“Some are,” was the grim reply. “But I guess I’m far from being the only New York newspaper man who has tried to run a small town daily and made a fizzle of it.”
“What seems to be the main trouble?” the Camera Chap inquired. “I should think that a paper with a motto like yours was bound to be a winner. Progressive, aggressive, and fearlessly independent—that’s a mighty fine catch line, Fred. The population of Oldham certainly ought to rally to the support of a sheet which has such an attractive policy.”
The owner of the Bulletin shook his head. “Yes, they ought to—but they don’t. The fact is, Hawley, that, from the standpoint of dollars and cents, being aggressive and fearlessly independent in a town like this doesn’t pay. The first thing I did after acquiring control of the Bulletin,” he went on, with a frown, “was to declare war against the city government. From a financial standpoint, that was a disastrous mistake.”
“Why did you do it?” the Camera Chap inquired.
“Because,” replied Carroll, his frown deepening, “I simply couldn’t stand for the methods of the gang which is running things in this town. They’re the rawest, nerviest, crookedest bunch of grafters that ever had control of a city government. Compared to them, New York’s old Tweed ring was a bunch of angels. I made up my mind that the Bulletin was going to sweep them out of office. I announced that intention in an editorial on my front page the very first day the sheet appeared under my management.”
“That sounds interesting,” exclaimed Hawley, an appreciative flash in his blue eyes. “What was the result?”
Carroll laughed grimly. “The result was that I lost pretty nearly all my advertising. It seems that most of the big advertisers of this town are allied in one way or[Pg 43] another with that bunch of grafters at the city hall. I didn’t know this when I started out to fight the administration. Although, even if I had known it, it wouldn’t have made any difference,” he added, his strong under jaw thrust forward aggressively. “I should have gone ahead just the same, of course.”
“Bully for you, old man!” exclaimed the Camera Chap. “So those lobsters tried to put you out of business by withdrawing their advertising, eh?”
“Yes; and that wasn’t all. That gang of grafters started in to retaliate by using the powers of the city government against the Bulletin. They stayed up nights thinking of ways to harass me. The police department, the fire department, and all the departments have received orders to refuse to give the Bulletin reporters any news. The police arrest the drivers of my delivery wagons on all sorts of trumped-up charges whenever they get the chance. The gas, water, and electricity department is always finding fault with conditions in the Bulletin Building. These are only a few of the dirty tricks those rascals have resorted to in their efforts to put me out of business.”
“And you’ve been fighting back all the time, of course?” inquired Hawley anxiously.