New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-06-20
,.u,a without cant. honestly and clear

syhteEH nSSsIIv hearty should be the union of
oeort toward an examination OF All chaIlhes'
IN growth Of his interest is sOmetnihE ehoi
ro,s The abuses connected WIN IL arr
MY startling, and the mlsChleVous effects
eg'oriv second to the evils wrought upon the |
whole community by municipa eX'raV2|anCe'
. Il does not seem 20 me quito truism, /
80 eoroe may regard 1t, nor yet quite utOplan, /
a 1tb,rs surely Will, to declare that the press /
@e~,'t to i0in heartily, IN right brotheriy accord,
-, p,qttcr what the party differences. IN wag- |
no war on abuses affecting the public morals. /
Does ANYBODY suppose that, II we dld, we /
elould see on our statute books laws against /
wee which nobody enfOrccs and nobody eX-
ncctS 10 see enforced How long would
roicv shops thrive against such unonY
How long would Excise Commissioners DEFY
tie decency of the community by licensing
pe9-nut stands as hotels" IN order mat lhey
MIGHT sell liquor IN defiance Of law
We might well wish, but with less hope,
for similar agreement upon the great prob
lem of the treatment of criminal news None
OF rs have TO deal with more peIpleAllg
question, and as vet the men OF goodwill III
the profession have reached no common
ground about il. Meantime, those who value
immediate pecuniary success above any other
consideration, have found the criminal news
"a real gold mine, and explore and exploit II
accordingly.
THE EDITOR MUST Re AN AUTOCRAT.
A great newspaper must make money.
Money making indeed may not be the sole OBJ
iecr; may, perhaps, not be the chief object,
since il is a profession, and not a mere trade,
which editors conduct. But whether for in
fuencc or durable success. a sound CONNER
cial basis Is Indispensable to great daily
newspaper. Prosperity carl1es weIght; SOL
veucy gives sense or security; Ihe paper
which supports Itself respectfully can better
expect to have its opinions regarded Ivy 9TH
as. 10 must. therefore. rest for Its chief sup
port upon the honest sale OF wares the puhlc
want. Whenever 1t does not, 1t becomes
mere journal of pTOpagandiSm ana 10 lacks H.
Guanee precisely in proportion as 1t lives by
passing the hat.
YouGe editors are likely to grow up in an
atmosphere OF opposition 10 Tue counting
room. As they become older theY cease 90
despise the blse of their supplies, and VIII be
ready TO give some careful consideration 10
certain cOuuting-rOOm points -
/. There can be but one head to neWspa-
per. and that head, in the nature OF things,
must ue ITS Editor The control cannot with
safety reside j. the cOuDtng-rOOm. In
younger days ! Was disposed to depreI
ciate the publisher Long since l learned
tie folly Of that but / insist az
strongly now as ever, that the place for
Eual decision must he the Editors chair. No
newspaper can have Che highest respect whose
Editor does not peIemptouiy say Wheh &C.
cq-l0u requires, " ! VIII not insert that adVer-
tsoment ut any cost. l am not willing TO lay
II before my readers " / Will crtlClse that
abuse, no matter what advertisements 1T
may drive away from Us. Ana AGAIN,
{" will not put that advertisement III
that place or IN that type no matter
what they are Wiling to pay Tor II
I Will not atir0nt intelligent readers by thrust
lug a liver cure or patent truss under tlelr
noses, in the column where | have taught
them TO look for our dramatic CRITICISM
Wherever there IS a conflict between the
cOuutng-rO0m and the edltOrlal-roOm on
these OF a hundred similar and larger points,
there Is always weakness and loss OF pubic
no IN which side UTpTalIS. All
successful newspaper conduct points 10 the
nccc-sitv OF an absolute autOcracy, with the
aurOcrat in the Editors chair.
GOLDES RULE FOR HE COUNTING-ROOM.
.. One golden rule should be kept before
every occupant of the cOunting-rOOm, " This Is
q One-price establishment There is no other
fair way for advertisers; there is no other
self-resqecting way for a newspaper. If you
sell a certain part of your space at ALL sell it
under the same conditions TO all alike. There
is NJ special dIspensatiOn for newspapers
which permits them TO commit commercial
sins and escape the commercial penalty. III
yqu 90 CGedP JON business You Nl must must
a business as solid as that of a.
7. Stewart, YOU must abide by the COM
mercial maXims that made his success.
The moment one advertising agent Is able To
get ten-liGe advertisement INTO your
columns under any particular classification
cheaper than another one can, or cheaper than
any individual customer can (the recognized
commission excepted, that moment your buSl-
ness has ceased to be an honest commercial
business, and degenerated into dlcker There
cau be no safer rule for publisher than TO
dismiss any employe who, for any cOnsldera-
ton, takes an advertisement tom any
quarter for less than the honest rate the
paper PROCESSES 20 charge for Ii, % who
charges anybody else penny more
than that rate. All this sounds like truism,
and vet we shall be nearer the golden age
when more newspapers adopt policy at once
so simple, so straightforward and 80 re-
muneariye.
FAIR DEALING WITH THE PUBLIC.
g. Sell your wares for what they are.
DON'T surrender to the vulgar folly tLat you
must make advertisers believe that you have
an incredible circulation, or even that you
have the largest circulation. The value Of
a circulation is often comparative, anyway;
one paper with a list of but 10000
nav be worth as much as another which
prints 10000. The public is finding out the
humbug about big ciTculatiOns and sooner or
later il goes where IL gets Its moneys worth.
The Nation announces that II prints only $500
copies, all tod, yet 1t gets 10 cents line
for its advertising, has plenty of 1t, and
gives the moneys worth every time.
There is but one reason OF the least weight
against publishing daily statement OF clIcu-
latIon. The public have been so demOrallZed
bv the grotesque ideas of numbers, not merely
a. II newspapers but in hundred other mat
tiers, with which every editor II familiar,
that ordinary figures have largely lost
their significance. You all know how
a meeting which completely packs hall
with seats for 500 is always spoken of as a
gathering Of thousands how a man who is
known to have u few thousand dollars in
each Of two or three ventures pres
enty becomes, in the current talk, worth
hundred thousand, While from tia. to beng
millionaire VINO swlndles the tax collector
IN MS returns is the shortest sort Of a step.
Not until the administrator comes TO look up
the a..-t. rs tho nelnslOn discovered, and