The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-04-24


owner and editor of the great imperialist
organ, L'4utorite, and he writes in it con-
stantly. On the other hand, the great
leader of the Radicals in the chamber of
deputies is NJ. George Ciemenceau. He IS
the political director of La Justice. which
he also owns. Dozens of others might be
mentioned. Newspaper men in Paris take
as naturally to public life as duck does
to water"
How about business matters in the
French newspapers ?" asked. DO they
receive much attention."
Business is by no means so prominent
in France either in the papers or in the
daily life of the people as it is with US,
replied Mr.. Reid. 'srhe French are as
shrewd in business as We are. and they are
as fond of money and rnoney-rlaking, but
they model their lives on different plan
and what seems to me TO be a more sensi-
bic plan than ours. The American deyotes
himself almost body and soul TO his busi-
ness until he is 80 or 60, and then he ex-
poets to spend the remainder of his life in
ease and pleasure. The result Is that his
habits are so fixed that he has lost the
power OF enjoyment from anything else
than his business. The Frenchmen gets
his pleasure as be goes along. He takes =
holiday whenever he can, and IS always
ready for laugh o. for any pleasure Of
life. He sets aside part of mis- day for
pleasure and rest. and he likes to read
about'other things in,his newspaper than
newspaper publishes serial story, and
these form very important part tor some
of the French journals"
How about such stories in an Ameri-
can newspaper, Mr.. Reid? Would'it not
pay to introduce the feuilleton into Ameri-
can journalism
Il can't say" was the reply. at is
most attractive features of q great news
paper; almost impossible sometimes to
tell whatincreases and what decreases its
circulation. We have published a num-
Der of good novels in the Tribune, but |
have never noticed any appreciable in
crease in our sales from them. The peo-
pie read them and if they are good we
hear concentrations, and if bad the COM
plants come in; but couldn't prove that
they have really ever affected our circula-
ton. By the way, met Dana. the editor
OF the New York Sun. just as was start
ing to Washington City and had few
moments talk with him. During this he
spoke OF newspaper novels and told me he
had been buying story by W. ID. Howells
and also one by Mark Twain. l asked
him if he thought they had been profitable
ventures and he said they had pleased the
Sun readers but whether they had paid
from a dollar-and-eents or circulation
point of view, he could not say"
This brings up the subject of the syn
dictate field in journalism, Mr.. Reid. DO
You think that syndicate journalism has
come to stay, and will the productions of
noted writers and others continue TO be
sold for simultaneous publication in news
papers in different cities ?"
Il don't think you can tell what will
and what will not continue in journal
ISM" replied Mr.. Reid. There are GER
tainly number of advantages about the
syndicate methods. They enable the
writers to get better prices, for one thing.
and the newspapers through them can get
excellent matter at much lower rates. The
Tribune has patronized some of them,
though We prefer, and / think the more
prominent of the New York papers prefer
to have exclusive matter As it is, we have
more matter than we can use, and for
every column used, at least another col
umn of good reading has to be thrown
away in the makeup of every days paper.
1t is question of the survival of the fit
test, and the best of the news and the first
literary matter gets in. The amount of
matter IS too great, notwithstanding the
increase in the size of the paper. fused to
think when We were publishing ten or
twelve pages IN our Sunday newspaper
that the paper was as big as it would ever
get, but we are publishing twentyand
thirty pages now, and the people seem TO
like it. One objection have to syndicate
articles is that they decrease, TO a certain
extent, the individuality of q newspaper,
and this is, it seems to me, necessity to
its influence and its prosperity"
Speaking OF newspaper individuality,
Mr. Reid, how about signed articles in
newspapers. Does the use of signatures
injure the paper in which they appear?"
''If signatures were general would say
yes. The people get to look upon the
newspaper as an individuality, and when
no signatures are used they rely upon its
statements or opinions in proportion TO
their general estimate of its character
When, on the other hand, fifty names ap-
pear at the end of fifty pieces of news or
of editorial matter in its columns the re-
suit is confusing, and it detracts from the
newspaper as 4 whole"
The conversation then turned to the IL
Illustrated features of our newspapers. Mr..
Reid said that he thought newspaper IL
lustration might be overdone by the
American papers.
''In so far as pictures are associated with
the news of the day" said he. ''they are a
good thing, but do not believe in putting
pictures in the papers merely for the sake
of having pictures. The methods of fast
printing and the quality of the paper
which large daily must use make 1t i'm
possible TO have newspaper pictures works
:
preston of the news and convey better
ideas of men than can be given with the
pen. The picture of a new witness in a
sensational trial taken py 4 good artist
when he is in the act of giving some testi-
mony which is TO startle the world next
morning, is sure 70 be good thing to
have; or that of q witty after-dinner talker
to accompany the report of banquet
might add TO the story, but the use of a
picture of a ire so drawn that it might
apply as we'll 10 fire in New Zealand as
to the place in the city where it occurred
is not worth prinsing. | think the nov
city OF pictures as pictures in newspapers
has long since worn off, and that they are
only valuable where they can aid in COM
plotting the news; that Is 10 say, in COM
pleting the information the reader wants -
What Partisan paper has the largest
circulation % asked
''Le Petit journal has the biggest cireu-
lation Of any daily newspaper in
the world. 1t prints I.0o0.0 900 copies
in France, and its circulation out
side of Paris is larger than that in the
city. Paris is so located that nearly every
part of France can be reached by the
trains before the death of that days pa
per. The life of daily newspaper is, YOU
know only little over twelve hours, and
such an outside circulation would only be
possible in country like France 1t
could not be in America. Our large cities
have not the advantages of Paris in this
respect, viz, that this city really has for a
reading constituency nation OF thirty-odd
million people. The provincial ps-
pers of France, though MANY
of them are good, are NOT
equal to the papers of Paris and they do
not compete with the Partisan journals az
those of our outside cities do with New
York. The New York field is confined to
a comparatiyely limited territory Mhen