carry department-store advertising—spoke of a meeting at the doors of a "large retail establishment." They also referred to an earlier incident as a disturbance at the doors of a "Sixth Avenue Store," not daring to mention the name, Gimbel's.
Or again, Prof. Ross:
In New York the salesgirls in the big shops had to sign an exceedingly
mean and oppressive contract, which, if generally known,
would have made the firms odious to the public. A prominent social
worker brought these contracts, and evidence as to the bad conditions
that had become established under them, to every newspaper in the
city. Not one would print a line on the subject.
And not only do they exclude the news; they keep watch
over the general ideas which go into their columns, to make
sure there is nothing to injure the sensibilities of department-stores,
or to favor the girl-slaves of department-stores. Would
you think I was absurd if I were to declare that there is a
whole set of philosophical ideas which the newspapers forbid
you to know about, because the department-stores ordain?
Yes, even so! You must believe in free will, you must not
believe in economic determinism! You must think that prostitution
is a sexual phenomenon; you must not learn that
prostitution is an economic phenomenon. Anybody who advocates
the heretical, anti-department-store doctrine that white-slavery
is caused by low wages will be suppressed, and if necessary
will be slandered as an immoral person. You remember
the "New York World," its solemn editorial about twenty-cent
dinners? Some years ago the "World" was under contract
to publish every week a short story by O. Henry. They received
the manuscript of what posterity has come to recognize
as O. Henry's masterpiece, "The Unfinished Story"; they refused
to publish this "Unfinished Story," because it was injurious
to department-stores!
Or consider what happened when the Illinois Vice Commission made an investigation of the causes of prostitution, and submitted one of the best reports on this subject ever written. The report was highly sensational, also it was highly important; it was news in every possible sense of the word. But it attributed prostitution to low wages, and therefore only one Chicago newspaper gave an adequate account of this report!
You saw the "Boston Herald" and "Journal," and also the "Boston Post," forbidding you to know that President
