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40
Literature and journalism are two of the most important educative forces and therefore our
government will become proprietor of the majority of the journals.
This will neutralize the
injurious influence of the privately owned press and will put us in possession of a
tremendous influence upon the public mind… If we give permits for ten journals, we shall
ourselves found thirty, and so on in the same proportion. This, however, must in nowise be
suspected by the public.
For which reason all journals published by us will be of the most opposite in appearance,
tendencies and opinions, thereby creating confidence in us and bringing over to us our quite
unsuspicious opponents, who will thus fall into our trap and be rendered harmless.
In the front rank will stand organs of an official character.
They will always stand guard over
our interests, and therefore their influence will be comparatively insignificant.
In the second rank will be the semi-official organs whose part it will be to attract the tepid
and indifferent.
In the third rank we shall set up our own, to all appearance, opposition, which, in at least
one of its organs, will present what looks like the very antipodes to us.
Our real opponents
at heart will accept this simulated opposition as their own and will show us their cards. All
of our newspapers will be of all possible complexions – aristocratic, republican,
revolutionary, even anarchical – for so long, of course, as the constitution exists… Like the
Indian idol Vishnu they will have a hundred hands, and every one of them will have a finger
on any one of the public opinions as required.
When a pulse quickens these hands will lead
opinion in the direction of our aims, for an excited patient loses all power of judgment and
easily yields to suggestion.
Those fools who will think they are repeating the opinion of a
newspaper of their own camp will be repeating our opinion or any opinion that seems
desirable for us. In the vain belief that they are following the organ of their party they will in
fact follow the flag which we hang out for them.
In order to direct our newspaper militia in this sense we must take especial and minute care
in organizing this matter. Under the title of central department of the press we shall institute
literary gatherings at which our agents will without attracting attention issue the orders and
watchwords of the day. By discussing and controverting, but always superficially, without
touching the essence of the matter, our organs will carry on a sham fight fusillade with the
official newspapers solely for the purpose of giving occasion for us to express ourselves
more fully than could well be done from the outset in official announcements, whenever, of
course, that is to our advantage.
These attacks upon us will also serve another purpose, namely, that our subjects will be
convinced of the existence of full freedom of speech and so give our agents an occasion to
affirm that all organs which oppose us are empty babblers, since they are incapable of
finding any substantial objections to our orders.
Methods of organizations like these, imperceptible to the public eye but absolutely sure, are
the best calculated to succeed in bringing the attention and the confidence of the public to
the side of our government. Thanks to such methods we shall be in a position as from time
to time may be required, to excite or to tranquilize the public mind on political questions, to
persuade or to confuse, printing now truth, now lies, facts or their contradictions, according
as they may be well or ill received, always very cautiously feeling our ground before
stepping upon it…We shall have a sure triumph over our opponents since they will not have
at their disposition organs of the press in which they can give full and final expression to
their views owing to the aforesaid methods of dealing with the press.
We shall not even
need to refute them except very superficially.
Trial shots like these, fired by us in the third rank of our press, in case of need, will be
energetically refuted by us in our semi-official organs.
Even nowadays, already, to take only the French press, there are forms which reveal
Masonic solidarity in acting on the watchword: all organs of the press are bound together by
