to smash the Seattle strike. And finally there is the "Post-Intelligencer," which was purchased in the interest of James J. Hill and the Great Northern Railroad, and placed one hundred and seventy thousand dollars worth of its bonds in the hands of these interests. The paper was taken over, says my informant, by "the notorious Jacob Furth interests of Seattle. Furth was head of the Seattle transportation lines and the Seattle National Bank, and was the village pawnbroker. The paper had gradually gotten more and more into debt to the banks, and its present ownership arose out of that fact."
Such is the newspaper plight of the Pacific coast! And now come to the Atlantic coast, and take one of our great centers of culture; take the Hub of the Universe, take Boston. The newspaper plight of Boston is beyond telling. There is the "Evening Transcript," owned by an extremely wealthy and reactionary family, serving every wealthy and reactionary interest, and incidentally taking advertising bribes, as I shall presently show. There is the "Boston American," owned by Hearst, and the "Boston Daily Advertiser," also owned by Hearst. The latter is the oldest newspaper in Boston, and a year ago its circulation was cut down to a thousand copies, its publication being continued merely in order that Hearst may retain its Associated Press franchise. There is the "Boston Globe," and its evening edition, controlled, I am informed, by Standard Oil. There is the "Boston Herald," and its evening edition, the "Traveler," owned by the Plant and United Shoe Machinery interests, with ex-Senator Crane holding the balance of power. There is the "Post," also heavily in debt to Crane—who is one of the leading reactionaries of New England. The owner of the "Post" is described to me by one who knows him as "a sick man, who like all men who have accumulated a great deal of wealth, is inclined to be conservative and fearful of change."
Finally, there is the "Christian Science Monitor," owned and run by a group of wealthy metaphysicians, who teach that Poverty is a Delusion of Mortal Mind, and that Hunger can be relieved by Thinking. I make it a practice when a public emergency arises, and I have something to say which I think is important, to send it to leading newspapers by telegraph collect. Sometimes the newspapers publish it, nearly always they accept it and pay for it—because they judge there is a possibility of their getting something important by this method.
