Among the Literati

For sheer illiteracy and paucity of phrasing read an article on Charles Dillingham, the theatrical producer, in the current issue of Liberty magazine… For misguided zeal and unfair journalism, note the series of editorials appearing in the Hearst papers in which Hitlerism is defended and Communism viciously attacked… For tops in bad taste, note must be taken of a recent broadcast in the middle of which one of the older chatter writers broke into the microphone to announce the sudden death of a move star. Why she didn’t wait until the end of the program nobody has yet been able to figure out… For outright stupidity, the prize should go to an editorial appearing in a New York tabloid wherein the public utilities companies’ demand for higher rates was defended on the grounds that New York City had raised its tax and water rates. No mention was made of the fact that the city is not run for profit and that the water it sells at least goes to the public in an unadulterated form and not as watered stock . . . For repetition, an award should go to the afternoon paper that published verbatim all the testimony taken at the Hauptmann trial on the opening day. Every question and answer was printed and all of them concerned the choosing of prospective jurymen and this despite the fact that each juror was asked practically the same set of questions … For callousness, the Wall Street brokerage house should be given a high score. The partners, who never have taken a cut in salary, hired an entire new staff after the old staff, many of whom had worked for the concern for many years and had trained the new workers, were fired. The total saving was $300 a week. There were five partners… For gall the publishing house which after cutting its employees twenty per cent, was very angry because its employees refused to contribute to a fund to help the unemployed…