Western union. (City of Hannibal, Mo.) 1850-1851, 1851-08-21


before us, for which we are indebted to Mr.. J..
5. BUCHANAN, Jr., we take the following ex-
tract. II shows the slate Of the printing
business in { -lirornn:
P1.iWTyNI BIZ SINESS.
A year ogu, no branen OF business in Cali
fornia pail !.ondsuinrr profits than newspaper
publishing u,.t jop printIng. Every one who
had ever handled q tyre, or written para.
groph, was re,dy to do any thug, To u. Ike al
most al, sacrifice to get III, tame IN q paper
as pu' ,.sher - editor. Newspaper establish
me i, IN 4 g, cly aud ia San Francisco, were
valued, and in sUme instances actually sold, at
rates /, N higher than the first establishments
of Boston, Philadelphia, or New Orleans
There il something aUrut conducting news
paper, that seems 10 int,Tesi large class of
every community. Find any man out of EN-
ployment and ask him to engage in newspaper
enterprise, and whether there is any prospect OF
u living or not the chance are twenty to one
that he willingly takes up with any kind of a
proposition II lie is only allowed TO have his
name at 'mast head" Us one of the "press gang"
When, therefore il became known that printing
was really profitable in California, II wa. not
long before there werea few hundre men in
perlec, fever to embark il ,he business. As
near as We can estimate, at least fifty establish
tnents have been ordered to the country during
the last eighteen months. Some fifteen or
twenty Of these have been burned in San Fran
cisco, and in many instances two or three sets
III materials are combined in office. while
a good deal more is lying idle, in different
parts of the country. There being a glut Of
materials, and erroneous views in regard to
profits having obtained, the country has been
cursed with a surplus Of sickly newspapers
We say cursed, because half dozen inferior
papers, are a severe tax OH community, while
two or three ably conducted journals are
great public benefit, welding on influence for
good not easily over.estimated, and are Iustain-
cd without being burthensome.
In no place IN California has the printing bu.
siness been more overdone, for at least six
months past, than in this city. Ills is not
wealthy community -our merchants are nearly
oil small dealers and when we think that the
absolntc expense (without dollars proft)
of publishing daily paper is not le.s than $1,000
per week, 1t must seem strange to all that three
papers have been. We pretend to say, and we
know what we assert to be true, that the three
newspapers in this city have not made enough
to fairly meet their curren. expenses since last
November, They have only beer kept up by
gentlemen propretors throwing in their labor
(and ii has been hard labor for no adequate
reward.
The above statement of facts will we trust
satisfy the people Of this city that their interest
has been consulted in uniting the Times and
the "Transcript," and distinguishing one paper.
We do Not believe the mercantile community
wish to advertise in three papers, when they
can get their business before the same number
Of readers through two papers at one-'hird less
expenses.
1t costs i l56 900 TO sustain three daily Jour
!!ais ole year IN this .,ity, "a! which rate the
proprieors can make no profit. One hundred
and twenty five thousand dollars will sustain
two papers the same length Of time. which will
circulate almost as many copies as though three
papers were printed, ard then the profit. Of the
business will justify employing a larger com
bn"'ion Of talent, AMI giving greater variety
OF matter in the two papers than could be al
lorded in three
The fact is, We cannot have good papers in
California, till there are fewer Of them. As at
present conducted they nearly all strictly
local journals. A Californian paper does not
give much general intelligence from different
parts Of the world, in one week, might he
given each day, and will be when few large
papers are able to buy up crowd of smaller
ones. The consequence Of all this is, that Cali.
iorniAn paper, are, in many respects, duplicates
Of one anulher. You get about the same Lews
matter in one payer that you get in another.
The difference consists in column or two edi, |
loIius, Aud IT. Ills feature, even, We have 81 |
ten thought the original and close observing
Col. GIit-the late popular Sergeant at Arms
of the California State Assembly was more
than half right when he said sitter g,ncing
over pile Of Californian papers SWELL |
have read them a and they are just as much
alike as they would be if one man was G.tor Of
the whole Of them"
Editors cannot be blamed that their papers
are no better; it is no, that they lack talent,
but they have much work to do tina, they
cannot perform i, as well as ii ought to be- and
the limits of their papers are So circumsoribed, |
that they have no chance 70 furnish any grea.
variety. The only remedy to this state of
things, by which the community can be saved
from Que "neraus tax, aud the business elevated
so that the press of California can DO what it
ought to be, is in consolidating the different es
Establishments so as to discontinue one-half the
present number, or to wait for general crash,
after which there will he some chance of build
up FROM the ruins Of many presses, few sub
s,an,ial journals, that will be permanent good
to The state,
HURRAH FOR OLD MACON.