THE PRESS AND THE VATICAN.

Evening Star, Issue 12067, 12 December 1903, Page 12

THE PRESS AND THE VATICAN.

Tne great amwini of space devoted by <he (aily papers to events connected with ihe death ot Pope Leo ;ukl the election of his successor has Jed in come quarters to the charge that the Associated Press is uudulv dominated by Roman Catholic influences. rhe Baptist and Methodist ciu.robes of the. United State." remarks "The Xorth-Vvesteru Christian Advocate" 'Chicago). ,; totether cutnumber the Roman Catholics, and ih-~» churches do not receive one-tenth the notice given to Roman Catholic events, while thev furnish a far larger proportion of readers of the daily papers." The same paper continues: 'A few weeks ago two Methodist bishops, Foster and Ku;-st. died. Of the death of one not a line was sent out by the Associated Press, and scarcely a dozen lines concerning the other. Yet both were srreater scholars than Leo XIII. One, Bishop Foster, was one of the most eminent preachers and eloquent orators America has produced, and both represented ecclesiastically a larger number of native Americans than does the Pope at Rome. We do not believe that the Associated Pre:*; is controlled by the Roman Catholic Church, but it does seem ai times to show far more consideration for that church and its representatives than it docs for Protestants and non-Catholics. This may be due to the fact that Roman Catholics are more aggressive in their demands and in their efforts to secure the publication of information rolati»is» to their Clmrch and its work. The Associated Press does a great service for the community, greater than the community realises it ajpp'-eciati's, but it will be a s;ul day fo/- the Assoeh-tcd Press and for the daily papers it serves if the American people should become convinced that that great, news-gatherin;? agency is a tool of the Roman Catholic Church or of any sectarian or class body. Powerful as is the influence of that press and the daily papers which compose it, its. power -would be lest as quickly as was Samson's when shorn of his locks.''