The Arkansaw traveler. (Little Rock, Ark.) 1882-1???, 1882-10-15
How Reporters are Cheated.


A New York correspondent, of the Har-
risburg, Pa. Cat:l,!. gives the following.
showing how reporters are cheated:
In the interests OF Justice wan, ~ re-
fer briefly 10 a system in vogue among
certain persons high IN authority IN the
New York zf,sss office, by which the re-
porters Of tina, paper were regularly
heated our of large portion Of then
earnings The system IN question i
briefly Il follows: The I.ss.s purports
Il pay u; The rate " - a ealamn - t.
matter. When less than onc-thsrd u a
column : written. II then agrees - paw
AZ the rate Of htis cents an hour fol the
time employed n acquiring the informal
tion ana writing - the article !, fur
ther agrees ;ha; Ia assignment. no mat
;sf how >hefi i t4iae /, MAY take SHALL be
worth les :. The reporters make
oei ;hel, hJll> each Thursday cstiin. out
the amount OF space thry have writ;en
and handing Il IN together wl,h The bulls
The bills ate audited by the titN editor
who makes oui a list setting forth
the amount due each reporter Tins -,
Is then submitted "a some high function
an presumably John = ke3d he man
aging editor who Systematically cuts
down the amount opposite each name
lie docs 81 without consulting the bills,
which remain y, tirc-v;,s editors t.A.ai's.
AMI : therefore. n utter ignorance A. -
the amour, NJ work which has been per
formed. There y No method ~ princt-
PIE involved N this system q; cutting
down. II Is simply a question Of, rcdat-
ins each bill by 81 MANY dollars. accord
ny ~ the fancy Of the individual N au-
thouty who performs this diIiN work
Sometimes the reduction Is only one a.
two dollars, bu, At other times Il feaehes
as high a. =. IS Sio and even higher
\ careful computation of tins weekly pro-
duCtlon shows II ~ amount OF u III eseTS
=. or more than II per cent " here
would the New York kif!6, be to-day
had the bills due To !; been shorn 10 ihi,
extent: The exposure IN Dun. ~i,h4e-
gard 10 this matter. had the effect al
Causing much perturbation 10 the man
agement OF the Iinsfs Strenuous efforts
were made 10 discover the Source ifofa
which the papers had obtained hen IN.
formation but although the insiigAter OF
the article WAS known Ia the majority 81
the reporters on the paper. the efforts at
the management al discovery proved -
futile As. for instance. will prove thea al
tempts To- boost Cornell INTO the Gubct-
natorial char. Ion some time after the
exposure the bills due the reporters were
for the firs; time IN many years hon
cstly paid. but after a while the old sNs-
tenn VAS once more resorted 10. and the
cutting WIS renewed with an energy thai
MAS suggestive nj an attempt 10 make up
Tor lost time. tine bill. tor :ts. VIZ tat
siS another. tol -. W. cui :: and
dunng ono week the average tiisssf.
amounted in several Instances Il ncarls
ane-ioufth ot the total amount 81 the bill.
The reporters have naturally scmoustil-
ted ever tins staff Of AFFAIR." Then re
moastfauee> hatc eNet preN ed ma al.
H. sometimes they are ,eld that iithey
do not ike the system hey have tn lem
edy IN their own hand. on anne
without our solicitation. and Nr. Red
ON one OCCASION. with 5notc iore than
Ciciit i, .lad YOU an depart wthou,
our regret VI other tunes. alter ,a,h :,
complaint rcpar.erN-Llli -.c3.ll.i.S-
un,ou, he'd. but the dlspleasurc oi the
management - PLANK marked by
the Large redu, ton in the amount
he = gwen chance 10 earn. |; Is by
such means as these that The 2i0sf
defends its system. and yet when
the exposure OF the matter appeared the
city editor after stating that ,onld he d S
cover the informant that person ,cunee p
ton OF the paper would be oi short dura
ton. asserted ,ha, II VAS "A mean bust
ness 10 give the paper away like that on
the outside. for ia man had any griesant,
he should settle ii IN the Office.
To contend that the reporters over
charge ana tina, the reduction Is made on
tha, account is absurd lfa man be 81
dishonest as To make so gross an over
charge as that Of - OF s. IN 50 or SIS
bill. he Is certainly UNI, 10 be trusted nso
responsible capa. ,iy As that Of reporter
: for great metropolitan newspaper. The
theory II error Of any kind in the matter
Is obviously un,enablc. Either let the
IiMss pay sehai i, contracts Ia pay. OF. III
canno, do so lei il be al leas, honest and
nauguratc a reduced rate, which will be
me, with II, checks. |, IS an unworthy
and highly pernieious system winch
shears from The anticipated earnings 81 4
hard-W6rking class If men m ame,in,
suftioien, At lcas, to pay wha, their rent
would amour, 10. The stealing al the
Boss weed kng. tie operations Of the
STA REUTERS. IN denount ne @hich 'he
/fMr7 has taken % nt,.h pfide .Aefe de-
cen, n COMPARISON with winding the
men who are really the one ~hp make
The I.me worth pub! shu :. A Il
M Sarratt