The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1897-07-28

LLese InatteES, WllnOuC money ana
without price in this county of
$4,000 people, for instance, the coun.
ty estimate for "books, stationery
and printing for the current year is
bu. $500, and we doubt whether
one tenth of that sum will go toward
advertising. Moreover. the county
reports required by law to be pub
lished in the papers are seldom pub
lished here-because, unlike the
other mattes, they would have to be
paid for if they were.
All these things are true. but they
only touch the edge Of the evil of
deadhead;sm at the expense Of the
newspapers We do rot think the
press of any other State is so unstint-
ingly liberal in it's advertising of pub
lie or semi-public undertakings as
the press of South Carolina. Every
man or set of men who want to start
a mill, or railrod, or a bank, or a
building aud loan association, or a
laundry or an ice house are assured
ia advance of the favor Of the pa
pers. They are backed and doomed
and encouraged aud helped from the
time they announce their purpose
until the enterprise is founded or the
scheme bas collapsed. This lie right,
and we do not complain of it A
newspapers owes duty to it's public
and ought to aid in everything that
makes for the public prosperity
But from this sound rule and doc
trine there have grown up abuses
which literally cap the press of it's
life blood, which is money, and bur-
den it sorely besides. Take some in
stances F:
An Institution or organisation
college, school, library, military
company, anything proposes to
raise funds for itself 1t engages a
lecturer. a theatrical troupe. any
thing .-and the profits Of the per-
formance are to be divided The
newspaper are loaded with advance
notices ;" they drum up the busi-
ness. and bring the crowds The
performers get their money, the con-
cern for which the benefit is given
gets it's share, the owner of the hall
or theatre, the musicians, the printer
Of the programmes, get half price at
least But the newspapers whose
space has been used so freely and
whose aid has made the affair a sue
cess get nothing We forgot-they
get thanks, sometimes Way down
at the end Of the resolutions "the
press is sometimes thanked-!n a
bunch, With no specifications.
An entertainment is given for a
charitable or semi charitable purpose
Those who take part are not profes-
sionals They receive nothing for
their work But they charge money
for the entertainment, and, for the
things needed and used--except
newspaper composition and newspa-
per space-they pay out of the pro
ceeds, if not full rates, at least cost
price. There is no thought of cost
price for newspaper
An association exists. 1t has
worthy purposes, but not more
worthy than the purposes Of any
good individual. 1t is conducted for
mutual advantage, with Incidental
advantage to those who are rot mem.
bers 1t literally loads the newspa.
pers down with notices of itself and
it's work, with announcements of
every entertainment, every meeting,
repeated so often that they aflict the
reader-hundreds of columns of it
in year. worth thousands of dollars
at advertising rates Of course moth.
ing is paid for it-'twere sacrilege to
ask money of people trying to be
good but as an evidence that the
papers are likeed for what they have
done they are asked to furnish free
copies to the association, thus era
bling so or 700 persons, some of
whom might otherwise subscribe. 10
escape that necessity.
And so it goes The space avail
able for real news is cut down, the
local page is loaded with "grinds'' of
interest to comparatively few, and
the paper is deprived of an income
which may make up the difference
between loss and profit, failure and
success II seems to US that when
newspapers shall do all this booming
for half the regular advertising rates
they will have made ample sacrifice
to benevolence. The politicians are