But all this is beside the real issue. The
true gravamen of the charge against a Napoleon of the Press is not that
he gives the public what it wants, but that he can make the public want
what _he_ wants, think what _he_ thinks, believe what _he_ wants them to
believe, and do what _he_ wants them to do. By dint of assertion,
innuendo, and iteration in a hundred papers, he can create an apparent
public opinion, or public emotion, which may be directed towards the
most dangerous ends. This point Mr. Bennett entirely missed. What he
gave us was in reality a comedy of middle-class life with a number of
incidental allusions to "yellow" journalism and kindred topics. Mr.
Fagan, working in broader outlines, and, it must be owned, in cruder
colours, never strayed from the logical line of development, and took us
much nearer the heart of his subject.
A somewhat different, and very common, fault of logic was exemplified in
Mr. Clyde Fitch's last play, _The City_. His theme, as announced in his
title and indicated in his exposition, was the influence of New York
upon a family which migrates thither from a provincial town.
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