The Famous Ferguson Case (1932)

Grant Mitchell: Martin Collins

Quotes 

• Martin Collins : Listen, boys, it's serious. We know that Bob Parks and Perrin, Jigger Bolton and that gang are high binders from the word go. They'd lie and steal and crucify their own grandmothers to make a story. But, just the same, in this case, they might be right.

• Martin Collins : You see that Pig Woman, kid. You've got an honest face. She may talk for you.

• Martin Collins : This newspapering is a strange business. Grocers, for instance, sell dried apples and dry goods merchants sell gingham. But, we're selling two intangible commodities: one is news and the other is public service. It's pretty hard some times to tell if a story is news or just plain snooping into people's private affairs. That's when you get disgusted. And then you go out and do something that you know is a public service. You dig up some story about a ship sinking because her owners sent her to sea without repairs and you put the guilty men in jail. Or, you do a series about conditions in the coal fields and force Congress to investigate. Somehow, it happens that every time the spell wears a bit thin, we got a fresh injection of public service and then we carry on.