incidentally, "plenty of room to write." Mr. Ward Price politely regrets that "etiquette" will not permit him to ask me for an interview. Why should newspaper etiquette be allowed to hamper his "duty" as a good sportsman?
To the one journalist who really counts at Lausanne (though his articles were not always printed), I ventured to bring grave charges against the Press. "How is it men of talent and education have allowed themselves to sink to the level of mere machines, that any 'big' proprietor can use to manipulate public opinion? The 'Power of the Press' is a fraud. You never give us the benefit of your knowledge and judgment; whether we take a 'pennyworth of news,' or let 'bang go saxpence.' 'Alas,' said Shakespeare, 'to choose love by another's eyes!' Is it not a hundred times worse 'to write by another's ears?'"
You write only what Mr. MacClure deigns to approve; and, though doubtless honest and unbiassed, he is not himself really "free." He feeds you daily, like the animals in Regent's Park, and, after a good night, you may digest the food. It would be far more honest to issue an "official" Report, without the "false" impression of personal judgments formed on the spot, which a "special correspondent" is meant to produce. The public is taught to laugh at Ismet's pleasantries, via Mr. MacClure! Now I have heard the Pasha rehearsing, and Lord Curzon preparing his "part"; but I still want to witness the duel upon the public platform, for myself.
Could one ever forget the most dramatic moments of the Second Conference at the Hague! Can such incidents be reported unless one has actually seen them! I remember Mr. Choate was down one afternoon to speak on Disarmament. As he rose, Baron Marshall von Bieberstein deliberately closed his ears, and opened a sheet of paper and began to write. Drawing himself up to his commanding height, with a stern air of dignity, Mr. Joseph Choate began—"I have prepared my speech with great care for the express benefit of Baron Marshall. If the noble gentleman is
