SOMETHING ABOUT "TRUTH."

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 7865, 16 May 1891, Page 3

SOMETHING ABOUT "TRUTH."

Truth was, as most people know,' established by Mr Laboacbere, M.P., who left the staff of the World to start his own paper. Mr Edmund Yates told him one day how difficult he found it to get his financial article done properly. In the course of the conversation that followed Mr Labouchere sketched out his idea of the way in which this kind of matter should or written, and Mr Yates thought so well of the lines laid, down by the senior member for Northampton that he asked him II he minded carrying them oat in tbe World. Thus it came about that " West End Usurers " and other articles, which attracted great attention, appeared in Mr Yates's paper. Before long Mr Labouchere decided to start on his own account. He wrote to Mr Voules, who had shortly before left the Echo, after having conducted it from the day it wat. started by Messrs Caestll

Iα 1868 to the time when It passed into the hands of Mr Passmore Edwards Iα Juno, 1875. As the result of this letter, and the meetings which followed it. Truth was flretpubliahed Iα January, 1870. "Why did we call the paper TrutM , said Mr Voules. "Well, yon see, we knew perfectly well that everyone would jeer at us, co we thought that we would make things as pleasant as possible fat them by selecting a name in which the weakest intellect could not fail to find a source of inspiration if satirically Inclined."

Truth Iβ, perhaps, the only paper which has required no capital. An ample eu m was placed to the credit of the now venture when the start was made, but Che paper paid from the very first, and the capital was never drawn, upon. A good story ia told regarding the early days of the paper. After the lapse of six months, Mr Voul«n placed their first balance-sheet before Mr Labouchere. The latter, after a rapid scrutiny of the document, looked up with "This won't do, Voules. I've made out too many balance-sheets to be able to swallow this sort of thing. ,, " It'a a>l right, my dear fellow," was the reply. My figures are straightforward enough, whatever yours may have been." And co they were.

Mr Voules told mo that, when Mr LabOOehere and he started, they were perfectly alive to the fact that tnanv people tfaoupch* their paper wrs going* to distinguish itself by vulgarity, or something worse. They therefore procured a picture of a bcwttchingly inuocent young lady about seventeen years of age, and installed her on the editorial table. If any paragraph cropped up about which there waa the slightest doubt' ono or other of them read it aloud to the damsel, and, provided no blush mantled her cheek, they kuew that it was all right, and in it went. The Good Genius of the paper, as they called her, after a long and honorable career at Truth office, retired on a pension which took the form of a gold frame, aud now dreams away a peaceful existence far from the bustle of journalism. Of all the libel suits in which Truth has been involved, only a couple have gone against the paper. One of these turned upon no less absorbing a point than the position of a pump at Lincoln, and damages were obtained against the paper to the tune of J2IOO. Truth's first libel case brought fame not only to the paper, but to a man who is now ono of the great legal lights of the day—Sir Charles Russell, Q.C., M.P. The action waa brought by one Robertson, who promoted the Royal Aquarium, and who waa mixed up in a variety of matters, to which Mr Labouchere, as a shareholder in the Koyal Aquarinm Company, took gravo exception. As Mr Youfes said to mc: " There was not a noun or an adjective which we did not call him. ,. The case was a good one, and plain Mr Russell, as he was thou, came out very strong. He bad beou practically unknown before, but his conduct of * this case brought him prominently before the public, and he did not fail to make good use of his opportunity. The libel action par excellence, however, was one brought oy Mr Edward La W3ou, proprietor of the. Daily TeUgraph. The trial was rendered remarkable by the fact that no solicitors or counsel represented Truth. Mr Laboucbere and Mr Voulesconducteti the case in person made their own addresses to judge and jury, cross-examined witnesses and succeeded in presenting matters in a light sufficiently favourable to themselves .to cause a disagreement ot the jury, with the result that the case was dismissed. Were it not that 2'ruth and the Daily Telegraph are now on the friendliest of terms It would be indiscreet to draw attention to the fact that Mr Labouchere is still out on the bail ou which he was released when this action was brought. Mr Voules waa hia bail when the case was dismissed, and remains so still, for the action waa never resumed after the jury had dis« agreed as to the rights and wrongs of it. The form and appearance of Truth have never undergone auy change. The only alteration has been cowards enlargement, For whereas the earlier numbers consisted of but from forty-eight to slxby-foui columns, the minimum now is ninety-six, and this often expands to as many as 120. The independent position which the papei has always occupied is shown by the little fart that in the first two or three numben there were no advertisements at all on the cover page at the baok of the young lads who stands holding up a light to the world. It was not found possible to get' for this position the price asked, co the space was simply left blank. Needless to say it did not remain so long when onoe the success of the paper was assured. The strongest feature of Truth, and the one that no doubt has had most to do with the popularity of the paper, is, the showing up of abuses. So soon as Truth is satisfied that a wrong is being committed, whether it takes the form of swindling, oppression, or blackmail, the offender Iβ " gone for " with a vigour and directness which are pretty sure to lead to some result. Plain speaking is the order of the day, and if the individual thinks himself maligned he cau take whatever steps seem to him best adapted to reinstate hit fair fame.

