MAY, 1920
Ihe Commoner
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A National Bulletin
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NEBRABKA'8 SLOGAN
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I am so impressed with the need. of a national
bulletin that in this article I shall ask the reader
to consider the reasons that hate led me to urg
its establishment. In the first place it is .not
to be a' newspapor; those who haTe attacked the
proposition heretofore have generally done so on
the theory that the proposed bulletin was to be
in the nature of a newspaper. Nothing could be
farther from the truth. The newspapers can be
relied to print tho general news and they ought
to have full freedom in the printing of political
news and in commenting upon it. The govern
ment publication proposed has nothing in com
mon with the newspapers. It-should be only
and sololy a bulletin, somewhat like those al
ready issued by various departments, but differ
ing in the kind of information which it gives to
the people. The weather bulletins discuss tho
weather; agricultural bulletins discuss matters
of interest to the farmer; commercial
bulletins deal with things that are of
interest to business men. During the war
the government published a bulletin which
dealt almost exclusively with matter re
garding the war, a considerable" part of the
space being devoted to lists of the killed or
wounded. The need of a bulletin dealing with
the problems oefore the public and presenting
arguments on both sides of questions at issue,
will be seen when it is remembered that 3uch a
bulletin will deal with subjects that are of para
mount importance and universal interest. Only
farmers are interested in the bulletins issued by
the agricultural department and only business
men in the bulletins issued by the department
of commerce. But every citizen is interested, or
should be, in the qujestions that are at issue in
congressional and presidential campaigns. The
whole direction of the government may be
changed at the polls; policies are endorsed or
condemned; vital -interests are involved in these
elections, and yet the public is entirely depend
ent upon private, sources of information. This
would be unfair even if all the sources were dis
interested, unselfish and imparital in purpose.
Honest men are biased and that bias affects the
judgment unconsciously if not consciously. A
man's sympathies have as much to do with his
decisions as his reason sometimes more. Even
when he sincerely tries to statea proposition im
partially, he will present what he regards as tlie
most important arguments and omit that which
he regards as less important. And yet a politi
cal opponent may differ from him radically as
to the relative importance of the things pre
sented and omitted.
The fate of a nation depends upon the will of
the people, and the will pf the people can not
be intelligently, expressed unless the people are
informed upon' the subject upon which they are
called to speak. .
But the situation is made more difficult by the
fact that not all of the newspapers are owned
and edited for purely patriotic purposes. Some
times the ownership is secret, less so now since
we have a law compelling newspapers to reveal
their ownership, and yet it is not always easy
to enforce this lav. A number of incidents can
bo cited. Twenty years ago, the Chicago Chron
icle was owned, by a Chicago banker named
walsh. it claimed to be a Democratic paper and
Was quite dictatorial in its editorial policy. The
owner was promoting a number of busiuess en
terprises and finally was convicted of crime in
connection with some of his work. On the con
trary, it was conducted at a loss (I think it was
running behind something like a quarter of a
million a year). The paper was not primarily
conducted as a newspaper but rather as an ad
junct to exploiting enterprises. When one ex
amines the facts he can understand at what a
disadvantage its readers were when they came
to act upon political questions.
In the investigation of the New York, Hart
Jord and New Haven railroad, it was found that
a leading Boston daily was actually owned by the
railroad although it was conducted in- the name
01 an individual. "When one examines into the
condition of the railroao as the investigation
Jhowed it, he can understand how unfair it was
to leave the puhlic dependent for information on
a Paper controlled in the interest of that great .
railway corporation. ' In Florida, two of the
Prominent dailies were until recently owned by
On ordinary questions of a gonoral character
the situation, bul whenever there is a conflict
between corporate interests and the mwroL
poratoPsde0.rS " tU " of the co7
There are always before tho nation great eco
nomic questions, sometimes they relate to the
trl ,80,m,eit,m w t0 th0 trust8' sometimes to
S01:311 lin. Many big newspapers are
quite intimately connected with banks and other
business enterprises, and sometimes those arc
Jo1?? !5volfTOd In the questions at issue. In
iJld-14 the banking interests were almost un
animously opposed to tho currency law, and their
influence upon the newspapors which they con
trolled made the struggle between tho friends
and opponents of the currency law an unequal
one.
