at evening that he was to address a
mass meeting at a hall on the Lower West Side of New York--a meeting
ostensibly to be held under the auspices of a so-called society for
world peace. But sometime during Monday every publisher of every
newspaper and periodical, of every trade paper, every religious paper,
every farm paper in America, received a telegram from a certain
address in New York. This telegram was marked Confidential. It was
signed by a formidable list of names. It was signed by three of the
most distinguished editors in America; by the heads of all the
important news-gathering and news-distributing agencies; by the
responsible heads of the leading feature syndicates; by the presidents
of the two principal telegraph companies; by the presidents of the
biggest advertising agencies; by a former President of the United
States; by a great Catholic dignitary; by a great Protestant
evangelist, and by the most eloquent rabbi in America; by the head of
the largest banking house on this continent; by a retired military
officer of the highest rank; by a national leader of organised
labour; by the presidents of four of the leading universities; and
finally by a man who, though a private citizen, was popularly esteemed
to be the mouthpiece of the National Administration.

While this blanket telegram was travelling over the wires a certain
magazine publisher was stopping his presses to throw out a special
article for the writing of which he had paid fifteen hundred dollars
to the best satirical essayist in the country; and another publisher
was countermanding the order he had given to a distinguished
caricaturist for a series of cartoons all dealing with the same
subject, and was tearing up two of the cartoons which had already been
delivered and for which he already had paid. He offered to pay for the
cartoons not yet drawn, but the artist declined to accept further
payment when he was told in confidence the reason for the cancellation
of the commission.

On a Monday morning Congressman Jason Mallard's name was in every
paper; his picture was in many of them. On the day following---- But I
am getting ahead of my story. Monday evening comes before Tuesday
morning, and first I should tell what befell on Monday evening down on
the Lower West Side.

That Monday afternoon Mallard came up from Washington; only his
secretary came with him. Three men--the owner of a publication lately
suppressed by the Post Office Department