" How many duchesses have you on youi staff, Mr Vouies f' I asked. ,r You know rumouv assert* that half the peerage Iβ on your pay roll, and thtt deficience* of income arising from the agricultural depression are met by supplying on elite to your columns." "We never trust ducheeeee," was the reply. "Not that we refuse information from high quarters; we take anything really good that cornea to us, but we are very careful to verify it, for experience teaches us that many people in high stations are not above drawing the long bow if they think that anything is to be made out of so doing." An elaborate system Iβ pursued in Truth office for keeping secret the name* of contributors. These are known to ho one except the editor and the business manager, who makes out the cheques. They are all entered up in the books under the common name of Walker. Mr Vouies called for his day book and showed mc the entries for the next number. A page and more was filled with Walkers, to whom various distinguishing Christian names had been given; but whether "Cicero Walker" veiled the identity of the Archbishop of Canterbury or aFleed street penny -a - liner, and " SadleE Walker (a new contributory named after the man arrested on suspicion of having committed the last Whltechapel murder) stood for Mr Gladstone or the Duke of Portland's valet, was a mystery which my inquiries failed to clear up. The " Queer Stories . which appear weekly in Truth are a very popular feature. Nine-tenths of them originate in the editorial room in Carteret street, lha plots are given to contributors, who work them up. Originally these stories were all written by the late Mr Grenville Murray. Uβ lived in Paris, and Mr Vouies used to go over once or twice a Tear to discuss subjects with him and decide upon the manner in which they should be treated. Stories are pigeon holed relating to almost any event that Is likely to happen. If, for example, a poisonine case that made the country ring came to light next week, the editor of Truth, could, if he thought fit, publish in his next edition a story turning upon a crime of the kind. Iα the same way "Scrutator" Is posted as to the lines which he should pursue in bis crusade against crooked ways. ' The writer of tbe Paris letter is Bffra Crawford, well known as the correspon* dent of the Daily News in the French capital. The ,, Girls Gosilp," which was the first of its kind, and which has, perhapsJbeen more extensivelyimitated than even "TbeSt&r c "Mainly about people," is written by Mrs Humphrey, one of the roost eucceeefol lady journalists of the day, Mr Laboachere still writes a good deal for the paper. He is a very quick worker and turns out wonderfully clean "copy," scarcely ever making a correction in whab he has written. Truth was the first paper ever presented to the public cut ana stitched. The thia paper foreign edition of Truth has a wonderfully large circulation ; in fact, no other paper can touch it in this respect. Truth Christmas number is also unequalled in its way, its sale rnnning Into sixty or seventy-thousand copies at a shilling apiece. The whole of the matter for the Christmas number is done in the office. It is first sketched out In prose, and is then turned into the "Tennysonian* , verse in which it makes its appearance. The illustrations, which are so striking a feature of the Christmas number, are invariably fron the clever pen of la» F. Carruthers Gould.