RETRACTION
RETRACTION ON the 20th of September, 1917, Senator La Follette made a speech before the Nonpartisan League at St. Paul, Minnesota. In the course of the speech referring to the war with Germany he...
...Whether this was done maliciously or accidentally will probably never be kno«p, but the fact remains that irreparable injury was done to the Senator, and that a large part of the outcry against him was due to this misstatement in the one thousand newspapers which are served by the Associated Press...
...The thought that unintentionally so extreme an injustice may be done to a public man is one to sober all responsible . journalism...
...If public men fighting in the interest of the public may be ruined and discredited while the fight is on, the public may lose its fight, and its servants may become intimidated and afraid to make any real fight in its behalf...
...Senator La Follette declared at the time that the press had misquoted him, but the matter was never brought to the attention of the Associated Fress until Mr...
...Upon this retraction the New York Evening Post made the following editorial comment: "The Associated Press has handsomely and promptly admitted its grievous fault in misre-porting Senator La Follette...
...We did...
...The Press was not open to him for that purpose...
...It is fortunate for the public that President Wilson has renewed that fight which had become largely submerged through the efforts of wealth to escape just taxation...
...In the course of the speech referring to the war with Germany he said: "I would not be understood as saying that we didn't have grievances (against Germany...
...Why the Senator delayed so long is a mystery...
...The injustice done the public is far more serious...
...The Public Safety Commission of Minnesota filed resolutions with the Senate asking for Senator La Follette's expulsion from that body...
...Whereas he said in his St...
...The Senator had no adequate opportunity to give to the public the truth of the matter...
...He sought to arouse public sentiment for this purpose...
...Paul speech that "we had grievances" against Germany, and was so reported the next day in the St...
...Whj the Senator delayed so long in denying the false report should be no mystery because the Senator did not delay such denial...
...Immediately there was hue and cry to expel the Senator from the U. S. Senate...
...The resolutions were referred to the Committee on Privileges and Elections of the Senate and by it they were referred to a sub-committee to investigate the accuracy of the report of the speech, the accuracy of the statements made in such speech and to report its findings to the full committee the first day of the next regular session in December, 1917...
...The newspapers served by the Associated Press published the false report and other journals and magazines copied it...
...Gilbert E. Roe, his attorney, stated the fact before the Senate Committee of Inquiry on Tuesday...
...Thereupon the Associated Press published a retraction of its erroneous report, and said: "The error was regrettable and the Associated Press seizes the first opportunity to do justice to Senator La Follette...
...The fight Senator La Follette was making was for a fairer system of taxation to support the war...
...but the serious wrong done by this error needs no expatiating...
...Recently Gilbert E. Roe representing Senator La Follette appeared before the Committee and asked for a dismissal of the proceedings, and in the course of his argument referred to the erroneous report of the speech as published in the newspapers...
...The Associated Press, which serves more than one thousand leading newspapers throughout the country reported Senator La Follette as saying: "We had no grievances (against Germany...
...No amount of apology can undo it...
...He immediately publicly denied the correctness of the report of his speech, but the newspapers neglected to make any correction but on the contrary continued for months afterward to use the false report as a text upon which to base arguments condemning the Senator and creating public sentiment against him...
...Paul newspapers, some one slipped the fatal word "no" into the sentence in the Associated Press report and made it read: "We had no grievances...
...As the New York Evening Post says: "The thought that unintentionally so extreme an injustice may be done a public man is one to sober all responsible journalism...
...The sub-committee did not make any report to the full committee as provided in the resolution of reference to it...
Vol. 10 • June 1918 • No. 6
