The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-04-21
s'FOreign'' Advertisements.

We are constantly in receipt of propositions
to DO advertising for agencies who are anxious
to open an account with us, or who have q
limited number of advertisements to give out
to the lowest bidders, or who want an advcr'
tsement published for nothing in order to
start business which will in the future be re.
muneratiye; and still another class offer to
sell us something for half cash, if we will
buy their goods at 'list" prices and publish
their advertisements to the amount Of the 9th
er half of the "list" price.
We have given this class Of cheats some at
tentlon, and we have come to the conclusion
that newspaper editors had better write edito-
rial wisdom on the back page of all such prop
ostions. Recently, we received proposition
tn do q great deal of advertising. provided we
would take Chambers Cyclopedia at $4,000, we
paying $500 in cash, and doing much adver-
tising for the other $500. The fact is, we
have in our library the leather bound vol
umes of this book for which we paid only SIS.
That being the booksellers regular advertised
price.
No country printer need expect to get even
starvation rates for "foreign" advertisements.
Another matter. We are constantly in re.
ceipt of printed slips, which we are requested
TO publish free of charge. Only short time
ago patent medicine swindler sent us no.
tice which would make perhaps two thousand
ems. These two thousand ems would repre-.
sent exactly the cost Of setting up that
amount of reading matter, and the only
promise of pay resting in the vague idea that
Its publication would be mutually benefi'
cial" Some time ago the manager Of charl.
table institution sent US column of matter
to be published without cost to the institution
the cost 10 US of type-setl!ng would have
been more than dollar. 1t is needless to say
that we did not publish it.
The newspapers or magazines which eX.
change with us on the condition that we pub
Ish monthly notices Of them are dearly paid
for. Such notices will average perhaps one
thousand ems-they certainly will average
five hundred. To set six or twelve thousand
ems during the year will cost most of us, a
sum greater than the subscription price OF the
paper advertised, to say nothing Of the ex.
change which is furnished regularly.
We believe the true rule for country editors
to adopt is, TO publish no foreign" ADVERTISE
ments of any kind. but we are perfectly Ger.
tain that advertisements which are to be paid
for In the purchase of the goods had better be
let alone. AS long as the editor has sufficient
mental powers to be allowed to 60 at large, we
think free advertisements in which he is in no
way interested should be left out of the paper.
The true way, as we think, is, to fill the pa
per with the best matter possible, but when
dull weeks come, as come they will to all of
US, then do not fill the paper with reading
matter. but fill it with any dead advertise.
ments or other suitable standing matter. We
should not be expected to give the same
amount of matter every week. When we
have interesting matter to publish, we believe
it to be well to leave out as many yearly, or
contract, advertisements as may be necessary
to put it in, and then when we have little or
nothing to publish we may fill up with any
thing that costs nothing. By this means the
average cost of composition is kept down, and
we are enabled to print better paper than If
we printed exactly the same amount every
week.