THE CASE AGAINST SOCIALISM

Northern Advocate, 21 September 1933, Page 8

THE CASE AGAINST SOCIALISM

AND OTHER ABSURDITIES. THE>PRESS-'UNDER THE SEAECHLIGHT, A " (By A.-Hornet.) - ... No. 23.. At the time when 'Air Wilde ; was writing plays,-“ Salome ” for instance, •which was .not. allowed by the censor to .be .published in England, he failed to have .the isuppbrtroL the Press, and this touched his vanity bn the , raw. Posing as an■■ artistic, .critic, he remarks) “As, for modern journalism, it is -not: my '■ to defend.it. It justifies;fts own existence by the great Darwinian principle of the survival of the jvnlgarist. I have merely, to do witlvyliterature. . . . journalism is .unreadable and literature is not read—that'is all.f-t Heithen goes on to. say, in the ‘ LSoul of Man under SocialNoWythey/have the Press. That is an improvement certainly. But still it is very bad, and wrong, and demoralising.' Somebody—was it Burke? (ft , wasviraeaulay -who.said it was not Burke) called journalism the fourth estate. That' was true at the time, no, doubt. But at the present moment it is the ; only estate. It has eaten up the other, three. The. Lords Temporal’say nothing, the. Lords Spiritual have nothing to say, and the House of .Commons has nothing to say and says it. We aredominated by journalism. > 1 (Of course ' this only applies . to England, for in New Zealand the chosen, or elected' ones, in their ’ House talk, call each other names, pass pin-pricking laws-and-pile on taxes). ‘ ' ln: America the President reigns for four years, and journalism governs for ever/and - ever. -Fortunately, in America,. journalism has carried its authority, to the grossest and most brutal • extreme. ' In England ‘ journal-' v■ • - \ ; ‘ ; i

sim, except in a few well-known instances, not having been carried to such excesses of (brutality is still a. great factor, a really remarkable pow-' er. The tyranny that it proposes to exercise over'people’s private lives seems to me to be quite extraordinary. The fact is that the public have an insatiable curiosity to know everything except what Is worth knowing. Journalism, conscious of this, and having tradesman’s habits, supplies their demands. -In centuries before ours the public nailed the ears of journalists to the pump. That was quite hideous. (I would' call it brutal, even if inflicted on a-. Socialist). In this century journalists have hailed their own ears to the keyhole. That is much worse.”

From a .business point of view, same as. any other concern, the Press has to cater to the public.’ If the public want murder they must have it. If they want divorce they must have it served up with a certain amount of seasoning. . If football is wanted, “halftime” editions must be issued. It is only, right and proper, for : journalists to keep their eyes and ears open. The public demand information, and .by being able to give information is the secret of the strength of the Press. A certain amount of thrills is essential from a business point of view. The proletariat crave for sensation, be it a divorce case, or a football match. The Press has to satisfy these cravings even if it has to sin, but it does not follow that a journalist should have his ears nailed to a, pump. To my mind, the idea of nailing is atrocious. The only ones that should be castigated are those people who write to the Press using a “nom de plume,” not the name given when baptised.

Mr Wilde admits that the Press of England is not so, .brutal as that of America and for once he is right, fn general, the British Press, and this applies to the Dominions, is a clean Press, is free from that vulgarity so prominent in the continental newspapers, especially those devoted to comedy.

Take “Punch,” for instance, it trios hard to 'be funny and sometimes succeeds. The caricatures -in that paper are fairly well drawn and it has exist: ed for nearly a century owing to good taste —not vulgarity. But take the Continental or American papers, the caricatures are -not only ■ vulgar but positively indecent, they would make a parrot blush, and this is the bird that is taught to say naughty words.

American, French ami Gorman papers may often depart from the ib omuls of decency, but at their worst they have the modesty of a pure white lily when compared to Soviet Fussia, this Utopia so admired by the Labour party and socialists because, the proletariat are compelled to “clock in and clock out.” At the time when religion was being subverted the Soviet newspapers published the vilest and most 'Scurrilous caricatures deriding religion. The idea was not an attempt to bo funny—it was Just blasphemous.

Mr Wilde ,can say what lie likes about the Press catering to the public and 'being unreadable, but he forgets that the 'British Press, with very few exceptions, is clean, respectable, and reliable save in the weather reports, for which it is not responsible. Owing to groups of newspapers being bought, and amalgamated, ■ it has lost some of its traditional power. Certain members of the Press were rewarded with peerages for eulogising certain ministers and slurring over their mistakes and struts or thrills have become the order of the day. But substantial papers like the “Morning Post,” “The Times,” “Daily Telegraph,” etc., and many of the provincial .papers, still uphold the credit of the Press as.in the days of yore when. Brinsley 'Sheridan exclaimed “With an unfettered Press he would defy any ■Government to encroach a hair’s breadth on the liberties of the subject.” There is a sterling ring in what Sheridan said, and it rests with the people to 'support the Press in every - Way. remembering,

that the -Press is the safeguard of their liberties.

The Press in the United States lias not the same power or influence as in England, a detriment in my opinion to republican democracy. For this reason the police in the United States are more autocratic, nor have they the suavity of'the, police in England. My modesty prevents mo from. mentioning anything about the walking law in New Zealand. The London police can bo said to be the best disciplined, and most tactful body of men in the world, and This is liiainly owing to the watchful eye of the Press. -Should'"they indulge in any shady work, such as tricks of the' '‘third degree, ” 1 they would soon find out from the Press that policemen were the paid servants of the public and not the masters. If ministers of the Government fried to change the meaning of Avords they also would hear something' drop.

I Hr .Wilde-*ascribes tlio lack of confidence in the U.B. Press to the fact that people “are amused at it, or disgusted at it 'according to their 'temperaments.’ ’ He omits to say why, although he ought to know, as he was once in America lecturing on ■■.■ sunflowers ami aestheticism. The reason is this the Press in the U.B. stultifies itself by the hostility existing between rival newspapers. In fact some newspapers carry on a mimic warfare. This amuses the public and what, the newspapers say whether true, or untrue, is not seriously treated. So bitter is the hostility sometimes between rival papers, (or instance, the “Pittsburg Trumpet,” and the “ Pittsburg Evening Blast, ” that all members of the respective staffs go armed. The gentleman sitting on the editorial throne, would have a six-shooter handy on his desk, and the sub-editor, reporters, and proof-readers Avould.be chosen from men that knew lioav to handle an “automatic’ 7 and able . to shoot, through their trousers with their hands in their pockets at a moment's'notice.

It is no-joke In'in.”* an editor in America, for lie carries liis life in liis hands. And no man would dare run the gauntlet of entering the ollice of a paper in state of war with another paper unless he wanted to commit suicide. I would rather 'be a full-blooded Socialist believing in the : “Douglas Scheme Section’’ than an editor in the United States. If any nailing is to be done why not nail the..ears of socialists to the pump 1 . (To.be_ continued.)^