January 24, 1923.

To the editor,
Washington Post,
Washington, D.C.

Sir:

I am writing to call your attention to a situation the seriousness of which I think you will readily admit. It would be much more to the point, however, if the seriousness of the situation were made manifest by its news treatment. I have reference of course to what has been transpiring at Harrison, Arkansas and in the vicinity of that place along the line of the Missouri and North Arkansas Railway.

I am writing this letter to you, not for publication, but as a personal communication intended specifically to call your attention to what appears to me to be an unwarrantable newspaper neglect of a situation involving the safety and the liberties of large numbers of persons and involving the complete breakdown of civil government over a considerable area. It may be that I am poorly informed in the matter of news values and that I am over-estimating the importance of the situation in Arkansas but I am convinced nevertheless that the general newspaper treatment of the Arkansas case has been neglectful and warrants a challenge to the newspaper world generally.

It has not been more than four or five days since the first news came from Arkansas to the effect that a man had been hanged by a mob. At that time it was practically impossible to get complete accounts from the scene of mob activities because the mob so completely controlled the means of communication and had so thoroughly intimidated all persons who might be inclined to convey information. So far as I am aware, the first detailed accounts came from refugees who had succeeded in getting away from Harrison to points of safety.

Yesterday morning, comparatively meager dispatches to various newspapers made known the fact that a legislative inquiry was under way. This morning, so far as the newspapers are concerned, that inquiry has been all but forgotten.

I ask you to bear in mind these facts:
1. One man was lynched because he would not admit a mob to his house. When the mob threatened to dynamite his house he surrendered rather than see his wife and children blown up. He was not accused of having committed any crime or any wrong.

2. Municipal officers in a number of communities were either compelled to do the mob's bidding or resign from office. In at least one community the municipal officers resigned and turned the government over to the mob.

3. Working people were compelled either to swear allegiance to the mob "committee" and to the Missouri and North Arkansas Railway or leave their homes and their communities. The constitution means nothing to a mob.

4. It appears to be established that a number of persons suffered physical injury at the hands of the mob.

5. Large numbers of persons, including women and children, were compelled to flee for safety over the hills, deserting their homes and leaving such possessions as they might have.

6. It is indicated clearly that the mob was controlled by "a committee" of ten or twelve and that this "committee" was inspired either by the Missouri and North Arkansas Railway or by its friends.

7. It is indicated clearly that cars were furnished by the railroad for transportation of the mob from point to point.
These, briefly, are the facts as they appear to be at this moment. It has been alleged that workers formerly employed by the Missouri and North Arkansas Railway and now on strike were responsible for the burning of some railroad bridges. Thus far this has been mere allegation and there has not been produced, so far as I am aware, the slightest scintilla of evidence to prove that such is the case.

If railroad property has been destroyed it is the duty of civil government in the state of Arkansas and in the communities in that state to find and punish the guilty persons. If those guilty persons are union men all good union men will be glad to see the law vindicated and enforced. If, on the other hand the guilty persons happened to be provocative agents the law should be enforced with equal energy and speed.

As another alternative it will doubtless occur to many that fires have been known to occur without a criminal intent on the part of anyone.

Let me compare the Arkansas situation, which apparently is considered of little news value and little public interest, with the situation existing for example in Louisiana. In Louisiana where the Ku Klux Klan is under fire there have been two horrible murders. A few other persons have been deported but the number of deportees is small and I believe in most cases they have been allowed to return. The civil government virtually ceased to function in one community. In Arkansas there was but one murder while in Louisiana there were two, and these two were most revolting in the hideous cruelty that was practiced. The total amount of violence and the total surrender of civil authority has been greater in Arkansas, however, than in Louisiana. The number of persons subjected to mob rule has been many times greater in Arkansas. In Louisiana mob vengeance apparently was directed against certain individuals because of individual enmities. In Arkansas mob violence was directed particularly against a large group of persons and not because of any individual enmity but because of the affiliation of those persons. In short, the mob violence in Arkansas was directed against union men who refused to accept the employment terms offered by a railroad.

In Louisiana the state government took charge of the situation and restored orderly procedure. The state government has put into the field all of its resources in an effort to apprehend and punish the criminals.

What is much more to the point in this discussion is that in the Louisiana case the newspapers of the country have displayed great energy and have reported events in the most minute detail to the extent of columns upon columns each day. Regardless of what actually may have been the state of public interest the newspapers have compelled a public interest and have kept it alive and active from day to day. This is to the great credit of the newspapers.

In the Arkansas case almost the contrary has been true. For a day or two fairly adequate stories were published, although they were far from complete in most cases. No effort has been made to follow up the initial stories or to develop information concerning the details of what took place or what influences were back of the mob movement. Practically every newspaper that I have examined this morning, and I have examined most of the leading newspapers, contents itself with publishing a small portion of a statement which I issued yesterday and contains nothing at all from Arkansas. It seems to me that such a situation warrants some self-examination on the part of newspaper editors and that they really ought to make some explanation to the public. I don't know by what news standards Arkansas could be permitted to vanish so quickly and so completely from the columns of our newspapers.

Let me make another comparison. During the strike of the coal miners a terrible massacre took place at Herrin, Illinois. A large number of persons were killed. In this community also civil government apparently broke down but in this case the newspapers were alert not merely to the extent of publishing every possible detail connected with the crime but to the extent of seeking [t]o fix the responsibility for the crime. Not only did the newspapers continue day after day to publish long accounts of what took place in Herrin and of what was alleged to have taken place in Herrin but the Chamber of Commerce of Chicago took it upon itself to raise a fund to finance the prosecution of those accused of the crime by the grand jury in Herrin.

It is true of course that the first three persons killed in Herrin were union men who were shot by armed guards employed by mine owners and that but little has appeared in the newspapers about this particular phase of what took place; but I am willing to let that pass in the present discussion. I am willing also to forego discussion of the fact that the union men placed on trial, and who were apparently believed guilty by most of the newspapers, have been acquitted by a jury under a lawfully constituted court of justice. What I wish mainly to point out is the great energy displayed by the newspapers in publishing every word which it was possible to get from Herrin. There is clearly no such energy in the case of Arkansas. On the contrary, there is no energy at all.

The inference must necessarily be that it is no cause for excitement and no matter of great public interest when a railroad or its friends assume to administer "law" and in the interest of their particular kind of "law" commit murder and assault and overthrow civil government and drive peaceful citizens and their families into distant communities.

It has been indicated that the mob kept newspaper correspondents under surveillance and censored their dispatches; but usually, I believe, newspapers look upon such conduct as a challenge to redoubled efforts. It is a defiance which in the face of newspaper determination seldom accomplishes its object.

I have set forth the facts as far as I have been able to learn them and I have given you my views at some length because I believe the situation to be important and because I believe that the newspapers have been negligent in a matter in which they should feel a public responsibility and a public trust. I do not wish to convey the thought that I am a carping critic because I do not often indulge in criticisms of this kind. I do believe firmly, however, that the present case is an exceptional illustration of a frequently observed one-sided news judgment and it is for that reason that I am calling it to your attention.

I am not writing this letter for publication but I have no objection of course if its contents are made known. It is intended primarily however for yourself and if you think that my own judgment is in error, and if you care to reply, conveying to me your point of view, I shall be happy to have such a reply.

                                                                                                                     Very truly yours,
                                                                                                                     Saml Gompers
                                                                                       President, American Federation of Labor.