The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, May 3, 1920, Page 4

St. Paul Daily News Has Surrendered Independent Editor Resigns Rather Than Reverse Policy and Support Candidate of Corrupt Political Machine BY CHESTER W. VONIER HE pen is mightier than the sword, perhaps, but the important question today is, “Who controls the pen?” Is it the editor himself who is speaking in the columns of a daily newspaper, or is it the owner of the paper, in- fluenced by the advertising revenues that flow through the business office ? This question is important today because of these facts: The St. Paul Daily News, which has built up through 20 years the reputation of being the one large independent daily in the state of Minnesota, has just lost its editor of the last seven years, Henry B. R. Briggs. Mr. Briggs’ resignation came in the middle of a hot city campaign, in which the News was maintaining its historical position in opposition to the corrupt “Dick” O’Connor ma- chine. The O’Connor machine candidate for mayor, Hodgson, also was supported liberally by Twin Cities business interests, many of which were large ad- vertisers in the News. During this campaign the News had given favorable com- ment to William Mahoney, who led Hodgson by more than 2,000 votes at the primaries. Mr. Mahoney is president of the Working People’s Nonpar- tisan Political league, which co-operated with the Nonpar- tisan league in indorsing can- didates for state office in Min- nesota. Following Mr. Briggs’ resig- nation the News immediately began to refer disparagingly to Mr. Mahoney, its political reporter was instructed to cease favorable comments re- garding his candidacy and the News, if not actually support- ing Hodgson, at least forgot all about its old-time fight with the O’Connor machine. Before going farther let me state that I am speaking as a former member of the staff of the News and that I was present when some of the events of which I speak took place. I was present when Mr. Briggs announced his withdrawal from the paper because he could not submit to the de- mands made upon him to reverse his position. I was there when the new editor, W. A. Frishie, who is also editor of the Minneapolis Daily News, an- nounced flatly in a conference of the editors of the paper that the News wotld no longer support Mr. Mahoney. And I know, too, the terrific pressure that was brought upon the various owners of the St. Paul News to force its change in position. OWNER OF NEWS STARTED PAPER WITH HIGH IDEALS To get a elear pxcture of the events that have just transpired it is necessary to go back at least 20 years. The prinecipal stockholder in the Daily News is L. V. Ashbaugh. Mr. Ashbaugh himself has been something of an idealist. One of his ventures in publishing a newspaper is one of the great romances of the fourth estate. A story told vividly in “The Story of the Sun” some years ago in the Saturday Evening Post, dealt with an at- tempt of three young men to print a newspaper that would be absolutely true to its own ideals, and which would permit no dictation of its editorial policy from advertisers. Mr. Ashbaugh was one of the three men. The venture was made in St. Joseph, Mo., and the paper was called the St. Joseph Star. Both the name and the location were thinly cloaked in the magazine story under the title of the “St. James Sun.” The venture actually failed, because the three men were unable to hold on just a little time longer. But with such ideals and with such an adventure William Mahoney, labor candidate for mayor of St. Paul and opponent of the O’Conner machine. was supported by the St. Paul Daily News, in spite of the protests of powerful business interests, the resignation of H. B. R. Briggs as editor. date for mayor, is op- - Mayor Hodgson, who Mr. Ashbaugh began his career as a newspaper publisher. When the St. Paul Dally News was established in 1900 by Mr. Ashbaugh and W. B. Colver, now chairman of the federal trade commission and one of the foremost liberals in »t.he country, who has fought all attempts of the packing trust to contrel the whole food supply of the country, there were similar goals. The Daily News was to be a news- paper without favor to any group or interest, which would make an honest effort to serve its readers solely. It faced a rocky road. There were four other papers in St. Paul at the time, each of them serving some political group or business interest. The St. Paul News came in as an announced independent newspaper. That program has been maintained ever since, with some certain concessions to practicality, until the present, when it has definitely abandon- ed its principles and has joined all the ‘other newspapers in the Twiar Cities Nor is this t most tragic fact in it all. t lies in the reputation it has gained among its readers for uncompromising fairness. From a beginning of 10,000 subscribers in 1900 it has risen, by the sheer pow- er of its reputation, to more than 75,000 subscribers in 1920. These subscnbers represent a group of readers who have come to helieve implicitly in the Daily News, people who were proud that their newspa- per could be fair. ‘That same feeling pervaded the staff. When I came to the Daily News some of the ideals that I had when I broke into the game were revived. . Mr. Briggs seemed to have the un- usual power of transmitting to his employes some of the same enthusiasm for fairness that he himself held. He preached to the members of his staff the gospel of independence. Not