insiders, you might as well apply for a flying-machine to visit the moon, The members of the Associated Press have what is called "the right of protest"—that is, they can object to new franchises being issued; and this power they use ruthlessly to maintain their monopoly. Says Will Irwin:
To the best of my knowledge, only two or three new franchises
have ever been granted over the right of protest—and those after a
terrible fight. Few, indeed, have had the hardihood to apply. When
such an application comes up in the annual meeting, the members
shake with laughter as they shout out a unanimous "No!" For owing
to the exclusive terms of the charter, an Associated Press franchise
to a metropolitan newspaper is worth from fifty thousand dollars to
two hundred thousand dollars. Abolish the exclusive feature, throw
the Association open to all, and you wipe out these values. The publishers
are taking no chances with a precedent so dangerous.
A few years ago the editor of the "News" of Santa Cruz,
California, applied for the Associated Press franchise for his
paper. The San Francisco manager of the Associated Press
refused it, and gave this explanation, according to a statement
by the editor of the "News":
The San Francisco daily papers owned all the Associated Press
franchises for that city, and they also controlled a vast outlying territory,
including Santa Cruz, eighty miles away, and would refuse to
permit Associated Press dispatches to be printed by me or anyone else
in Santa Cruz.
There is only one way to get by this barrier, and that is
to pay the price. Joseph A. Scranton, proprietor of the
"Scranton Republican," forced a man who wished to start
another newspaper in Scranton to pay him ten thousand dollars
before he could have the Associated Press franchise for that
small city. When the "San Francisco Globe" wanted the
Associated Press franchise, it had to buy the "San Francisco
Post" at the price of a hundred and ten thousand dollars.
Admittedly the "Post" had no value, it was not a competitor
in any sense; the price paid was for the franchise alone—and
it was stated by the "San Francisco Star" that the greater part
of the value consisted in a lower telegraph rate, a special
privilege granted by the Western Union telegraph company
to the Associated Press.
Also the Associated Press, being a membership corporation or club, possesses the legal right to expel and to discipline its members. This right it has specifically asserted in its charter;