But let us turn from illustrations of the need
of a government bulletin to tho details of tho
proposed measure. The bulletin should be NOT
NON-PARTISAN but BI-PARTISAN. That is,
it should be in the control of persons selected
by the various parties and responsible to tho
parties so that all sides of the question shall
have a hearing. I have no desire to set forth
any hard and fast rule for the control of the
bulletin but suggest for consideration the follow
ing plan. The board of control might be made
up of five persons, one appointed, by the presi
dent, one appointed by the majority party in the
House, one by the minority party in the House,
one by the majority party in tho Senate and the
fifth by tho minority party in the Senate. This
would make sure -of two Democrats and two Re
publicans on the board (with tho parties aa they
now are,) with the politics of tii fifth man de
pendent upon the party affiliations of the presi
dent. Tho law establishing the bulletin should,
as far as possible, dctormine the things to be
printed, with power vested in the board to de
cide other details. To make sure that the minor
ity would have a fair hearing, any two mem
bers of the board should have permission to
cause the insertion of such matter as they deem
necessary. There would be no dfllculty in desig
nating the kind of matter to be printed.
It is important that there should be editorial
space in the bulletin and it should be divided be
tween the parties in proportion to the voting
strength at the last election or in Congress. Each
party in Congress should be permitted to se
lect the editor who would use the editorial space
assigned to the party. In order that all factions
in Congress may be represented in the editorial
space, any minority faction qt a party which re
jected the editor selected by the majority should
be allowed to have its own editorial representa
tion and be assigned space according to its vot
ing strength.
The publication should be published at cer
tain intervals which might be made shorter dur
ing the campaign season when the interest in
,the publication is greater and the information
more immediately necessary.
The paper should be furnished at a nominal
sum, say 25 cents per year, to all who are inter
ested enough to subscribe for it. . A nominal sub
scription fee is suggested in order to make sure
that the paper will be read, otherwise there
might be waste. Of course, the paper would
cost much more than that but there is nothing
that would better justify the expenditure of pub
lic money than a bulletin that would inform the
people upon the issues they are called upon to
settle at the polls. With such a publication
within the reach of all who desire to inform -themselves
on campaign issues, we may expect a
more speedy settlement of questions and thus
a shorter period of uncertainty.
Such a bulletin would not interfere with any
leirftimate newspaper. On the contrary, it
would furnish authentic facts for the newspaper
to discuss and it would also furnish the argu
ments pro and con from the highest sources.
Nothing is more important in the discussion of
public questions than an authoritative statement
Prom the St. Louis Star.
of tho arguments In support of and againsUtho
proposition at issue. . ,
Of course, objections to such a bulletin will
come from owners of the papers that have 'a
pecuniary interest In deceiving tho public, but
they daro not give their real reason. Wlio
else can offer a vnlid objection?
The iirst question to bo decided Is, are -tlxt
people upon whoso consent tho government rcsia
entitled to understand the subjects submitted to
them for decision? This question must of jiej:e
sity bo answered In tho afilrmatvo. , . ,. z.,rtl
Second: Do the privately owned newspapers,
as they now exist, furnish tho InfdrraatitfirtMat
the pcoplo need for intelligent politlcui action1?
If this is answered in tho affirmative thenthero
can be no justification for a government publica
tion, i .
If a negative answer is given, it Jrfrigs, xistto
the third question. Can tho government 'afford
to occur the expense necessary to giro the 'pub
lic the information needed? This admits of'-bnt
one answer, and a fourth question completes the
review of tho subject. Docs the plan prdpbsed
furnish a practical means of supplying ttibHh
formation needed? If not, let a Wetttir'fJMf'feo
suggested. Those who believe thai SOMIiPftlan
is needed will gladly accept the best plan -offpred.
W. J. BRYAN.,,
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BILLY SUNDAY ON GOV. EDWARDS '
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(From interview in Philadelphia. North
American) ' ' 0
"I regard the action of tho New Jersey
Legislature on the booze bill as one of ' Vs)
tho most rebellious, anarchistic, un-
American measures ever enacted; and
the star that represents Now Jersey
shoud be erased from tho American flag.
"That infamous business that has left
behind it nothing but ragged children
and scaffolds, olectric chairs and asylums
hasn't got a comeback in its system.
"It would turn the calendar back from ' 0
June to January. It turned a paradise -0
into a desert, but Prohibition turned the
desert in a paradise; and now New
Jersey would ruin all. -
"No man who is the mouthpiece of
that dirty, Totten, vile, hellish, God for-
saken business will ever sleep in the
White Honse as President of these
United States. Governor Edwards can no
more be elected President than he can
cross the ocean on a grindstone drawn by
cockroaches. The anti-saloon element in
Republican and Democratic parties ac-
cepts the challenge, and we will lick to
a frazzle any man that either party noml-
nates who stands for booze."
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