Politics & Power Quote by Alvin Adams

Suspicion of the press isn’t framed here as a partisan tic or a passing mood; Adams treats it as an institutional reflex, almost a workplace culture. The line’s quiet power comes from its casting: he doesn’t single out demagogues or corrupt officials, but “humanitarians” and “especially government workers” - the very people who claim a moral mandate or public mission. That twist is the tell. Adams is implying that fear of scrutiny isn’t confined to the cynical; it’s baked into benevolent self-images, too.

As a businessman in the 19th century, Adams would have watched the press expand into a mass civic force - newspapers multiplying, reform causes competing for attention, scandals traveling faster than reputations could be managed. In that ecosystem, the press becomes both amplifier and threat: it can validate a project, a charity, a policy; it can also expose incompetence, hypocrisy, or simple human messiness. His “unfortunately” signals a civic disappointment rather than a moral panic, suggesting the press should be a partner in public life but is treated like an adversary.

The phrasing “if not outright fear” is a rhetorical nudge: suspicion sounds rational, fear sounds guilty. Adams isn’t accusing everyone of wrongdoing; he’s diagnosing a mindset where secrecy feels safer than accountability. The subtext is modern: institutions that insist they’re doing good often come to believe they deserve insulation from criticism, and that belief is where trust quietly starts to rot.