The Portland daily press., 1880-12-22
Boston Commercial Bulletin)
Newspaper Price-C Current Quota
lions.

Reference was made in our last issue to some
ceived from nail manufacturers and wholesale
hardware dealers, who complained that our
quotations of nails were too low. We knew as
matter of fact, that our quotations of prices
at which nails were offered were correct, what
ever might have been the published list prices,
and had supposed that the reply which we
published to the communication in question
would ha re been satisfactory to all candid per-
sons who were aware of the condition of the
market. But one of our correspondents of last
week has seen fit to make the following addi-
tional communication in regard to the matter:
BOSTON, Dec. IL, 1880.
Messrs. Curtis, Guild & Co..
GENTLEMEN.-Win you please send us a bill of
what we owe you, and discontinue our subscription
to the Commercial Bulletin for we regret to say it
is SO incorrect in its quotations it has ceased to be
of any use to us and is sometimes an injury.
Respectfully yours, ROGERS & SHELDON.
Communications like the above have long
since ceased to excite the slightest ripple in
readers generally know, that in properly man.
aged independent newspapers they are so like
ly to encounter opinions with which they may
differ, that such communications have becom
quite rare. But as this is q question of accura-
cy, let US examine the case and see if it may
not be Just possible that our correspondents
are incorrect and not the Commercial Bulletin.
The quotations against which our correspon-
dents objections were raised were So rs to
50 85 per keg for te~-penny nails in our last
Saturdays issue. And that our readers may
see what justification we had for publishing
those prices we will state that the Weymouth
Iron company, the Mt. Hope Iron Company,
and other manufacturers of equally high repu-
tation, had freely offered nails at ~ So per keg
while Otis d. Dana, wholesale hardware deal
had off tn ca1T 1cfc If
50 70. And, furthermore, nails could have
been bought in Plttsburg, Pa, SO low as to be
landed in Boston at a net cost of 80 IS.
We hope our friends whose names have Just
been made use of will pardon us for departing
from our usual practice of secresy in regard to
the sources of our information. But the pres
ent opportunity to draw attention to some Of
the loose notions that prevail in regard to the
functions Of newspaper market reports is too
god to be lost. A leading hardware dealer
to whom a Bulletin reporter went last week Tor
quotations OF nails, said: IA fair quotation
for a newspaper TO make is $500 20 $3.25 per
key. The list price OF the companies is S3.25.'
But this same dealer subsequently admitted
his willingness to take S30U 10 $500 order at
25 TO 50 cents a key less than the price ich
he had named IS "a fair quotation for news
paper" His idea like that of TOO many other
sellers of merchandise, was that newspaper
quotation" ought to be something different
from the actual selling price Ut all article; anu
1t is unfortunate that this mistaken notion has
been heightened by the Loose Practices of GEL
tam journals which publish what profess TO be
market reports or prices current
merchandise broker picked up a little
trane Journal which lay upon his counter the
other day and said: '.All the statesmen like it
because it never inierIereS with their prices.
They Can always discount its quotations five or
ten per cent. to the smallest kind of a
buyer" But though papers of that ilk
may make living by means of special
features irrespective of their market reports
and though even larger or more prominent
journals which profess to give prices of mer-
departments to prevent any material diminu-
ton of their incomes ON account of the defec-
tive character of their intelligence; vet the
merchantile community as a whole is quick to
recognize and appreciate the value of careful
ly prepared and unbiased reviews and quota
tions, and even those merchants who are de.
sirous of seeing high prices named for the
goods of which they are sellers wonld express
nothing but contempt for a journal which
should give equally extravagant quotations
for merchandise of which they happened to be
buyers
In obedience to its own interests, if on to high
er sentiments, the Commercial Bulletin endeav-
ors to have its market reviews represent some
thing different from the too-prevalent view of
newspaper quotations already alluded to.
Whenever any of our readers think they dis
cover an inaccuracy in our reports
we are grateful to them for calling our
attention to it. But the Bulletin has never
been persuaded to give fictitious quotations by
the fear that an occasional subscriber will stop
his paper and subsequently order it from a
news stand instead of receiving it from the
Office direct.