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The Abuse of the Press
119

of a book. 'But surely you keep books dealing with both sides of the South African question?' a lady asked a London bookseller. 'Madam,' was his reply, 'there is only one side for us – that of our country.' This, the characteristic note of Mr. Chamberlain, the identification of the war with British loyalty, has been firmly stamped upon the press, and so upon the mind of the people.

For practical purposes there no longer exists a free press in England, affording full security for adequate discussion of the vital issues of politics.

How it stands in the Colonies, which have exhibited so great an enthusiasm in the British cause, the following statement from a well-informed correspondent in Melbourne will indicate: –

It is easy to explain Australian sympathy. The financial groups have first secured the South African press, have then secured the English press through its correspondents who are on the staff of the South African press (and by purchasing outright some London papers); and, finally, have secured the Australian press, which takes all its cablegrams from the Jingo press of London. The newspapers here all take the same cablegrams from the same London correspondents, pooling the expenses. The Australian people are therefore – and for many years have been – ultra-Tory and ultra-Jingo in their outside politics, although democratic and progressive in their home politics. This system of

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