ontrolling force in a republic, and the newspaper gives
to the journalist, beyond every one else, the opportunity to affect
public opinion. Others reach the readers through the courtesy of the
newspaper, but the owner of the paper has full access to his own
columns, and does not fear the blue pencil.

The journalist occupies the position of a watchman upon a tower. He is
often able to see dangers which are not observed by the general public,
and, because he can see these dangers, he is in a position of greater
responsibility. Is he discharging the duty which superior opportunity
imposes upon him? Year by year the disclosures are bringing to light the
fact that the predatory interests are using many newspapers and even
some magazines for the defense of commercial iniquity and for the
purpose of attacking those who lift their voices against favouritism and
privilege. A financial magnate interested in the exploitation of the
public secures control of a paper; he employs business managers,
editors, and a reportorial staff. He does not act openly or in the
daylight but through a group of employees who are the visible but not
the real directors. The reporters are instructed to bring in the kind of
news that will advance the enterprises owned by the man who stands back
of the paper, and if the news brought in is not entirely satisfactory,
it is doctored in the office. The columns of the paper are filled with
matter, written not for the purpose of presenting facts as they exist,
but for the purpose of distorting facts and misleading the public. The
editorial writers, whose names are generally unknown to the public, are
told what to say and what subjects to avoid. They are instructed
to extol the merits of those who are subservient to the interests
represented by the paper, and to misrepresent and traduce those who dare
to criticize or oppose the plans of those who hide behind the paper.
Such journalists are members of a kind of "Black Hand Society"; they are
assassins, hiding in ambush and striking in the dark; and the worst of
it is that the readers have no sure way of knowing when a real change
takes place in the ownership of such a paper notwithstanding the fact
that a recent law requires publication of ownership.

There are degrees of culpability and some are disposed to hold an
editorial writer guiltless even when they visit condemnation upon the
secret director of the paper's policy. I present to you a different--and
I b