The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1874-05-26
FOR ADVERTISERS TO READ.
to Their Advantage to Know


lucky Press Association, from which we
extract the following:
We come, then, to assert that considera-
tons Of keeping faith with our subscribers,
and of honorable dealing with the public
at large, as well as of our own moral atti-
tude, urge that in our columns the reading
matter and the advertisements should al
ways be kept apart and distinct; and that
there should be drawn between the press
and the State separation as clearly de-
fined as between the State aud the church.
This means. in regard to the distinction
OF advertisements and reading matter, that
we have space to sell. not opinions of which
we make merchandise; and, in respect to
the separation of the press and the State
it does not mean absence from affairs, but
identity with the people, activity with pro-
ductlye industry, not partnership with con-
Stunning officials and their co or erative CON
tractors.
If we print, as matter selected for the
public information, or as prepared by our
selves for the benefit of the general reader,
that which represents an individual inter
est, and are paid for it, how can we escape
the imputation that we have
SOLD OUR INFLUENCE
with those who repose confidence in us
An article appears in editorial position
and type in respectable journal-or, to be
exact, in Journal that to confding readers
seems to be responsible Recommending as
safe and remunerative investment the
bonds of railroad or canal in course of
construction from Greenland to Siberia A
| fiattering tale is told of the genial climate
and fertile soil, Of the happy land between
Hudson's Bay and Alaska-of the early
apple blossoms, and the grasses and wild
| flowers OF the long summer time, and the
fruits, the corn, the sweet fodder, and all
the ripeness OF lingering autumn-in the
| superb region, watered by the Astounding
rivers that run to the Polar Sea and tenn
pered by the soft winds from Northern
| Asia rich with the musk of the roses of
| Spitzbergen. Among those who read this
glowing fiction (which is made to bristle
with certificates and statistics), and who. as
| they understand it, take the word of the
editor they believe in for its truth, are
men and women who have little boards of
money, the net product of many years
hard work and hard saving and they want
TO place it where it will be safe and yield
moderate income. So they invest their
capital, made precious by their hopes and
prayers, and sacred by the purity of the
devotion it represents, in the gold bearing
bonds that have no other security than
the production Of tropical fruits in the
Arctic Sahara?
Has not the editor assisted In the rob
berry of those poor people, and is not the
money paid him, for his Endorsement of a
rascaIiy romance, in
| THE NATIJRF OF 4 RRIBF2
Is it sufficient that he disclaims RESPONSE
! JIilty ioT an ADVERTISEMENT Certainly
| the advertisement should be classified 50
that there could be no mistake as to its
character as matter paid for, and repre-
sentiug not the editorial judgment. but the
enterprise OF an Irrational adventurer, or
an unconsciOnable scoundrel It would
seem that the subscriber for a newspaper
should have a reasonable assurance in its
principles and methods of business, that it
is not to be used by sharpers to cheat him.
The advertiser is, however, the difficult
person to deal with. He is often in need
Of admonition and instruction for his edif-
cation and building up in the knowledge of
that which belongs to him when he pur-
chases admission to our columns. We
must fix the point in the public under
standing that the newspaper is not the
product Of favoritism OF advertisers-that
the editor does not exist solely by the grace
of the Being who puts an advertisement in
his paper, but has in his daily labor, if in
nothing else. visible and rightfuI means Of
support-that newspaper property is, like
other property, fairly productive, if care
fully managed-that the subscriber, de-
Gently dealt with, gets the worth of his
money-that the advertiser does not be-
stow a benefaction and confer a solemn
and lasting obligation but engages in a
transaction Of purely business character
for his own beneft--that he does not pa
tronize the Press, but that the Press fur.
nishes him the indispensable means OF
reaching the public, and when he has paid
the bill
Is ON EQUAL FOOTING WITH HIM,
Now if he proposes to purchase any
} thing more than space, the advantage o.
: good position and the most attractive STYLE
that can be offered for the display of his
matter. he mistakes his relations with the
Press or they are not Of sort that should
have our appreciation.
Perhaps some advertisers may hesitate
to come down from the pedestal they have
occupied for long time as the patrons
and benefactors OF the Press. 1t may be
ii they can not occupy GU columns as they
D please, that they will withdraw their ines
p Unable boons and permit the Press t
languish and the people to mourn; and i
is evident that we should proceed so as t,
guard against the peril OF misfortune 81
sore.
Still, the Press we think strong enough
to determine the law of its business, and t
''relegate" the advertiser to his own prop
er part OF the paper; and there can be nt
0 doubt that the managers of newspaper.
t who have the nerve to lay down the Law
law and live up to it. will find themselye.
sustained on all sides, keeping the gooC
= things they have got, and reaching GU
e with strengthened hands for the COLDER
S promises OF the future. In the make III
o OF the newspaper we must draw the line
somewhere" between the matter that i
for the general entertainment, information
o and instruction, and that which is for tn,
S advancement of individual purposes; anC
we should draw the right line once for all
that paid matter shall be published so tina
the fact will not be concealed. Ii this coul,
t ne declared and established by the pres
as an lnvariable rule, an immense aud per
picking Embarrassment would be removed
q We should gain much, and nobody coulI
i lose anything that ought not to be lost
: The advertisers who are fond of editing
2 our papers for us would not, perhaps, Civ,
1 up the habit of debating, and the vanity
: of advertising editorially, without protest
a ing a good deal, but presently there would
f be among them the dawn Of brighter in
! telligence and the elearness of the bette
; way. Unquestionably they would hav'
: advantages in accepting fully the RESPONSE