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south,south-ho aron in-PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN 10 MARKCANTON GRKAT AS HOME CITYJCNGLE NEVER WASother pay g into rla ndaH lt;IfARLEH K. MORRISPublisher of The ( anfon Daily New*(From Editor and Publisher)ed ini s Ion s!There is no longer a Jungle in Canton if ever f ,n there was one In fact, and if there ever wasone there never will be again, j This is the outstanding result of the nationwide attention which was brought to this unusual industrial city by the assassination of Don It. Mellett, because it has served to draw the notice of Canton’s good people to the one thing which could keep a city ever from reaching the rank to which it belongs, the rank which was intended for it by rich inheritance.Here is a city of unusual promise, far ahead of other industrial cities of like size in business promise and business activities. It Ison the main transportation lines between New York and Chicago, and on main paved highways of national importance, the largest and busiest city in the heart of the industrial section of the state; rubbing elbows with Massillon, Alliance, Akron and Youngstown and far 7 enough from Cleveland to be a competitor andTnot a suburb. It is located in the most beau- ; tlful home section of a home-building state, and 7’ Its general citizenship ranks so high that it has become noted as a melting pot; and perhaps (' that fact tells Its story because all the dross ^ of the malting pot operation was not discarded, juntry h 11 o t ok ■eliof,seasela 7.1-'oun-TOtorfort hto, Inught *ther *rica now the not the that f a k -I ah cted heir i doAt any rate Canton, while rich and prosper-Ne;t t-iall,iouh, forward acting in education and city planning, with wealthy men willing to do moreV*ved I than their part financially, did not grow andfine ofvithIHnes,orod.n c e 1 to de-Atake on Importance such at its chamber of commerce and civic clubs hoped It would. It was this thing that drew' the attention of the editor, Mellett, for Mellett was not a reformer. And he quickly got at the heart of things noting ! in that the one block was a smug self-satisfaction to bask in the shadow of the monument of amartyred president. He found that .this com- j isplacency had allowed a police force to become j [ inefficient and then corrupt, and he sought toawaken the city he had come to love.Dlt;a ysIn-•art sedese n o t n r e \ h e ch. at- Ihf I1lie j ,ndTYWiAs he sought to arouse attention he uncovered evil forces such as even he did not know existed, and more that have been so amazingly uncovered .as result of his death, which aroused Or all the newspapers of the land to action.Had this been an ordinary murder it would have passed unsolved as others of the kind have been unsolved here, and elsewhere. But 1a j 77ithe newspapers would not let it end that way. When local authorities seemed baffled andAnWlt;uvcareless, when even a portion of the public jBungt leherebelled against notoriety and would have had : investigation stop, the newspapers kept at the j $or job. They brought here Joseph It. Roach, a noted lawyer and investigator, who had cleanedup Terre Haute and Evansville and Indianapolis.Local interests, many not criminal, but jealousof the city’s name, resented his coming, becausethn’tnsthey felt the better thing was to forgot, andforgive and fall hack into complacent slumber. I on But Roach and his friends persevered anrl when tineditu tcabugnwca-to*pIt. was found that the Mellett murder grew from the connection of officials with liquor conspirator s, District Attorney Bernsteen, of the northern district of Ohio was moved to act. Meanwhile, the state authorities had grandstanded and failed, fearing to be involved insome imagined political maelstrom that mightcost so me votes.The district attorney’s action broke the first boj Q yjjwall of opposition. Then while hesitancy continued, a Democratic governor afraid to act and a Republican attorney general refusing to do so the local grand jury got under way with ’’transcript” cases. Snoring for the time thethid c: mf me wi:mshethfib u 1vajmurder which had aroused the nation. Again del the newspapers were marshaled to the attack. t*°When it seemed there would be no grand Jury action the widow of the slain man, now a resident of Indianapolis, only to promote Justicecs1-* mareseeancsouand not for money return, brought suit in the Suls.federal court for one hundred thousand dollars src* 1 n (against three suspected murderers, one underv(Iaarrest and one a fugitive from justice. This amserved notice that regardless of any local in- *n fluence the murder trial would be had and in a court where Influence could not lie. Mean-while the liquor conspiracy case was being completed and it ton dies other conspiracy cases of fhe past, going directly back to the passage jn^ of the V olstead act to 8)10w the Intent to violate a r that law was the very inception of the Mellett murder.fulIAs a result of the federal action the Starkcounty grand jury is now in session takingtestimony which will bring murder indictmentsand prosecution; and a prosecuting attorney,who could not and would not at first believewhat was before his eyes, Ja becoming crusaderfor the very things for which the young editor hurt! 1 eb e e xv nrwastop?o o nrcleahavwa g ha vi a r: dfought, and which now he will win.There is no Canton jungte now. The place that was called the jungle, not half so bad as the ordinary red light district of the ordinary city, is quiet as the tomb which it set for the man whose death it caused. The police department is being reorganized with a world war veteran at its head, and the crooks who had gathered here when they knew they might have protection, ate on the run.Pe m r t h r 0camFastfortsuchhootdicah e a lt;ideaginnopposition b?1 e i tOnly a little fight and among those who feared Canton would be given a bad name by this cleaning activity. The spotlight of publicity has been merciless, but it has enabled the clearing of gathered debris.Canton people now are realizing that after all the adverse publicity has been beneficial sinceA t r « o rlt;H d t o m a blind patro placed paper along.it will turn the helpful kind. And the day is near at hand when Meilett’s cause will be won, ! and Canton will be a home city as great as now it is industrially. Ied up newsp* stolen pay me 1 the lad con sidc such a
Newspaper Details
Canton Daily News
Canton, Ohio, US
Tue, Aug 31, 1926
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
OH, USA 11 Jul 2019
Other Publications Near Canton, Ohio
Canton News
Canton Sunday News
Canton Daily News
Canton Morning News
Canton Stark County Democrat
