Richland beacon., 1877-02-03
0 OThe Printing Law.

1t has ever been considered wise
and polite for goverEments TO en-
courage, protect and foster all enter
priscs t2at tesii to advance the civil
zatioD, education, tee arts an;l sciences
and material prosperity If coun-
try, and the elevation OF the moral
character and that TIE printing pres
is The moss powerful INSTRUMENT for
the accomplishment Of these ends,
and that il is the great consefgator Of
civil and rell yious liberty, so Ion? as
it is left untramel!eG by corrupt in
fuences. is universally conceded.
Therefore, it wOa!d appear TO be the
duty of ske legislative bodies Of all
civilized governments not only to en-
courage but foster it--not tD s1b3i-
die aud corrupt it as they often do,
but to give it healthy, Independent
vitali,y-by such wise legislation as
they should deem proper 70: tie pro-
motion and encoura9c.Hnt of lis
kindred branches of industry, without
creating a monopoly Of any individ-
ual interest in either branch. beino
careful TO avoid running into the OPP
posite extreme from subsidy or mo-
nopely and enactlng such laws as
will tend to cripple such enterprises.
While we regard subsidized pulpit
and press as q curse TO aay country,
there can be no doubt but that their
suppression is greater curse; bcnce,
wise and patriotic Legislature will
always avoid doing either.
The present printing iav of Louis
lana may be very justly ciasscd
among the crippling enactments OF a
legislature, which labored under
mistaken idea Of cconomy-for to de-
stroy the newspaper press OF the
State is to destroy its prosperity and
rer der it an unfit habitation for refine
men, and inteIligence-and that it will
prove the death Of good many
country papers aud the gripping OF
many more no one acquainted with tie
newspaper business can doubt Tor a
moment. We do not believe any
paper that depends solely upon Official
patronage for support should continue
to exist, but we do think that il 1t Is
worth using as an advertising medium
it is worth paying for; if the adver.
tiser is benefited by the services OF
the newspaper proprietor, be certainly
is entitled to reasonable compensation
for bis services; and one dollar per
hundred words for tie first insertion
and six bits for each subsequent ill.,
sertion is not reasonable compensa-
ton; il is less than the card rates Of
any newspaper. and we think news
paper nen, like others, are well
enough acquainted with their bust
ness to know how much to charge for
their space and sustain q healthy
competition in business
Under Radical rule, the people of
this State have been forced to sup
port subsidized press, run in the
interest of venal and corrupt cabal,
while the press that was used 10 de-
fence OF the rights OF the people has
languishcd for want Of sustaining
support. To these; papers this law,
coming into force just as there is
prospect Of their securing share Of
official patronage, works great hard
ship, if not an actual injustice.
Our opinion in o nutshell is, that
the Legislature should have nothing
to do with fixing the price of adver-
Using, except SO far. perhaps, as to
restrain newspaper proprie,ors from
extortion in charging more for official
advertising than Trey charge their
private customers. There is no law
fixingjtbc charges Of an undertaken fol
The funera! expenses of person who
dies, the physicians fees for attending
him during bis last illness, or the law
yer's fees for assisting the admins
traitor or executor 10 winding up his
succession; and why should there be
one fixing the charges Of the printer
for services rendered 10 the same
matter? The rates allowed by the
previous law were, perhaps, little
too high, but those allowed by the