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Show DISFAVOR AROUSED BY HEARST'S CHARGES Considerable unfavorable comment has been aroused by the charges printed in I learst papers alleging that United States Senators were involved with the Government of Mexico. Senator Norris in an open letter to Mr. Hearst is quoted as saying: "A fair analysis of the recent articles published in the Hearst papers showing an alleged attempt by Mexican officials to bribe United States Senators and editors of various publications, and an analysis of your testimony before the Senate committee, leads to the inevitable conclusion that you are not only unfair, and dishonest, but that you are entirely without honor. "These articles show, on their face, a constant attempt to draw conclusions not justified from the articles themselves, and to practice deception upon the American people. "It is not necessary to consider any other evidence in order to tp. nch ths fair conclusion that in them you are making an attempt not oniy to besmirch the character of some of our own officials and journalists, but that you are trying to excite an animosity and a hatred oh the part of our people against the Mexican Government which, if your articles and alleged official documents were true, would inevitably lead to war between the two countries." "You must have known." the Senator said further, "what was common knowledge among the newspaper men of the United States that many alleged documents 'from Mexico were being offered for sale to all kinds cjf organizations and to all sorts of publications. "There is not a newspaper man in the city of Washington but has not known for the past year that it was possible to buy forged documents relating to the Mexican Government. Peddlers of this kind of merchandise were almost as common as bootleggers." The Senator offered much proof to show that the letters were obiviously false and apparently published with malacious intent, and also written in such a way as to deceive the majority of the people reading them concerning the relations between this country and Mexico. An article written under the caption "Tracy Says" in the Daily News of Washington, a column commenting upon current events of the day, reads in part as follows: "According to the testimony thus far, the first batch of documents docu-ments was purchased from two Mexican clerks for $3,000. Some time later another and apparently larger batch was purchased from the same two clerks for $ 1 2,000. A little later still, Hearst's contact con-tact man, Avila, tried to get a job in the Mexican consul's office at New York. Failing in this, he established friendly relations with a clerk in that office whom he pursuaded to rifle the files with theidea it was being done for the Catholic Church and with the approval of Archbishop Diaz. Taken as a whole these transactions look very lik" compounding theft." cpL have a right," the article said in conclusion, "to demand certain standards in the gathering of news, especially of news which might drape their sons over barbed-wire entanglements. "They have a right to insist on methods and practices which promote common honesty among nations as well as individuals. "They have a right to expect such an attitude toward gathering and broadcasting information as will make it easier, not harder, for them to live in peace with neighboring peoples." |