Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1874-03-07
WHOLE NO. 2,3O3.
ADVERTISING.

There are few weekly papcrsin our
State that stick to the old and profta-
bic plan of editing their own reading
matter and printing both sides Of their
paper athome. The largest number Of
j our State papers, however, have either
the outside or inside of their journals
printed by publishing companies or
ganlzed for that purpose. This they
have perfect right to do. This is :
| free government, and every citizen
thereof has the right to conduct his
business, in legitimate way, as he
pleases. We speak of this in order
that we may lay our views before the
publishers in this State, and that we
may, in an intelligent way, give. our
ideas upon this important subject of
advertising. This patent outside bus
mess, to-day, is doing more toward cen
tralizing the system of advertising than
everything else We have to contend
with. Advertising agents. in all con-
science sake, are bad enough-but
nothing compared to the system above
cited. Every publisher who thus en-
eourages this plan, in our humble judg-
ment, only lends his influence to a fao-
nopoly that will bankrupt all the pa
pers In this country who have not q
sufficient capital to live without adver-
tising patronage. You tell us .hat they
are a benefit to those who are not
able to hire workmen in their Offices.
That is mighty thin. We find no
trouble, or at least not much, in procu-
ring Just as much advertising as we
~..II
our regular rates-apd could make
money enough from ten columns topay
jours and the entire expense of the
office, and any publisher who will use
the proper amount of industry can do
the same.
We contend that the system is curse
to our lsnd-one that viii reeoil sooner
or later-one that all of US will feel.
Our judgment is that the sooner pub
fishers discard this as well as the prac-
tice of taking advertisements from
agents at less than published rates the
better it will be for them. Suppose
we all unite our eforts-say every jour
nal in the United States--in putting
down agents who dictate terms, what
would be the result. Then suppose
we of Tennessee resolve to select our
own reading matter, have it set up un-
der our own supervision, read our own
proof and do our own press work, do
you not believe we could raise the STAN
dard of our profession to a higher
mark than 1t now stands? Would we
not have more room to give to local,
State and National affairs, as well as
the markets, etc.?
We have before US an eight column
paper which has its outside printed by
one of these companies. Its rate for
advertising is sl25 per annum by the
column. That is the publisher would
make his home merchant pay him that
amount for it. This paper has FIVE
columns of miscellaneous advertise
ments that would net him from fifteen
to eighteen hundred dollars if he had
any control over them-or if those
whom he should, if any are to be ia
vored, were the pay masters. These
columns are literally given away. We
find that he charges 20 cents per line
for local notices-and this same patent
man has appropriated, in addition to
five columns, nearly three hundred
lines of his 20 cents per line space
What do you think of that? Now
these locals are kinder take-ins. They
are in spirit, if not in letter, the senti-
ments of the publisher. He is allow
ing quacks and cheats to use him as
cats -paw-while be is unaware that he
is instrumental in "taking-in" the un-
wary.
We all like to see home institutions
patronized and if any of our local
trade slips off to another market we
make great and we might say, just
Now we would ask our
friends if the paper used by the patent
organization is made in our State? You
answer no. Well then how can we ex-
pect to sustain home manufactures,
and thereby carry out what we preach
unless we set the example. Let the
watch-word be home news, home ad-
and above all. home pa
pers in toto-if ever so diminutiVe.-
Springfield Record.