We are the tools and vassals of
rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping-jacks. They pull the
strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities, our lives are the
property of other men."
"We tried to pretend it was only one of Jack's little jokes," explained
Greyson as he folded up the cutting; "but it wouldn't work. It was too
near the truth."
"I don't see what you are going to do," commented Mary. "So long as men
are not afraid to sell their souls, there will always be a Devil's market
for them."
Greyson did not so much mind there being a Devil's market, provided he
could be assured of an honest market alongside, so that a man could take
his choice. What he feared was the Devil's steady encroachment, that
could only end by the closing of the independent market altogether. His
remedy was the introduction of the American trust law, forbidding any one
man being interested in more than a limited number of journals.
"But what's the difference," demanded Joan, "between a man owning one
paper with a circulation of, say, six millions; or owning six with a
circulation of a million apiece? By concentrating all his energies on
one, a man with Carleton's organizing genius might easily establish a
single journal that would cover the whole field.
Pages:
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319