St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1880-03-26

A Cry of Distress from the Press.
The advance of about 20 per cent. in
white paper presents the problem to
newspaper men, how can they keep
along unless they increase their sub
scTiption prices. The fact is, there are
twice as many papers as can get liv-
ing. and many of them, in order to
gain foot hold, have placed the price
far below cost, in the hope of driving
some old and well established paper,
which does business on business princi-
pies, from the field. By such lOwness
of pIice, and by forcing their papers
upon people, and by industriOusly lying
to advertisers in regard to their circn-
lation, many of them have managed to
keep on long enough to debase and de-
mOralIZe the business, to ruin their own
fortunes and to prevent their competi-
tors from making any money. If the
present advance in paper, although it
bears very heavily upon all publishers,
shall have the effect to kill off some of
the myriad of small journals that live
only as paupers upon the community,
it will serve useful public purpose.
An effort is pending before a committee
OF Congress to get the duty Oh wood
pulp repealed, so as to "break the pa
per makers ring" and enable publishers
to give the people cheap intelligence"
| We are not certain, if there is a ring,
that the paper makers are coming
money. Their trade journals claim
that the business has been paying only
~ per cent. Oh the capital invested. If
this is true the advance, has been
little greater than in most other things.
Is at least partially justified, for neces-
SaTlly their expenses have increased
also. If Congress reduces or removes
the tariff, it is liable to iniure ii deserv-
ing industry withou. extending to the
people any corresponding advantage.
In our Judgment, it is far better for the
people to pay a little more, if they
must, for a good, large, entelprising
and substantial newspaper, than to
have so many small concerns establish
ed and encouraged. But if there is
nothing to encourage neighborhood
sheets, they will not exist, and then the
patronage of legitimate papers will be
sufficiently increased SO that they will
not be compelled to advance then
prices. There is another thing that
many publishers could do to advantage
and that is to require subscriptions to
be paid strictly in advance and to dis
continue all papers as fast as subscrip-
tions expire. We are convinced by
both logic and experience that it is the
only honorable, manly and safe way
| What right have we to crowd our pa
per upon man this year because be
took it last No more right than he
has TO send us Il tub of butter because
we bought one of him last year. Pa
pers that are published on the credit
plan frequently insert statement OF
what they call ''the newspaper law
the substance of which is that if a per-
son takes a paper habitually from the
post office, he thereby becomes liable
to pay for it as a subscriber. These
publishers take advantage of peoples
| well-knOwn habit of having their mail
often taken from the office by others.
and send along their paper, and by and
by send bill, which, if not paid. thew
put in suit. And if it turns out that
they have been sending the paper to
some one who has no attachable prop
erty, or has removed from the state.
they brand him with every opprobrious
epithet that cupidity and slander can
invent. This is degrading to the busi-
ness, an outrage upon the public as
well us upon the individual, and it con-
stitutes ii species of black mail, which.
If the honor of publishers is not suffici-
ent to prevent it, ought to be made a
misdeneanor IN law. And after all this
beggary and black mail, it is very
doubtful if good paper gets as much
money out of the business as it would
from less extensive but advance paw
ing circulation. 1t is only the cheap.
poor papers, that need to force them
selves. Those that the people want
they will take and pay for, and if none
others were encouraged OF tolerated,
the business would afford fair profits to
publishers, to printers, to paper-makers
and to the manufacturers of ink, tvpe
and machinery,-as it certainly does
not now. Better than this, prices could
actually be reduced to subscribers and
advertisers, and best of all, the general
tone and character Of the press, which
is the great modern educator, would be
immeasurably elevated and improved.
st. Adams Messenger.