Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-02-09
. COMPLAINT AGAINST THE PRESS

COMPLAINT AGAINST ThE T""
To the Editor OF the Dispatch:
have a complaint against the pres -
pIchmond and. though this articie
addressed to you, IL Is INTENDED just
much for the Times and state; oaners
NV complaint Is this: The uaiiE p'ona's
OF Richmond do not write W III manu-
od,.antages as a commercial ana ,r,ev
factur,np centre ms they shouiu, .,anev
so,.ota columns every day 10 tne as,,t,v
,.,ost,o,, ;, 10 the Venezuelan ui," .e,,c
"a ~, every imaginable poliiicai ss,ted
until many of their readers a. ,nstead of
with these threadbare supJe0'., ,aet trade
writing something that WIZ Junk lines
=, Richmond. We nave ~ west. with
generating the South anu over phila-
p.'.srns ~ freight rates oNe, Ice 81
n'' "a baltimore on eN'tS 80
ueipn'a az with cheap wafer -,
lne.e'. %au, York and the Eas', The
,,ns,t,on not only 10 coinp Sre,gbt is
trade south of US 90 advantaye of
concerneu s,~ to forty hours In the tiiie
from tnii aeliyer from Richmond SCUM
u taxes " compared with Baltimore. te'
OF Us aS ere never heard on such topics.
the P'esJ,, turn over a new lea1. ana pc
i.e' Ne year and initiate the eNamp'e
y'n VI, the Atlanta papers ana peopFT'aa,n am
Jus ~ Are more about Richmond ana ne,
anurtsres Let us all pull together ana
ssnssr,rinc to make Richmond what sne
. s,o,ld be-'sthe great commercial anu
81 observation-disclosures centre or the South. or
re-. the location, the railroads the paih-
inn capital. the intelligence. the ~a,e
,,ower. the schools, both pubic anu W
vate. the society. and the ci'lna'e' "a
fact everything but unity. energy anu
public spirit :, tho
xva have a. complaint to make OF the
,,,s,ness-men OF Richmond, and, though
This article Is in reply to our respected
friend. r. W. p, 1t Is intended just 90
much for hundreds of others Our CUM
n,a,nt is that. Notwithstanding the ihcus
tr,ops and welI-nigh incessant efforts OF
the press to write up Richmond, our ousi-
ness men-with some few exceptions-do
not second their efforts.
For instance. where Is there a city Oh
onr elias, that has an annual 'wri'e-up
ca good as that which our press gives
picbmond on each first of January? what
cher nress. on such an occasion. or on
anv other occasion. details more giowingiy
or convincngly the ADVANTAGES OF us cry
On TRANSPORTATION and banking facilities
water power, manufactures 'ooo"e
houses. health. education. etc? DO our ous-
iness-men appreciate these "write-ups
DO they know that, first and last they
cost the newspapers thousands OF ool-
,arse Do they order a hundred thousand
comics of these great statistical and IN
dustrial sheets and circulate them through
tho South and West as the business men
30 Atlanta would do? Do they put a
bundle Of these papers into the nands OIL
zach one of their drummers and say
..Here. circulate these: point out Rich
mond's good showing. and hand copy 70
each one OF your customers?
And when 1t comes to getting great
messenger depot here, who does most oi
the work? And when the aggrandize-
mont OF Richmond by incorporating al
4acent territory Is under consideration
how much help do the newspapers re-
ccive? wouldn't Atlanta have COM
m,ttee of a hundred businessmen thun-
derinc at the doors OF the City Council
and Legislature demanding charter ior
Greater Richmond? What are r.. w. r.
and his associates doing to forward TINS
schemc? How often have they been
hefore the Council? In what numbers
wn, they present themselves before the
LEGISLATURE to urge the passage OF the
brg
II. w. p. says that the papers devote
columns every day TO the Money CUES
slon'' and the 'venezuelan Difficulty
.,us.ead of writing something that vii
attract trade to Richmond Wen. u
would be but a miserable. worthless shee'
that did not discuss the paramount issues
of the day, which now are the Nenezue
Ian question and the money question
Papers that failed to inform their read
ers on such vastly important subjects
as these could not hope to circulate fa
beyond the city where they were pub
lished. The shop-keeper knows wha
goods his customers wish. and II he b
cnterprisIng he keeps large and well
assorted stock Of them on hand. Editor
and publishers from long and dearly
bought experience find out pretty accu
rateiy what viii make their papers read
( able, hence you will find in each issu
varied assortment A reads matter tina
passes over. seeks columns wfer
q the eyes OF A and b never rest But W
deny that our papers ever lose an cp
portunity TO extol Richmond as a bust
ness centre. or are ever other than help
fnl In tho work Of bringing business here
q As a matter OF fact. We suspect tina
az Il. w. p. has been aroused to the i'm
portance Of Richmond making busting
hustiinx city Of herself ny reading Il
ne Dispatch and other papers here ar
sjclrs entitled THE Extent OF Gu
Water-Power. and How 1t May BE De
veloped." Home Investments the Best
4. <,<verpl artIcles). How 10 Make Rich
roond Great City" Better Tipe'
Ahead" 'Tbe veterans Auditoriafs,'
kl5eed Of m opoearHs sse in Richmond.