Page:The Brass Check (Sinclair 1919).djvu/243

 The average country or small-town editor is an entirely ignorant man; the world of culture is a sealed book to him. His idea of literature is the "Saturday Evening Post"—only as a rule he doesn't have time to read it. His idea of art is a lithograph of the President and Vice-President with a stand of flags. His idea of music is "Onward, Christian Soldiers," and "Columbia the Gem of the Ocean." He has an idea what is good for his readers; "optimism" and "boost," "cheer-up" stuff, "mother, home and heaven" stuff, "sob" stuff, "slush for the women." He has no money to pay writers, of course; he doesn't even set type, except for local news. He gets his "filler" in the form of "boiler-plate," sent practically free from Washington and New York—this matter containing fiction, poetry, "special stories," novelty and gossip of the sort his readers find entertaining. What difference does it make if sandwiched in between this reading matter is the poison propaganda of the Merchants' and Manufacturers' Association, of the tariff-lobbyists, the railroad-lobbyists, the liquor-lobbyists, the whole machine of capitalist graft and greed?

Several years ago I had a brilliant and wonderful idea. I was finishing "King Coal," and thought that I had an excellent serial, timely, and full of swift incident. I ascertained that there were seventeen thousand weekly newspapers in America; surely among this number must be a few hundred which would like to give their readers the truth about labor conditions in a basic American industry! I would build up a little syndicate of my own, I would market my future books, and perhaps those of other writers! I prepared a circular, outlining the plan, and offering the entire serial for some nominal sum, ten or fifteen dollars, plus the cost of the plates from which the printing would be done. I prepared a sample sheet, containing the first half-dozen chapters of "King Coal"; you may consult the volume and satisfy yourself as to whether they are interesting chapters. I sent out the offer to thousands of weeklies, and waited for replies. How many do you think I got? I didn't keep a record, but you could have counted them on your fingers, without your thumbs!

No, the editors of country and small-town newspapers are not giving their readers the truth about labor conditions in basic American industries. They know, as the phrase is, "which side their bread is buttered on," and they keep that side up with care. I have said that there are fortunes to be