by John A. Quayle (blueoval@sgi.net)
[Comment: There it is, in plain English! The following information gives some hint as to the power of the media, how public opinion can be easily molded and gives some background why the mainstream media does not publicize a lot of information, or allow certain voices to be heard. It was retyped from a copy from the microfilm dept. of the San Diego Library downtown. -JAQ]
Mr. CALLAWAY. Mr. Chairman, under unanimous consent, I insert in the record at this point a statement showing the newspaper combination, which explains their activity in this war matter, just discussed by the gentleman from Pennsylvania,
[Mr. Moore]: "In March, 1915, the J.P. Morgan interests, the steel, shipbuilding, and powder interests, and their subsidiary organizations, got together 12 men high up in the newspaper world and employed them to select the most influential newspapers in the United States and sufficient number of them to control generally the policy of the daily press of the United States.
"These 12 men worked the problem out by selecting 170 newspapers, and then began, by an elimination process, to retain only those necessary for the purpose of controlling the general policy of the daily press throughout the country. They found it was only necessary to purchase the control of 25 of the greatest newspapers.
"The 25 papers were agreed upon; emissaries were sent to purchase the policy, national and international, of these papers; an agreement was reached; the policy of the papers was bought, to be paid for by the month; an editor was furnished for each paper to properly supervise and edit information regarding the questions of preparedness, militarism, financial policies, and other things of national and international nature considered vital to the interest of the purchasers.
"This contract is in existence at the present time, and it accounts for the news columns of the daily press of the country being filled with all sorts of preparedness argument and misrepresentations as to the present condition of the United States Army and Navy and the possibility and probability of the United States being attacked by foreign foes.
"This policy also included the suppression of everything in opposition to the wishes of the interests served. The effectiveness of this scheme has been conclusively demonstrated by the character of stuff carried in the daily press throughout the country since March, 1915. They have resorted to anything necessary to commercialize public sentiment and sandbag the national congress into making extravagant and wasteful appropriations for the Army and Navy under the false pretense that it was necessary. Their stock argument is that it is "patriotism." They are playing on every prejudice and passion of the American people."
Mr. MOORE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike out the last word. I am in favor of this paragraph in the Navy appropriation bill, because I think the country ought to be fully prepared for any possible invasion; but I think the Congress ought to be careful about encouraging "rumors of war" when war has not actually been declared. Perhaps it would be safe to leave this matter to the President of the United States and to those who have direct knowledge upon the subject. I call attention, however, not only to these false reports of the Housatonic and about the California, but the steamship Philadelphia was reported sunk since the President was here, and yet the next day, after these reports had gone over the country like wildfire and everybody got excited about the Philadelphia, which naturally attracted interest in that great city and in the State of Pennsylvania, we found the Philadelphia had safely arrived in port, so that report was also in error.
Now, whether by design or not I do not know, but it seems that most of these false reports come from London. There seems to be an intense desire there to tell us about German outrages and about American blood shed on foreign ships or to find that some American ship has been shot up.
...and it continues on in the Congressional Record
"Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." Thomas Jefferson
Source: SAFAN Internet Newsletter, No. 632, August 21, 1997
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