Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1829-07-02
RUNNING ACCOUNTS.

your account for advertising and printing bills,
unpaid I'ets's6avg Int.
RUNNING ACCOUNTS.
We will venture 10 assert that there ;s
no class OF the community so liable TO
be spunged and cheated as the printers
Of newspapers To say nothing of the
unjust and ruineus system of borrowing
there are ways almost innumerabls in
which they are made 10 suffer that are
unknown to their honest customers and
to the public generally And perhaps
II would De improper to divulge this i'm.
portant secret of their business 1T might
injnre their credit with the banks! We
may safely state, however. that running
acceuSfs are as numerous in their books
as in those Of any other of the echani
cal professions. The tailor, who is all
the world over considered sufferer. -
and whose little Bills are 400 often
treated with marked indifference, is not
10 reality greater sufferer ia this way
than the publisher of newspaper. For
instance: we occasionally - say once
fortnight the year shrough-receiye a
petite letter from postmaster in dis
tant town. stating that the Gazette di
rected to Mr. A. or Mr.. q lies dead in
his office; and the reason given is that
the gentleman "has left town." or in
other words, run If We turn to bis &C
csusst, and f;nd that it has been runnins
fee ten years. Consequently, informa
ton of this kind is always acceptable,
as ii enables as TO close q running &C
count with a knavisb subscriber We
Will mention another case. In sending
| bills into the country, our collector has
now and then the good fortune to find
''at home a subscriber, who ID indebted
to us for five or six yesrs' subscription,
but who, instead OF eashlng the face of
the bill, swears moet stoutly that be has
not received The paper more tban half
the time - and consequently expects a
deduction of twenty five or thirty per
ceat. THIS is no doubt all right; il is
an insult thst we sometimes pock et with
out grumbmg, though net always But
the most imPadsnt gentlemen with whom
the printers Of newspapers come in con.
| tact, are performers Of merit and Of no
merit, singers good and Indifferent skill ,
fnl musicians, equestrians' rope dancers
ballet masters, tumblers, and others of a
like character, who will open an account
with you for advertising. printing, SIC.
and finally close it by running off. This
appears to be very fashionable pastime
among the gentlemen of the stage and
the holtsr, who have vuanlng accounts
all over the country; but we would MT
be understood to say that thsre are mo-,
honorable exceptions to the rule we
have laid down. Nor would we cast
undeserved reflection upon respectable
and honest individuals connected with
the stage for the knsvery OF their pro
fessionai associates unprincipled fell
lows, who would disgrace any calling,
however humble it might be 10 the esti-
nation of the public. We have been
imposed upon by these stage and ring
performers and the like Of them, until
| patience has ceased to be a virtue; and
we have no doubt that almost every
publisher of newspaper in the United
States has felt the influence Of their
sponging propensities. Why is It, we
would ask, that individuals connected
with the stage and the ring are for The
IN ost part more dishonest than those of
other profsssionss Why is it they think
less Of running from city to city. leaving
their debts unpaid, and cheating every
person with whom they have deallngsf
We can account for il only on the pre-
sumption that they are a profligste race
| Of beings, and waste that 10 dissipation
which should be appropriated TO the dis
charge of their honest debts. Ii 10 i'm
possible, we think, that they "sre rogues
| by nature;" though some of our neigh
beurs entertain a different opinion. -
Boston GGsette. --<s---
No mao rises 10 such hsight IS "a
become conspicuous, but be is on ons
side censursd by undiscerning malice
which rsproaches him for his best &C
tions, and ISLANDERS his apparent and in
contestiAle excsllensies; and idoilze'
on the other by ignorant admiration
which exalts his faults and fOllies int
virtue. - Rambler