13 OCTOBER 1923, Page 3

The group of papers owned by Sir Edward Hulton has

just been bought by Lord Rothermere and Lord Beaver- brook. Sir W. E. Berry was understood fo be negotiating for their purchase for six million pounds sterling, but at the last minute Lord Rothermere and Lord Beaverbrook managed to cut him out at a higher price. Thus the steady elimination of individual control in journalism goes on. We have now reached the second stage in which groups of syndicated papers themselves amalgamate into still larger groups. One by one independent voices arc silenced, and the intelligence which is to be put before the public is controlled by fewer and fewer men. As the Press becomes more powerful, it becomes less inde- pendent. It is impossible to foresee the ultimate result.