The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 105, July 2001 - April, 2002 Page: 45
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"An Enemy Closer to Us Than Any European Power"
newspapers in the state. Their influence extended far beyond the com-
mercial center of their respective locales and state and national political
leaders followed their stories. Each publication retained a large number
of subscribers in the smaller communities and rural areas of the state.
Twentieth-century newspapermen considered themselves businessmen
who provided more than news and editorial viewpoints. They counted
their papers and editorial positions as pivotal to the future of the state.
Politically, they remained traditional southern Democrats who enthusias-
tically supported President Wilson. They disagreed about controversial
social issues such as prohibition and women's suffrage. However, they
universally agreed on many of the era's other progressive ideas, such as
industrial expansion and internal improvements to diversify a state still
rooted to its rural, agricultural origins. These influential publishers and
editors of the World War I era included George B. Dealey and Caesar
Lombardi of the Dallas Morning News; Marcellus Foster and Jesse H. Jones
of the Houston Chronicle; G. J. Palmer, Henry F. MacGregor, and George
Bailey of the Houston Post; Frank G. Huntress Jr. and John Lunsford of
the San Antonio Express; and Frank Powers of the El Paso Morning Times. At
the outset of World War I, newspaper editors predicted that the war
would increase demand for American products and launch a new eco-
nomic boom for manufactured goods and agricultural commodities.
Europe represented a substantial overseas market for cotton, the number
one cash crop produced by Texas farmers and other Southerners. The
war machines in Europe also needed petroleum, which was music to the
ears of those involved in this new, rapidly expanding Texas industry.
In late July 1914, Dallas Morning News President Caesar Lombardi
toured Europe with his wife and family. He wrote News General Manager
George Dealey about the "exciting times" as Austria and Serbia were "on
the verge of war." Within days, nearly the whole continent of Europe
mobilized their armed forces. As the guns roared throughout Europe in
August 1914, newspapers provided nearly all of the information
Americans obtained about the war. Daily newspapers made significant
advances after the turn of the century to gather news and distribute
papers. Large dailies obtained information from overseas sources via the
wire services and printed the stories in the headlines within hours of the
actual event. Special trains distributed editions on a timely basis to read-
ers around the state. Improved communication, printing and distribu-
tion methods provided readers with timely, inexpensive newspapers as
World War I began.4
' Ernest Sharpe, George B. Dealey of the Dallas News (New York: Henry Holt and Company,
1955), 176-177. Lombardi and his family left for Switzerland and arrived only hours before the
borders closed. They returned to the United States as the German armies entered Belgium.2001
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 105, July 2001 - April, 2002, periodical, 2002; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101222/m1/53/: accessed April 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.