Who's the Hypocrite?

Mr. William Randolph Hearst vindicated his reputation as a publisher. The late President Harding before his death referred publicly to a publisher who advocated one tax policy through his newspaper and another in the ear of the President.

Some time later The New York World printed a Washington despatch which carried the sentence: "Without calling any names, Mr. Harding spoke of a hypocritical publisher of a newspaper and it was understood he meant Mr. Hearst."

Last week Mr. Hearst asked The World to make correction of the statement and enclosed a photographic copy of a letter from Mr. Harding, dated June 1, 1923:

My Dear Mr. Hearst: I am in receipt of your recent note in which you tell me of the attack made upon you as the inconsistent editor and publisher who argued one policy with reference to taxation, in a personal interview with me, and advocated a very contrary one in his publication. I am glad to say to you that you were not in any way in my mind at the time the remark was made. . . .

You probably are aware of the incident in which I made the reference above referred to. I was speaking of sincerity of policy as an essential thing in the ethics of influential journalism. The reference to the insincere editor was only incidental, and was given as an illustration of the inconsistency which the Executive sometimes encounters.

With a very cordial expression of regards, and my best wishes, I am, very truly yours, WARREN G. HARDING.

The World printed a brief editorial correction with the text of Mr. Harding's and Mr. Hearst's letters on the opposite page. The following morning The New York American (Hearst) reprinted on its front page all the same matter, under the headline: MR. HEARST UNJUSTLY ACCUSED, SAYS THE NEW YORK WORLD.