Senator v. Editor

As a country editor, Leroy Gore, 50, did so well running Midwest papers that he was able to start the Sauk-Prairie Star in Sauk City, Wis. in 1952. Editor Gore filled the Star with tried-and-true reader-catching personals, a homespun "Star Dust'' column, and two columns of editorials under a good-humored standing slogan (H. L. Mencken's "Every little squirt thinks he's a fountain of wisdom"). The Star's circulation climbed to 3,200, and the paper turned a neat profit.

Then Editor Gore ran into trouble. A year ago, objecting to Senator Joe McCarthy's attacks on President Eisenhower, he called on his fellow Wisconsinites "to shake off the soiled and suffocating cloak of McCarthyism." Then Editor Gore stepped out of his role as newspaperman. As his idea caught on, he used his job plant to print petitions for McCarthy's recall, and he organized the Joe Must Go Club to handle the flood of incoming mail and petitions. He also made speeches around the state, found himself a rallying point for anti-McCarthyites.

After the attempt to recall McCarthy failed, pro-McCarthy County Prosecutor Harlan Kelley took out after Gore. He charged that Gore and his Joe Must Go Club had violated a state law that prohibits corporations from contributing money for political purposes. Gore pointed out in court that at least 40 incorporated organizations, e.g., the Wisconsin G.O.P. Inc., the Young Democratic Club of Wisconsin, were also violating the law. But reasoning that two wrongs do not make a right, Circuit Judge Bruce Beilfuss slapped a $4,200 fine on the club.

Neither the campaign's failure nor the court's decision hurt Gore as much as the loss of his easy familiarity with the old town. Said Gore: "Fewer people called in to volunteer news, and ... a little paper depends on people calling in personals and news like that . . It kind of hurts when friends that have been friends for years stop speaking to you." Subscriptions went down to 2,700; advertising slumped 25%. Fewer than 500 people turned up for the Star's annual picnic, v. 10,000 the year before. Last week Editor Gore sold the Star (for $50,000), turned the keys over to Elmer and Robert Anderson, weekly newspapermen from Minnesota. Said he: "I haven't put out what I thought was a good newspaper since last March, and when you get to that point it's time to let somebody else try."

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