untll the new editor of the St. Paul Daily News took charge and called into conference his subeditors and departmental heads, was any other order given to members of the staff than to be fair and to make certain of facts. . For more than seven years I have worked on newspapers in various cities and under various con- ditions, and in those seven years most of the illu- sions I had when I entered the game were very Mahoney until thoroughly rubbed off. Thus, when I came to the . staff of the News a year ago, I was skeptical of the likelihood that any newspaper whose chief revenue came from . the advertising it carried would be thoroughly independent. But under the enthusiasm of Mr. Briggs I came to believe. On that paper I met one man who had come 1,000 miles to join a newspaper shat could hold up its head and announce that ° it was independent. ‘On that newspaper today is at least one man confirmed in the skepticism of newspa- per virtue. Another has recently left 'it. They have seen and they re- alize that “who pays the fiddler calls the tune.” The break came just a few days over two weeks before the gen- eral election in St. Paul, in which William Mahoney, labor candi- posed to the incumbent, PAGE FOUR It is virtually certain now that the St. Paul Daily News will join the general line-up against the farmers and organ- ized labor in the state campaign in Min- nesota this year. There is one chance for the organized farmers and workers to get the truth before the public. That lies in their own paper—the Minnesota Daily Star. A drive is now on to sell the last block of stock that stockhold- ers have voted to place before the pa- per is started. Tt is hoped that this will be accomplished and all difficulties re- moved so that the Star can start pub- lication within the next few weeks. was placed in that position and is being supported for re-election by the “O’Connor machine.” Mr. O’Connor is one of the few remaining bosses in municipal politics. For years his grip on St. Paul politics has been notorious. Thieves and “fences” have been protected. Graft has flourigshed. His political henchmen have only recently been discov- ered in the looting of the county treasury. The leader of the underworld farces, which supported the machine, was allowed to escape from jail fol- lowing his conviction. - Wholesale vote frauds were perpetrated in the 1918 elections, though only a few of the guilty were convicted. Mr. Mahoney is being bitterly opposed by the large business interests of St. Paul. They are contributing huge sums to the fund to insure his defeat. “Three-sheet” posters are plastered on billboards throughout the city, warning the citizens of the “dangers of socialism.” Much more money is being spent in newspaper advertising. BRIGGS DECIDES HE CAN BE OF MORE USE ELSEWHERE Some days before Mr. Briggs’ resignation there was a hurried conference in Chicago. What tran- spired there can only be guessed at, but on his re- turn it became known that he would be supplanted in the editorial chair. It was then that the sus- piciorf of the commg change in political policy be- gan to take root in the minds of some of the other members of the staff. These suspicions were con- firmed when Mr. Briggs announced his retirement and that Mr. Frisbie would succeed him. In his statement read to members of the staff Mr. Briggs said that his decision to withdraw from the News “came about through circumstances which indicate plainly to me that I can be.of more service in the game of life in some other field of activity.” After the formal meeting of the staff Mr. Frisbie called into consultation several of the editors, my- self among them. He announced to us that the policy of the paper would henceforth be changed, that the “color” would be taken out of political stories. He told us he had given such instruections to the political writer. What he meant by “taking - the color out of the political stories” was indicated a few moments later when he voiced the suspicion that Mr. Mahoney, if elected, “could not control his following.” He announced that the paper would present Mr Mahoney’s case, but no more so than Mr. Hodgson’s. This is in spite of the fact that the News has been the one implacable foe of the O’Connor machine. But the announcement of the new editor of the paper, it is apparent, means that if Mr. Hodgson is not given the tacit support of the News, the paper at least will not plead the cause of the anti- machine ecandidate. It also probably means that the paper will support the opposition to the farm- er-labor ticket in the primary and in the general election in the fall. This is not the first time that the Daily News has surrendered principle to expediency. The Daily News welcomed the Nonpartisan league into the state, supported the farmer-labor candidate, C. A. Lindbergh, in the pre-primary campaign in 1918 .until a few days before the election, and then sud- denly withdrew that support. The reason for that action becomes more clear in the light of the re- ; cent developments. In that instance, how- ever, Mr. Briggs justi- fied himself through the book written by Mr. Lindbergh and used as propaganda by the Burnquist forces in Minnesota. In the pres- ent case, however, the issue was money and the “gang” against the worker, and there were no grounds, Mr. Briggs felt, on which the with- drawal could be justi- fied. Rather than sub- mit to the exigencies of the case, as interpreted by the business office, Mr. Briggs resigned.