Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 290, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 December 1910 — “Editorially” for Temperance, But The Ad Room Is for Whiskey. [ARTICLE]

“Editorially” for Temperance, But The Ad Room Is for Whiskey.

The Democrat claims to be a good temperance paper “editorially,” but says that it don’t let sentiment run away with its business sense. This is the excuse for printing a three column advertisement for whiskey. Editorially the Democrat don’t believe in whiskey, but for $8 it will sell its columns to a distiller. In other words money is the ruler in the Democrat counting boom and no matter if the editor and the business manager are one and the same person, the Democrat will sacrifice a conviction for $8 and turn bartender to all who want Christmas whiskey. The Democrat speaks of the policy of the Indianapolis News, which carries whiskey ads, calling the News "editorially” one of the strongest temperance newspapers in the country. That would be a great joke all by itself to any one acquainted with the News. Three years ago the News did seem to be a strong paper for county option and Billy Blodgett went about the state writing up the beneficent effect that the county option law was having wherever saloons were voted out. Then a democratic state platform declared for a different basis of option and the News changed thumbs. It took two or three weeks for Blodgett to get himself back to the News way of thinking but he finally stopped his temperance praise. The saloon interests were in control of the News and its columns teemed with whiskey ads. Since then no one has said that the News was a temperance paper. It has followed the policy of the Democrat and has not permitted “sentiment” to “run away with its business sense.” The policy of the Democrat seems to be that of appearance for temperance, but financially for booze. It is a queer conscience that for $8 will sell out to the liquor interests. Regarding the advertising of a foreign doctor, The Republican is playing in no double role. When the advertising was refused by The Republican three years ago, the paper was under the control of the writer only. Since that time The Republican and The Journal consolidated and the departments of the paper are looked after by different members of the firm. The writer did not know that the advertising was in this paper until the paper was out. We think nb differently about traveling medical quacks now than we did three years ago. Likewise the whiskey ad proposition reached the hands of the advertising man, but realizing the polic.' and the convictions of The Republican editorially against the liquor business, an immediate censorship

was placed on whiskey ads. The Republican will spoil no happy Christmas home by influencing father to spend his money for a package of Some years ago Babcock told in his paper, how he remained in the first ward for three years when he really wanted to move, just to help defeat the saloons by signing a remonstrance. Now he is putting you next to how you can get your holiday drinks. An $8 change of “sentiment.” Ha! Ha!