National Republican., 1877-06-29
THE sTaR's "svoRy CIRCULATION"

We yesterday asked our esteemed cotem.
porary, the Star, to explain how it was that
in the affidavit presented TO the District
commissioners its average circulation from
January ], 1877, to June I, 1877, was swori,
to be 15,35S copies, whilst on the afternoon
Of the same day it informed the public that
its average circulatiOn-also verified under
oath-was 1880 copies daily. We also
observed that we doubted whether its pres.
ent circulation was larger than 10000
copies daily, and, Judging from what tho
Star intimated a few days ago, we said that
according to the estimate of the Star, the
circulation of the NATIONAL REPUBLICAN
was probably not more than $500 daily
copies In view of these conflicting opn-
ions we proposed to the Star TO permit us
to delegate some respectable and trust
worthy person to be present in its press
room on every working day for the next six
months or for the next year, whose duty II
would be to take note Of its circulation, for
daily publication in our columns of course, J
we agreeing to accord the Star the same
privilege.
The Star replies to our first interrogatory
by saying that although its average bona
hdc, 'undoctOrcd, unlumpcd and unpadded
circulation for the five months ending June
| was 15,31S daily copies, as verified under
oath to the District Commissioners, but
iustiiiCs the standing announcement nj the
head Of its one editorial column, wherein il
prOClaims its average Sworn circulation Ia
he 1880 copies daily, because during the
latter part of the five months above stated
its circulation averaged 1880 copies daily
We will give the Stars own words so that
there may he no mistake upon this point
The bona Gdc average circulation n53jS Of tho
Sdr given for the FIVE months named WIS sCruT q.
lousy accurate, and there snu discrepancy hctwc,
the large circulation lUr i've months and Tie t,l
tdrGfr dr'riCf clrrrminu FOR LATER MONTH, u u,
same period, as claimed IN our columns.
If We understand the Star corcctly-and
if we are wrong in our construction Of the
meaning of the phrascOlOgy Of the foregoing
extract, we would thank our ncighbor to
inform us-it enjoyed larger circulation
during the months of March, April and
May, rhea Congress icds not ia session
than during the months of january
and February, when Congress was in session
VIII the cashier of the Star or some of the
responsible attaches of the paper make an
affidavit to that effect? We refrain from
further comments on this extraordinary
statement until the Star has an opportunity
to reply, which we hope it will do catcgori-
cally and without prcvarication. For an
swer to our proposition to set Mt rest the
question Of the circulation of both the
Star and REPUBLICAN, by having each paper
properly represented in the press room OF
the other, the Star says:
As regards the proposition to exchange visits OF
Inspection Of the pres rooms of the Sdr and RE
PUBLICAN, we can say that we arc always glad to
afford newspaper men and Others concerned the
opportunity u sec our lightning press engaged
hour afSr hour daily, in the work Of supplying the
universal demand for our paper Perhaps we shall
accept the polite invitation Of THE REprBrICAS to
visit Its press-room. We have some curiosity To see
that truly "matchless" Bullock press that accord.
ing to report, prints THE REprnIWAS's immense
edition in Il little less than four minutes, but In
order to avoid the inevitable disappointment that
would arise from being Ave minutes late we shall
have to ask our neighbor To favor with the exact
moment of the exact minute and hour IL goes to
press.
We made our proposition seriously, and
regret that the Star should dodge the issue.
We again ask the Star, since we believe
that its circulation is not much more than
10000 copies, whether it will allow u repre-
sentative of THE REPUBLICAN the freedom
of its press-room for the next year, we on
our part granting q like license to repre-
sentative Of the Star. If the Stars circula-
tion is as large as the sworn statement rep
resents, why object? Surely the Star can
not be afraid of the result. Has it not
sworn?
The Star inquiries whether the affidavit of
our circulation presented to the District
Commissioners was verified by our press
man? No, it was not, but our cashier swore
to it, and the reason our pressman did not
join in the verfcation was because he left
last Saturday night for Philadelphia, and
we did not know his address We never
theless have all the morning reports of the
number of copies worked or signed by our
pressman, from January to date, and we
shall be very happy to show them to the
Star, together with their entries in our books,
if the Star will reciprocate.