Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-16
The Evening Star Composing Room.

the advertising takes up the space that
ought to be devoted to reading matter.
Low rates are bad for the publisher be-
cause they cut into his receipts, use up the
space in his paper that he ought to have
for news and literature, diminish his in
come so that he is unable to make a good
newspaper, and his circulation falls off.
And this again is bad for the advertiser.
In fact when rates are too low they are
too high. This paradox means that if rates
are so low that they demoralize advertis-
ing and newspapers, the advertising fails to
bring returns, and hence the price, as low
as it is, is too high when measured by re-
suits.
Too high rates are bad.
They are bad for the advertiser because
his advertising costs him more than the re-
turns justify or reduce his advertising
space to point where 1t does not pay him,
or else exclude him from the paper entirely.
They are bad for the readers because they
reduce the amount of advertising.
Advertising is one of the things the read
er expects to find in a newspaper when he
buys it. And it is bad for the reader again
from the fact that if rates are so high that
they exclude advertisements from the news
paper that newspapers income suffers, and
hence its merit a newspaper suffers.
Too high rates are bad for the publisher
because they cut down his advertising In
come. and thus his ability to make
worthy newspaper.
Fair Rates.
On the other hand, fair rates are a bene-
fit to everybody. They enable the adyer-
tiser to use space he needs at price that
he afford to pay. They are good for the
reader because they give him the largest
amount of reliable advertising. Inasmuch
as fair rates usually result in a large adj
vertising patronage they give newspaper
the means with which to become worthy a
large circulation. Through fair rates the
publisher secures the largest possible CO.
operation in making good newspaper, the
largest possible number of reputable firms
patronizing his columns with the space
they can use profitably, and thus enable
him to make newspaper that will obtain
the largest possible circulation. The rates
charged by The Star are eminently fair
They are neither too high nor too low They
are low enough to permit any reputable
firm dealing in meritorious article to use
The Star steadily and with profitable re-
suits. They are high enough to prevent the
extravagant use of space.
The Stars rates are based upon a just
estimate Of it's value as an advertising me
dunn.
The expense of producing The Star is
fairly apportioned between the advertiser
and the reader, and the price charged each
is perfectly just. From time to time adyer-
tisers have endeavored to convince The
Stars management that The Stars extra
charge for broken columns, extra display
type and SO forth, is not fair. The Stars
extra charges constitute one of the strong
est arguments for the universal fairness of
it's advertising policy. These extra charges
are not maintained for the purpose of in
creasing the revenues of The Star but for
the purpose of maintaining its policy to-
ward it's advertising patrons as a whole,
and toward its readers.
These rates are intended to discourage ex-
peSSiVe grOteSunp in9rtiStip
use of The Stars columns. They check the
tendency of the large advertiser to crowd
the small advertiser. The Star is pledged
to the encoura cement of the small adver-
tiser. The Stars encoura cement of the
small advertiser has led to there being a
larger number of small advertisements in
The Star than in any other newspaper in
the United States, and a larger number of
successful small merchants in the city of
Washington than in any other city in the
United States