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 CHAPTER LII

THE PRESS AND THE SOCIALISTS

The particular kind of radical who is most disliked by our newspapers is of course the Socialist. The Socialist meets the class-consciousness of the newspapers with another class-consciousness, almost as definite and aggressive. The Socialist is noisy; also the Socialist has a habit of printing pamphlets and leaflets, thus trespassing on newspaper profits. Every newspaper differs in the names it puts on its "son-of-a-bitch list," but every newspaper agrees in putting the most conspicuous Socialists on its "son-of-a-bitch list." The Hearst newspapers pose as friends of the people; they print a great deal of radical clamor, but there is a standing order in all Hearst offices that American Socialism shall never be mentioned favorably. All newspapers have a rule that if any Socialist get into trouble, it shall be exploited to the full; when Socialists don't get into trouble often enough to suit them, they make Socialists out of people who do get into trouble. Says Max Sherover:

When the King of Greece was shot by an insane and irresponsible man, the "New York Times" and hundreds of other papers ran the headline: "." And although it was proven conclusively that the assassin hadn't even heard of Socialism, none of these papers saw fit to retract their lie.

When the great novelist, David Graham Phillips, was shot by one Goldsborough, every paper in New York knew that Goldsborough not only was not a Socialist, but had often spoken against Socialism. They also knew that the latter had a personal grievance against the author. Notwithstanding these facts, the "New York World" and other papers came out with headlines: "." None of the papers retracted that lie.

When Theodore Roosevelt was shot at in Milwaukee, the Associated Press sent broadcast the news that a Socialist had assaulted the Colonel. Though it was proven by the evidence of the assailant's own statement that he was an affiliated member of a Democratic organization in New York, that he had always voted the Democrat ticket, the "New York Evening Telegram" ran the headline: "." This the "Telegram" never retracted.

Perhaps the most tragic illustration of this kind of thing was the "Chicago Anarchists." There were one or two