Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1876-09-02

the dawn is not afar off. Her business
men begin to feel more buoyant and
hopeful, and it is only such outsiders as
have not yet discovered the new order
OF things who entertain the usual prsju.
dices incident to misfortune and waning
power.
THE TRIBULATIONs OF PUBLISHERS.
There is probably nobody qualified
tojudge of the many difficulties incident
to the publication of country" news
paper except those who have engaged in
the business; for it requires an Unborn
tact, a peculiar adoption to circum-
stances, rarely found in experienced
printers and, we may say, never outside
that craft, to guarantee anything like
success in it as a business pursuit. tits
said that but one person in thousand
knows how to {" Keep hotel" and it
may be as truthfully remarked, that not
one in ten thousand can successfully
manage a newspaper with a limited
field of operation and the competition
incident to the rapid and systematic
transmission of news, which enables the
metropolitan journal to con6ne it in
still narrower bonds. All this may
seem egotistical, but it is nevertheless
true.
Among the points upon which the
public and the publisher disagree, pro-
badly none is of greater Importance
then what should constitute legitimate
subjects of revenue for the paper. tits
pretty generally held by the former
that any announcement conveying in
formation of general interest or benefit,
should be inserted without charge; that
all advertisements of public meetings,
church fairs or of charitable organiza-
tons, of whatever form or nature, are
matters which the publisher must puff
into notice without the most remote idea
of individual benefit; that if he prints
a party organ, even the platforms OF
candidates, and all extra labor incident
to preparing an issue to meet the exact
ing demands of party leaders, must be
cheerfully borne without fee or reward.
This is wrong. The publisher posses
ses no more, or less, interest in these
proceedings than the community in
general, and nobody would think of
exacting special services from any other
craftsman without rendering a fair
equivalent. The merchant might just as
we'll claim that his advertisement is q
"matter of news" which should be sub
ject to this rule. The receipt of new
goods, or a reduction of price on some
article of general use, is oftentimes of
more Importance to the consumer, than
the most elaborate details concerning
the Turkish war or of the present atti-
tude of Sitting Bull. Still it can readily
be seen that there is propriety in his
paying for the paper, ink and labor, by
which he is benefited, even though the
public may receive an equal service by
its publication. The idea that the
publisher is always anxious for some.
thing to " fill up" should extend be-
yond the yawnipg columns of his pa
per. He has a pocket which is some
times pittifully lean and stomach
which Graves the ordinary allowance of
pork and beans, and it is only Ly max
ing the one in some degree profitable,
that the others can be supplied.
This article is not prompted by q
spirit of discomfort, but as brief essay
on a subject that the public should con-
slider in connection with the various
suggestions for reform Of many minor
evils. The laborer is, in every instance,
worthy of his hire. The publisher is
just as much entitled to remuneration for
drumming up audiences as if he paraded
the streets ringing bell for that pur-
pose; he should be as privileged to
possess share in the profit of political
campaigns as others who devote their
time and talents to the acquisition of
as worthy an object.
It may not be generally known that
city newspapers adopt stringent rules
with reference to advertisements of
every description. It is never expected
that anything of a personal or sectarian
nature shall take precedence, in re-
ference to price, over the ordinary ad-
vertisement, and If this rule was of gen.
eral application, the local press would
soon be enabled to assume an indepen-
dent position among the leading indus.
tries of the country.
The grape crop of California this year
will be unusually large. They will pro-
badly not command over $40 or $12 per
ton, and the great question to be solved
is, what to do with them. Doubtless q
large proportion of the crop will be con.
verted into raisins, but if this should
not be adequate the suggestion is made
by one of the leading journals to. feed
surplus grapes to hogs and realize q