New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-04-09
"PIFFING PARAGRAPHS IN hN""''" ~
ADVERTISING AND LoGRoLLINo

,,ror, The London Saturday Review.
,,,, fair 10 the baser sort Of publishers
.o,, mai they are usually carefuI as u "neI :
tbev place" their paragraphs lies -" - 70
cusiomary risk inflicting mem un' Mistakes
nute sometimes, however they maxi IN -,
p1e of these paragraphs lately louhd us Way ~
"The Times" and was promptly PM PM ;, t,l,ing
other reached The Saturday ReNicM, "a ~
tho form of "A ready made pun OF ohc ~ W -
Pohart Buchanan's achievements. from tlile 20
time most interesting documents Ieach us MN
r.oard to the health wealth, hapitS Oh wine;
drinking. eating and sleeping oil SehtIeIhch .,
Va -, ho,,n the misfortune to know ana
about whom we care nothing. True. these AZ
tentious do not put US To any trpupe Dc9oilu .i''
opening Of the envelope ana men ,me
naper basket but they are at least superHuous.
Tbev differ entirely from regular information
furnished as to forthcoming books, when may
be. and often is Of great service 10 H'eid'S
journal III, -, -
There are Of course. many other modes OF
pufIing; but this regard as the most as
astrous of all modes. The publishers VINO Senu
out these paragraphs, the edltorS VINO PRINT
them in the journals under their control ana
the authors whose works are sold by them, are
alike concerned in a conspiracy 10 debaSe the
currency In the long run editors, publishers
and authors will suffer from 1t. Sooner or later
the educated public will begin TO grow sus-
picous; and the power OF the review TOT sood
tn. power that u.s. to praise the good in liter
AZURE and to suppress the bad-will be lost III
will remain simply as an undisguised ADVERTISE
ment a useful and enjoyable form OF journal
ism n form which has exercised in the past, ana
still exercises. the pens Of brilliant Englishmen
Of letters will have passed away. surely ii is
time that the editors of even the smallest jour
nails began to consider the morality of filling up
their columns with such stuff. 1t is better. sure
w. that they should "fll up with the most OBJ
Vious title tattlc and gossip than that all re-
viewing should fall in the estimation Of the edu
Gated classes Is il not also to the interest of
publishers generally that they should take steps
publicly TO dissOcfate themselves from tricksters
i'm trade? We do not know to what extent au-
th0rS are involved in the trickery, and perhaps ii
is too much To expect incompetent writer's to
disapprove Of the only plan by which they get
fame even of sort. In the interest of the cdu-
Gated classes we appeal To authors, publishers
and newspapers TO put an end to the scandal
We are well aware that others, who not
publishers. practise the puff and ready made re-
view. if Of different sort. There are authors
who for one hour they spend in the excogitation
of their masterpieces spend three or four hours
IN pennng and sending out spicy paragraphs
of personal information about themselves There
are cliques which indulge in shameless lOgrOil
ing to a startling extent There are journals.
supposed TO be reputable which Will not tell the
truth. or permit the truth 90 be told In their
columns. about a bad book, if it is written by
one Of their craft. There are writers who, hav-
ing achieved book, seem destined to spend the
remainder Of their natural lives in canvassing
for favorable reviews. The cases Of noVelists
who exploit the clergy are only too well known
But none Of these constitute 50 positive danger