The record-union., 1894-03-24

from half worn down plates-at rates war
ranting 100 to $50 per cent profit.
Every one of these coupon schemes is
promoted by some publisher who makes
the protfer to the newspaper. The former
is not supplying books and pictures for
his health, or the fun of the thing; he
makes rousing profit be assured, and
the newspaper go-between makes an
other. There is nothing even resembling
gltt-making or generosity in it. The
publishers themselves will sell to any one
the same goods at the retail price charged
| by the newspaper. provided they have
not agreed with some newspaper in the
section where the would-be custom re-
sides to give the paper the monopoly of
the gift business.
We have from one of the foremost of
these publishers letter ofrecent date offer
ing to the RECORD UNION a much-lauded
Worlds Fair thirty-six part portfolio or
journal, of superb" pictures and text,
on terms Involving no expense what
ever' TO the RECORD UNION, and guaran-
teeing us large profit at the expense of
our readers.
According to this scheme each of these
parts is to be furnished to US at Il cents
net. we to advertise the scheme literally,
to deliver the books only by the coupon
racket, and not to take less than 15 cents
for each part of the work.
These thirty-six parts to be delivered
to us for II cents each, or "a 80 for the job
lot, we are to declare to the public to
be worth SIS when bound in three vol
umes. and when retailed in parts to be
worth % cents each, or 50. But we are to
whoop it up to our readers, that by the
grace Of the publisher we are enabled to
sell these same parts at 15 cents, or SIS 40,
by which transaction we would appear to
be giving the reader So 90 worth of ad-
vantage, while we would really make 81
cents for the counting-room.
Still another firm offers us goods of
similar character at and cents num-
ber, to be sold to our readers at 10 and Is
cents, assuring US a handsome profit by
the transaction. In one case we know of
mass of cheap music is to be sold for a
half-doZen coupons and 25 cents. Yet it
is fact that this same music is issued to
any one in monthly parts at So a year,
which is 25 cents a number-precisely
what the newspaper coupon-collector
pays for the same matter through the
newspaper indirect and peddltng system.
All such schemes are illegitimate for
newspapers; they confess practically that
legitimate advertising does not avail the
newspaper man; that he needs to tag on
to the newspaper business some other, to
boom it along. No one questions the
right of a newspaper to prostitute itself
to these schemes of publishers, but the
right to call the schemes by their proper
names is everybody's.
When the RECORD UNION goes into
any such business; when it finds that the
conduct of journalism is dependent upon
these supplemental rackets, it will try to
do better. It will not say to its readers
except a good, ,cfean, independent news
paper for fair price; it will, if it enters
into peddling, invest at. wholesale rates
in corn-shellers, harrows, brooms, coal,
hardware. furniture, drygoods and cloth
ing, and the like. and announce it's readi-
ness to sell them at decent profit, and it
will be content with something less than
100 per cent, and it will not bother its
friends by insisting that they shall cut
out coupons and go through the useless
form of mailing them, together with
stamp for reply. They can, on the con-
trary, order the goods direct from US and
have them delivered as is other merchan-
disc.
just what our friends who deal in these
goods and pay license and tax fees for the
privilege and advertise their wares with
us, will say to it. we can imagine; but
when we 60 into that traffic we will
have so far illegitimatized the newspaper
business that we shall not care. Live the
coupon!