San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1879-06-14
a Talk with she Patrons und
Friends Of tho Free Press.

the condition and prospects of the
FREE PRESS might do good, by dis
abusing the minds of its patrons and
friends of some misaprehensions un-
der which they may bs laboring, we
rise to explain"
The main point perhaps is this, that
whereas some eighteen months since
we very greatly enlarged and improv.
ed the paper, we have for few months
past considerably reduced the amount
Of reading matter. Without due
consideration some may think they
have reason to complain of this, and
even to hold that we have acted in
bad faith in the matter. All such will
allow US to remind them of q few facts
as our sufficient vindication.
Those who have we'll marked our
course here in the newspaper business
will scarcely say that we have erred
in the way Of furnishing cheaper ar
tlcle than the patronage warranted !;
if we have erred it has been on, the
other side.
Once before, as they will remember,
we enlarged and greatly improved the
paper, under the belief that it would
result in such an extension of our list
as would warrant us in keeping it up
to that standard, But we scarcely
gained a dozen subscribers by the
change, and after trial of eighteen
months and considerable loss to our
self, we were compelled to reduce the
size again.
In the fall Of 1877 we made our Sec
ond experiment. nearly doubling the
size of the paper and trebling the am
cunt of reading matter at large expen-
Sc of course. We ought, as we see now.
to have profited by our former expert
ence, and at the same time advanced
the price. But we were again assured
that if we would hold it up to that
mark for one year, we would probably
double our subscription list-certainly
would greatly enlarge it. Well, at
the end of the year, we had not gained
fifty subscribers by the change. SO of
course the balance was again on the
wrong side of the ledger with US and
the usual fall and winter business
coming up missing" we felt compell-
ed to retreneh.
Now we ask those who may be in
clined to be dissatisfied at our course
to consider that our enlargement, as
we stated at the time, was on the as
surance of an increased patronage.
The arrangement was on the basis Of Of
an implied contract with the public.
We faithfully fulfilled our part OF the
contract, but 1.-THE other SIDE" did not.
We never engaged to keep up the en-
larged paper at loss, and no reason
able person would expect US SO to
do. So we are clearly not the party at
fault in the necessity which has come
for its ''ensmallment.'
We have become entirely satisfied,
as the result of our experience. that
only certain limited number of per-
sons in this county can be induced to
subscribe for a home paper, The re.
mainder, who read at all, depend on
borrowing or stealing the reading of
their neighbors' papers who subscribe
and pay. Right in this town there are
large numbers of well-to do people who
regularly do this. and treat it as a
joke, rather than as very mean and
shabby act, as it certainly is. 1t is
not only unjust to the home paper, but
to its subscribers. who often complain
that they are thus cheated ont OF the
first reading of their papers, and some
times never see them at all.
As we have before had occasion to
remark, no paper ever had better,
more prompt-paying and reliable class
of subscribers than the FREE. PRESS
the only difficulty is that there are
not enough of them to warrant the
publication of such a paper as we would
like to publish, without an increase Of
price. We ought to have at least
twice as large list in the county, and
even in San Marcos, as we now have,
and with such list could readily keep
4.