The Press: Public Service

• Share

"First in public service" is the slogan of The New York World. In Manhattan The Times is famous for its "comprehensiveness"; The Tribune for its "features"—Briggs, Darling, Grantland Rice, Mark Sullivan, Don Marquis, "Young Boswell"; The Herald for its Munsianism; The American for its sensationalism and its comics; and The News for the fact that it is read by 500,000 people, all gum-chewers.

The World is "first in public service." And one of the services it has just performed is to introduce into the New York state legislature (through Senator Walker) an Anti-Ku Klux Klan Bill.

In the early 80's The World collected $100,000 in contributions from its readers for the erection of the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. Recent instances of public service include: The exposé of the building trades scandal in Manhattan in 1920, the Klan exposé in 1921, the original agitation which brought about the Washington Disarmament Conference in November, 1921.

"He had put the muzzle of the revolver in his mouth and fired. Several newspapers were in the room, including a copy of the Daily Mail."—The London Daily Mail.

"Let this — poor devil — be your epitaph:

You lived, were harried, saw all prospects fail;

But wholly not in vain (see paragraph)

Who died to advertise the Daily Mail." —The New Witness.

"A little man with an angry face and a repulsive manner who sought to make no man his friend, who never made an interesting speech and never talked less than four hours."That is a description (in the current issue of The Forum) of a prominent United States Senator who would like to be President.

"He was bandy-legged and lame of one foot; his shoulders were crooked and contracted towards his chest; his head was peaked towards the top and then wool was scattered over it. . . . And on this occasion, shouting out shrillly, he uttered bitter taunts."—That is the description of Theristes, "reckless babbler" of Homer's Iliad.

Chester S. Lord, who was Managing Editor of Charles A. Dana's Sun, has written a book: The Young Man and Journalism. "A gloomier or more pessimistic tract never we saw," say the critics. "Young men who read Mr. Lord's book will take to bricklaying sooner than journalism!"