, 1882-05-13

"ItiuS ou tue sosJoSs VI o<A A3s>sS
paper thai has suspended publication, the
Boise Statesman has the following to nay.
which are our views to hair:
Papers are starting up and suspending
ali over ,hc country every lev months
There are four, If not tuE simss - many
newspapers published as are needed.
Printers and men whc have been casual
editors or written little for newspapers,
have a peculiar ,tching to become the
proprietor of newspaper. They think
every county seat and every town Of
( few hundred inhabitants is good place to
start newspaper, and if they can secure
press and little material, even ON
credit, they launch out with high hopes,
eSpecting coon to make fortune OF be
elected 10 Congress and become the most
popular man in the county or state. This
is all sad mistake A useful newspaper
man is seldom popular. He has tread ON
too many mems ccrns. has written the
wrongs and exposed the frauds and cor
ruptions of public men too often TO be
called clever man in society. He should
never think Of an office. He cannot be
independent and take lesding part on
important questions without antagonizing
bitter opposition. An able, well-con-
Quoted newspaper is blessing to n coun-
try, but cheap. eliminate paper is only
a curse The latter seldom publish An
editorial or discuss leading question
If he confines his paper to clippings from
other papers, he does but little harm, but
his subscribers might as well buy last
years almanacs- A large proportion of
cheap newspapers men think their only
mission is to throw dirt at somebody or
abuse their brother editors. The people
are half at fault for extending patronage
to such trashy papers. They want their
own town written up and think that op-
position in newspapers is good thing.
These are mistakes No well-founded
newspaper is iealons Of neighboriDg
towns. Their growth is the growth Of
the paper, because it represents and
writes up the whole country.
The great trouble with sickly news
papers Is it takes them tco long TO die.
They live out miserable existence, for
'car Of shame in suspending. No news
paper is on a healthy basis, We don't care
low small it may be, with less than 1000
,r 800 subscribers and good sdyertis-
NJ patronage IL onght to have from
!, 900 to 5000 paying subscribers, and in
arge cities tie subscription list should
number from 10000 to 10000. A large
Of the papers in this territory
md Eastern Oregon and Washington do
not have 500 paying subscribers. 1t is
,niy question of time with them As /.
Vas with the Herald how long they will
survive In this age people want news,
ocal, state, United States and foreign
news They don't want it week or
month old, but they want to know what
$ going on from 1sy 70 day. The hoE'e
,r town news caii be given in cheap
paper, AS a matter Of course, but when it
IS given in one paper You do not want to
read two or three more papers to get the
same items. Making newspaper may be
to running quartz mill. 1t
costs very near as much to run five or
ten stamp mill as II does a twenty-stamp
mill The FIVE or tea stamp miil must
charge more per ton if it does custom
work, because il costs more. Virtually
the small mill is not competitor, for 1t
cannot reduce prices. 1t is the large mill
that can reduce prices if it only has
enough to do. 1t is so with the news
paper, only great deal more so. The
first 800 papers, taking the usual size Of
papers, costs all you can get for
them. If you strike off less you do not
make wages. You are working for moth
ing-jnst for glory, to be an editor. If
you strike off 1000 papers, you make
something ON the last 500 II you can
increase or double the number again, you
are beginning to do paying business and
can pay for news and for able writer's and
make your paper interesting and useful
There is no industry carried on on which
the cost is reduced in proportion to the
quantity furnished, ar much as it is in the
newspaper or printing business. Editors
know this fact well enough, but in their
zeal to be editors, do not take it into ac-
count If you had to set up the type and
make up the forms and strike of one
copy, and desired to have 1000 copies
published, which could probably all be
done for $500, you would not divide the
work and give it to different book
establishment to print, because each has
so set up the same matter, at cost OF
81 900 each. The printing and binding
of the 1000, or say e97 other books.
even if it could be done as cheap a. the one
man could do If, at dollar and half
each, would be 81 ,435. so, 20 that instead
Of paying one man q, 500, you pay S,
995. 80 to three men for the same work.
This rule will apply to Publishing nsw,-
papers.the srrne a. it doea to publishing
books Is i. any wonder that hundreds
Of newspapers are in a siekly and dying
condition, and that the people are paying
too dear for the whistle y
IL the Chinese race increase upon
American soil, the augmentation mnst