be elected to the club, and
the new deal has been backing him up to spite
Mccormick
| Mccormick is pretty silly at times in his
aversion to the British, and the idea that they
were fixing to invade us up around Detroit
after the first World War is just juvenile
Moreover, like it or not, they did stand of
Hitler along while we hurried down to the
gym and worked up some muscle for Pearl
Harbor day and after. However, he has beer
making wild and rowdy fight for CONSTITUTE
ional government and the integrity of the us
A. and when Fields advisers advised him tc
move into Chicago and start scrap with Mr.
and whispered to him to fight dirty as he
has done from the beginning in New York,
brutally they overmatched their boy. McCor-
mick has been beating his ears off and at his
own rules and style of fighting.
A San Francisco man offered case OF
Bourbon for the privilege of renting an apart
ment. That's living it up instead of drinking
| it down.
| Some blame absenteeism on workers feel
ing too tough at the end Of week - and
others on too tough a weekend.