Freeman's champion., 1857-08-27
Two Dollars Per Year in Advance.

Such are the terms to be found at
the head of almost every Weekly
Paper in the country but we fear few
have sufficient regard for the real
meaning and import of it. Let us
examine, then, and see if we cannot
discover in this fact, at least one great
secret connected with the success or
failure of so many who have en-
barked in the business of publishing
a newspaper:
"rwo Dollars a year in advance ?"
"Oh no." says one man, 81 can new
er consent to pay for thing before 1
get it. I am willing to subscribe,
and hope you will get along success
fully; but 1 can't pay in advance
don't like the principle" The pub
Usher is induced to take his name, be-
cause he wishes to swell his list of
patrons; and considering the position
of the man, feels that he can almost
afford to give him a paper, rather
than not secure his influence. So the
publisher might go to every man
from whom he would reasonably ex-
poet a ready dollar or two, only to be
repulsed with II never subscribe for
paper and pay in advance"
The Office has been bought and To-
Gated +; in the purchase of the mate
rial he has perhaps given all the ready
money he possessed, but still this was
insufficient to furnish all the requi-
sites, and for the balance he gives
"Six months from date | promise to
pay," etc. Publication day arrives,
and his paper comes out looking
finely, and calls forth many such re-
marks as these Capital Paper )"
"Guess he'll do first rate;" appears
like a capital fellow" ETC., ETC.
Thus it passes on until after a few
weeks they consider only that on such
a day "The Weekly Intelligencer"
will make its appearance. Every
body, at first, wishes to subscribe for
The paper, and everybody hoped he
would do we'll ; but nobody is willing
to pay Two Dollars Year, in advance.
Fortune, tits said, favors the brave;
and so our aspirant for Newspaporiel
honors, by sacrifices or credit, is en-
abled for time to send out his little
sheet on its errand of instruction and
usefulness. Six months have now
elapsed, and the poor man finds him
.self with only one ream of paper
when he should have two--no money,
when he should have at least some
no credit-and to crown all, just at
this particular time in pops one of
those little slips which reads "Iprom-
ise to pay" and altogether makes up
ON his mind decided impression;---
What's to be done? Aye, that's the
question. What is to be done p
Publication day arrives, and only
half-sheet takes the place Of the "Cap-
ital Paper" which six months before
was so literally subscribed for by his
frisnds, sUho hoped he scouId succeed
. As q leading article you will find
something after this sort:
Acknowledging to some unac-
countable delay in getting our regu-
lar supply Of paper, we are this week
obliged to issue only half sheet
We trust such necessity will not
arise again, it being az unpleasant to
ourselves as it is unacceptable 60 our
readers.
Trace the column down and you
will find tho true secret, embodied in
a polite but urgent request for delin-
quents to send in the amount Of their
subscriptions, to enable the publisher
to meet the current expenses Of his
paper. But alas ! no one chooses to
SEQ the point of the thing, and many,
after carelessly reading 1t over, Won
der that q paper cannot bo furnished
without dunning its subscribers be-
foro the year is out. A few months
more Of "lingering torment" and
The paper "goes up" leaving its pub
fisher burdened with any quantity Of
small bills, which he is utterly unable
to pay; while his subscription book
is we'll filed with the names Ct good
men who "took the paper" but who
never pay for such q thing in advance.
Some of them will doubtless congrat-
ulate themselves upon their good luck
in not paying whom they subscribed,
T.. - ~