The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-06-25
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THE DISp A TIC y.
-. .,,nn.v ..op~YNn JUNE IS. tsts
ouIrrrrorys ADVERTISING.
Jun as. ,sm

aRATUIroUs ADVERTISING.
In the present advanced state of newspa-
ner enterprise il is refreshing to behold such
EXAMPLES of primitive simplicity as are fur
nished by suudry antediluviaa correspond
enss Of New York Journal, who, in the
mos, artless and eonfding manner, present
TO that paper accounts of the merits OF va
rious watering places of which they happen
to be proprietcrs, aud the extraordinary
attractions, merits and advantages OF when
are, in their opinion, Of great interest 10
the PUBLIC. We had not supposed that, ID
the neighborhood Of New York, there ex-
listed degree Of ingenious and unsoph'sti'
ca,.a innocence that would have done Gre
dit to Adam on his first day in Paradise.
In this age Of progress, the newspaper world
has not been standing still, and the good
old times when printing end publishing
establishment belonged TO every body ex-
cept the owner, have vanished with the dark
ages.
1t is pleasing and edifying, in this grand
march Of human progress, sometimes to
pause and look back at the rude beginnings
and tedious and painful development of in
yentions and discoveries which are now in
the full tide of successful experiment. Com
mare a Minnie rife with the primitive fire.
lock, or one of Hoes last and fastest with
the first printing press, or an Atlantic steam
or with the ricketty fabric which Fulton first
launched upon the Hudson, and there has
not been a greater change than in the bust
ness arrangements Of the press. There was
a time when q newspaper might be likened
TO a tavern kept by private individual for
the sole benefit of the public at his own ex-
peuse every man being free TO come, eat,
drink and sleep at tn. cost and charges OF
the landlord. 1t is ludicrous and pitiable
TO look over the columns OF old journals,
and see the heartrending appeals to delin-
uuent subscribers, and the generous deduc-
tons of prices which were offered If they
would come up and settle. Arguments and
entreaties were piled mountain high, and
sometimes when ten or twenty years had
passed without the appearance OF ''arv
redp on the part of the obdurate "patron,
dark threats were uttered that his name
would be cut off the subscription list This
was only a small part of the Affections of the
proprietor. In bis widest dreams ofprosper-
ity, he did not venture to imagine that his
types. paper and type-Settlng were his own
property, and could be rightfully withheld
from the publication of anything which any
body chose TO suppose was for the interest
of the public. He was expected, as q mat
fer Of course, to puffaud 10 publish puiis of
every invention, scheme, watering place,
hotel, steamboat, railroad which was to
make other peoples fortunes, with the ma
terials and labor for which he himself had
paid and TO look for his reward in the con-
scionsnesS of being public benefactor. 1t
was mean and mercenary in him to refuse
TO serve the public for nothing, and highly
laudable and generous in the public to use
his property and Industry without compen-
sation 1t was impossible that such sys-
tenn could last, the most uudoubted certi-
fcates of being public ben.factor not be-
ing a kind of currency which will pay COM
posters butchers or bakers. The result is
that the private property of the press is no
longer appropriated without compensation
to public uses except in some rural districts,
where u few famished locking newspapers
sun drag out PTeChFlOuS eAl5'tnCe III the
forlorn old way, receiving subscriptions in
wood and potatoes, puffing soda fountains
for glass Of soda water, and tobacco shops
for half dozen cigars. But in business
communities, people who have an axe to
grind are now in the habit of grinding it
at their own expense, and do not expect to
avail themselves Of the capital and labor OF
Others in the printing business more than
in any other department of human enter
prise.
1t is well enough at the beginning of the
watering season to bear these facts in mind
and the New York journal, 10 which we
have referred, has refreshed the memories o.
some of its readers in q manner which will
be OF benefit to the public, in whose interes
the watering place proprietors are so mucf
concerned, if not to themselves individually
The hint will also be Of service to the enter
prisiRg correspondents from various water
ing places, who SO enthusiastically set fortl
the peculiar claims of various establishments
upon the public regard. The public don
want to lie enlightened about the unrivallcG
cuisine of this or that watering place
the hospitable hosts, accomplished clerk;
and indefatigable barkeeperS. This kind Of
putlery is relic Of antiquity which is out
Of place in modern newspaper