it may expel a member "for any conduct on his part, or on the part of anyone in his employ or connected with his newspaper, which in its absolute discretion it shall deem of such a character as to be prejudicial to the welfare and interest of the corporation and its members, or to justify such expulsion. The action of the members of the corporation in such regard shall be final, and there shall be no right of appeal or review of such action."
This, you perceive, is power to destroy any newspaper overnight. Not merely may a franchise worth two hundred thousand dollars be wiped out at the whim of the little controlling oligarchy; the entire value of the newspaper may be destroyed; for of course a big morning newspaper cannot exist without its franchise. The masters of the "A. P." hold this whip over the head of every member; and Will Irwin tells what use they make of it:
Two or three liberal publishers have expressed to me, after mutual
pledges of confidence, their opinion of the "A P. cinch." And they
have finished by saying something like this:
"But for heaven's sake don't quote me in print, and don't tell anyone I've said this. The fine for such an offense runs from fifty thousand dollars up!"
In my story of the Colorado coal-strike, I showed you the
"A. P." suppressing news, and the newspapers of the country,
without one single exception, keeping silence about it. I
showed you one bold managing editor promising to tell the
truth, and then suddenly stricken dumb, and not carrying out
his promise. Now I have shown you the meaning of the
phenomenon.
And yet, in spite of everything, members of the Associated Press do "kick"; they "kick" repeatedly, and word of their "kicks" gets out. Fremont Older complained repeatedly, and so did Van Valkenburg, of the "Philadelphia North American." Herman Ridder complained—as Mr. Stone himself admitted when a Senate committee pinned him down. I quote a significant colloquy from a Senate "lobby" investigation:
Senator LaFollette: Mr. Stone, has there ever been any complaint
made by members of your association of unfairness on the
part of the manager or the management of the Association regarding
news?
Mr. Stone: Oh, yes, sir. There is hardly—
