Omaha daily bee., 1883-06-14
MR.. BOYD AND TBE BEE.

he pretends to give the true version If
the controversy between The BEE
and the manager Of the Opera House.
This card Is chiefly remarkable for
what II suppresses. Mr.. Boyd wisely
omlts to state the causes which led to
the refusal Of THE BEE to advertise
the Opera House on any different
basis from that on which It advertises
any other business enterprise
In Omaha, and contents
himself with impugning the
motives of the editor of this paper and
throwing dust In the air to befog the
main Issue. Let tho facts speak for
themselves.
Early last winter, the editor
Of The BEE gave imperative
orders to his business manager
to return all complimentary tickets
to the opera house and to in
form Its management that the system
Of Wholesale free puffs would be dis.
continued In the columns Of this pa
per. He was requested to inform
Mr.. Boyd that after Ger
tain date, THE BEE would
pay in cash for all favcrs received
from the opera house, and that It In
turn must place itself on the same
business footing with THE BEE.
rrior to that time Mr.. Boyd's enter.
prise had been given the free run Of
THE BEES local columns, and column
after column of free puff, had I'D.
pesred cash week on our fourth page,
in return for which The BEE received
q three.inch card announcing
shows, and eight complimentary
season tickets. Mr.. Boyd was
Informed that the card rate would not
be raised, but tina. all local pufs
must be marked as advertisements
and paid for at the same rate charged
to other Omaha business mer. At
the same time the editor CT The BEE
gave orders to all employees to accept
no passes to the opera house, and
notified Mr.. Boyd that none would be
accepted on account of this paper.
This brought Mr.. Thomas Boyd down
Farnam street In a high dudgeon. He
declared that no card advertising paid
and that cards were only given as a
sop to the newspapers to induce LEGAL
pufs and favorable advances notices
clipped from other papers to gull the
public. He ordered all advertising
ont OF our advertising columns and In.
formed our busine.so fi GO that fromthat
date he would pay q line rate for ad-
vertlslng In our local columns,
using as little space as he
saw fit. This arrangement was
satisfactory to this ofics and con.
tinued so until early In the spring.
Some four months ago Mr.. Thomas
Boyd inserted q two.line advertise.
ment In The BEE, ending with the
sentence, "For further information
see Herald and Republican" This,
taken In connection with the con.
tinual disparsgcment of this pa.ar,
both publicly and privately, by Mr..
Thomas Boyd, gave reasonable
grounds for off,nse. The attention of
Mr.. James E. Boyd was called to the
notice. He condemned it emphati-
cally. He declared that the notice
was inserted without his knowl.
edge or consent, aud blamed
his brother for the trouble
with THE BEE which he insiated should
never have been permitted to begin.
He was Informed that II he intended
to use u columns In that manner he
would be charged 81, 90 a line for each
insertion, which as Mr.. Boyd we'll
says was a prohibltory rate and wal
intended to be such. Herethe matter
dropped. Since that time Mr.. Boyd
has patronixsd the columns of TIE
BEE ~ much or as little as he desired.
He has paid for his advertising at ex.
actly the same rates a. those
charged any other mel.
chant In Omaha. And
from the day when The BEE refused
to publish q daily advertising sheet
for Mr., Boyd's benefit no has not
been charged a cent more q line for
his notices than any Of the large ad.
vertissrs who use our columns. II 1t
be blackmsil to refuse to give away
our goods In exchange for what we do
not want, THE BEE has consistently
and p%ersistently blackmailed Mr..
Boyd, since Its surrender of his free
tickets. But II this be blsckmail Mr..
Boyd and everyone else who takes a
oourtesy for q right must make the
most of 1t.
One thing moTe. Having forced 9
personal fight, the proprietor and the
manager Of the opera house must not
finch at the consequences. Other
papers In Omaha are tied hand and
foot by Mr.. Boyd's passes, and dare
not critic'zs either Mr.. Boyd or his
enterprise through fear of losing the