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and the treachery of the Boers, etc., might have had less confidence in his final judgment had he known that he was reading news which had been fashioned for his reading by the editors of Mr. Rhodes and of his business associates, who had, in their capacity of company directors, assessed the business value of a war at several millions extra profits per annum.
Since this control of the press by business men for business purposes lies at the very root of Jingoism, it is desirable to make this charge quite clear. We have traced the information which corrupted the mind of the British public to a few South African journals owned by the men who tried to 'rush' the Transvaal by treacherous force five years ago, men admittedly moved by special business ends, which they believed could be subserved by a war conducted at the expense of the British public. Now, these men do not write, though they often inspire, the news and the articles of the press they own. The personal instruments of their educational policy are the editors of their papers. It is by no means necessary to assume that these editors are corrupt or dishonest, receiving pay, either from their employers or from outside persons, in order to fabricate or distort news or to write in a sense opposed to