MYSTERIOUS MR. "OBSERVER" 161 



caller with his advance notices and free electros of 

 coming attractions, his press passes. 



" Give us a chance, old man," he pleaded, perhaps 

 laying down a good cigar. " Say, that was a rotten 

 roast you handed us last week." 



" Yes, and it was a rotten show !" the editor would 

 retort. " I saw it myself." 



The telephone rings, maybe the business pffice again. 



" The Blank Theatre have doubled their space with 

 us, Charlie. Go easy on 'em for awhile, will you?" 



The floor around the editor's desk was scuffed by the 

 timid boots of the man who wanted his name kept out 

 of the paper and the sure tread of the corporation 

 representative who wanted his company's name men- 

 tioned on every possible occasion. Business interests, 

 railway corporations, financial institutions many of 

 these had a regular department for the purpose of 

 supplying " news " to the press. Some American rail- 

 roads finally took to owning a string of papers outright, 

 directly or indirectly, and one big Trust went so far as 

 to control a telegraphic news service. 



In fact, to such a pass did things come in the United 

 States that the exploitation of the press became a 

 menace to public interest and a law was passed, requir- 

 ing every publication to register the name of its 

 proprietor; in the case of corporate ownerships the 

 names of the shareholders had to be filed and the actual 

 owners of stock held in trust had to be named also. 

 This information had to be printed in every issue and 

 the penalties for suppression or falsification were 

 drastic. 



No such law was passed in Canada, although the 

 reflection of the situation in the United States cast 

 high lights and shadows across the northern boundary. 

 11 



