The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1853-11-26
-. .c..,,n. .npeals which

Amonp the most affecting appeals wn'cn
- sea IN the country newspapers, are those
"a which the editors implore their subscribers
= nav their subscription bills. It would be
wrong to call these appeals, duns There
Is something too peremptory ana men,.
acing associated with that word to apply It to
the modest. beseeching, deprecatory tone In
which the editor petitions his delinquents to
have compassion upon his necessities. No
Partisan was ever more polite than the editor
of paper. when he calls upon his subscrib.
ers for settlement, Other creditors adopt a
laconic, decisive tone, strongly suggestive of
warrants and sheriffs. but the man Of news.
papers appears to be asking for mercy rather
than demanding justice. He implores his
patrons to remember the poor printers" he
invokes them to consider that printers must
hve' that they have hungry mouths to fill as
well as other people; and that the paper man
utactWer and the compositor must be paid.
Frequently, they respectfully solicit those
OF their subscribers who pay for their paper
in wood, to forward few loads of that valu-
BILE article. We confess that we never read
these subdued and earnest appeals of our
country contemporaries without feelings Of
compassion for newspapers which 60 upon
the credit system. and of strong indignation
at their patrons. When we contrast the
buoyant, sanguine spirit with which the
hopeful typo first mounts the tripod, and the
melancholy andcrest- fallen aspect with which
he beholds its legs becoming shaky under
him, we are sadly impressed with the vanity
of human expectations. When we hear of
men processing to be honest. who turn deaf
ear to the courteous and respectful solcita-
ton of the printer for settlement, and if he
urges his request somewhat strenuously,
threaten to discontinue their valuable patron
age, we think we see human nature in one of
its ugliest and most repulsive forms. The
fewer such patrons our country friends
permit to remain ON their books, the better
for their permanent prosperity.
The weekly journals of our country, and
especially of Virginia generally, supply their
readers with an amount and variety of in
struction and entertainment which are worth
ten times the price of subscription. They
bring the jewellers of the most secluded spots
into communion with the outer world, give
them ideas and information which they could
obtain in no other way; minister to the moral
ity and innocent enjoyment of society; stim-
ulate the industrial interests, and the public
spirit of people, and thus contribute most
powerfully to the intellectual, social, moral,
and material progress ofacommunity. Yet the
agents in this great work are the only labor
ers who are not considered worthy of their
hire, whose just rewards are often altogether
withheld, or else doled out with niggard and
grudging hand and who, in the midst of the
happiness and prosperity to which they have
been among the chief contributors, are per-
mitted tC pine in neglect and poverty.
The cash system is the only means of ma
king newspapers prosperous and efficient
People who design paying for their newspa.
pers at all, will prefer paying in ADVANCE
When the small amount necessary for this
purpose is permitted to accumulate by the in-
debtedness of year after year, it becomes
burthen which proves inconvenient andirrita-
ting, event to the broad back of sturdy honesty
If our country friends will pardon us for vol
unteering our counsel we would advise them
| to cut the acquaintance of delinquent ''pa-
| trons,'' and refuse to cast their pearls before
! swine