The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-09-05

Long before the Standards time Mon
tana had daily newspapers. They were
jogging along comfortably within linn
tied spheres. 1t is fair to 81 ty that the
best-known among them, in the states
larger cities, were not keeping pace
with their opportunities-haT dly one of
them was reasonably prosperous. Ev-
erything in Montana was h1gh-priced
ten years ago, except rates for a,dvertis-
ing space in the more pretentious news
papers The general news service was
an insignificant stint; state news
reached the public at laggafd pace
One of the astonishing traditions was.
for instance, that Butte was not. good
town for local news!
Not that the men were lacking. On
the contrary-in little Miles City Mr..
Samuel Gordon was writing ed itorial
talk that would have graced the col
umns of any metropolitan publication.
Lyman had recently taken hold in Hell
,.na. Quigg was trying to fire the Mon
t ana heart with appeals that were, en-
tlausiastic and sometimes brill liant.
j cry Collins enjoyed recognition well
m serited as a thoughtful writer of wig
or Gus English. John B. Read was the
ed itor of the Inter Mountain. Often
it has been so fated that the Standard
has not been able to agree with Its
ming contemporary in Butte during
the.'e ten years. Surely, that matters
not; without thought of invidious refer
ence to any of it's newspaper associates.
the standards birthday opinion is that,
takiI tg all of us into account Mr.. Read
is, a I'D has been, the best editorial 7
write on the Montana press.
Some of these workers in the daily
field of ten years ago were beset with
obstacles for which they certainly were
not to blame but which they could not
overcoi ne-communities that were not
fairly responsive; parishes that, for rea-
sons always at hand in pioneer expert
ence. hSd declined or proved to be dis
appointing; local changes which no man
could have anticipated; rivalry, some
times, tlsat was senseless yet harmful.
In INSTANCES the weakness was the lack
of loyal backing like that with which
the Stanisa rd was royalty favored and
without which, as every sane man
knows, tlls newspaper in the early
years of its career, could not possibly
have STOOD alone.
However 1t may be with the daily
papers, Mo. 1tana's newspaper realm has
had a distinctive feature in its weekly
press. 1t ircluded, ten years ago. pub
locations of much more than common
excellence, ;,nd several of these rank
high to this day. Some of them were
pioneer vent ures. evincing editorial in
dustry in their well-prepared pages and
carrying the outward and visible signs
of patronage that is of good account
and that has been constant. The temp
tation upon the prosperous weekly to
blossom out in daily editions is often
urgent. But the fact remains-scores of
fading bank accounts have attested it
that in our young commonwealth it
doesn't take many dailies to go around.
and the rivalry is sure to end in the
survival of the very best ones. 1t is
not extravagant: to say that there is no
state east or west, where the percentage
of first-rate weeklies, reckoned by the
aggregate of population, is larger than
in Montana. And may every deserving
one among them, daily or weekly, live
long and prospect! ]. H. DURSTON.