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Show !Ui!roc4s a the Newspiptr. 1 One of. the big railroad magnates who, by raising a dust about other and less important issues, are endeavoring to cloud the real issue of regulating freight rates, has come out with a statement re- gartling the iniquity of the pass evil. He gives a long list of classes of men who receive passes from railroads, including every occupation from the lord- ly banker to the humble newspaper man. I: - We confess ignorance regarding the personal :j manners and customs of bankers, but we know that 1' mighty few newspaper men accept passes from rail roads gratuitously. Railroads advertise in newspa-v newspa-v pers. The space they contract for is 'charged up I against them, transportation is issued against it :. and the account is balanced at stated times. Every j newspaper has traveling representatives of the bus- I iness, circulation and editorial departments. They lire usually obliged to travel at a moment's notice, and as a matter of convenience for them transportation transpor-tation at mileage book rates is obtained from the ! railroads and is on hand ready for use in the news paper offices. I When the account is4balanced the debtor pays j the creditor in cash. If the newspaper has used wore transportation than the value of the advertis ing space used by the railroad amounts to, it pays the railroad and vice versa. It is a cold-blooded business transaction. The use of transportation merely saves time. Men might pay each other in c;ish in every business transaction but thev do not. 1 I It Is too slow and unhandy. They use checks or drafts. So the newspapers and the railroads trans nt-t their running business with transportation. Every bit of mileage used by a newspaper is paid for either in cash or its equivalent, advertising. The newspapers are under no obligation to the railroads except to treat them fairly. That obliga-1 obliga-1 ion exists on Ihe part of a well conducted newspaper newspa-per toward all legitimate enterprises. The almost unanimous indorsement by the press of the plan to regulate railroad rates is. proof positive that the newspapers do not accept favors at the hands of the loads and that thej are in no sense bound to guard the interests of the roads as against the interests of the general public. The Telegram does .not believe in entering into i ' a discussion of the affairs of newspaper making. The newspaper should speak for itself. But in this , instance so false an impression of the relations of ! the railroads and the press has been given that we make this explanation in justice to the profession. |