Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-06-30
A NEWSPAPER MERGER
Leader and Register Consolidated
1t Looks Like the Register
Was Swallowed.
Creates Sensation Following
Mr.. Roberts Purchase OF
the Register.
Roberts Is Editor-Sam Strauss
the Publisher-Allan Daw.
son Remains

Special to Times Republican.
Des Moines. June 3O.-Nothing in the
newspaper line has been quite SO sehsa-
t;onal and so surprising to the general
| Yd,hlic as the morning newspaper con-
solidation now effective. Ihe announce
ments came like shock to the staiu
reading public of Des Moines. Some
,,on+bs ago hint was given of such a
deal, but it was given little creuehee'
The thing seemed preposterous. one
oc tho Des Moines evening newspapers
| In an extra edition made pubic the
| first information here late SATURDAY
evening. hut both Of the evening papers
Rad been publishing so much that was
mere conjecture that not one IN ,liou-
sand believed 1t. At s o'clock in the
evening the newspaper publishers con-
frmed the news and told the story Oh
| the consolidation. In the morning Is
SHE'S the announcements were made IN
nroner form. There will be no State
Register any more and no Des MONIES
Leader, but in their places one paper
itbe "Register and Leader. rms mucE
| appears to be settled in regard to the
| new paper: -,
The company to publish the same Will
have 100000 capital fully paid up.
The directors will be Roberts, Strauss
! and O'Connell.
| The money comes chiefly from MI.
/ Roberts, Mr. Strauss and their business
ard personal friends. and pracucally
rome of the capital represents what is
r,,rely political. 1t is simply big busi-
ness proposition.
George f. Roberts will be editor-in-
| chief and direct the political poilcy Oh
the paper, but will continue to be direc-
/ tor of the mint.
/ Samuel Strauss will be the business
manager in personal charge.
| Harvey Ingham, of Algona, will be
associate editor for the present, but will
j IL not resign his postoffice at Algona.
| Allan Dawson will be managing edi-
tor in personal charge of the entire edi-
torial force and will direct the news
columns of the paper.
I L
force will be largely that of the Leader
with a few additions from the Register
force, the Leader mechanical equipment
will be used, the Register block will be
re modelled and renovated and ultimate
Ily the business will go to the Register
| corner
| The paper will be printed seven days
| a week.
This much is but the bare bones of
the biggest newspaper merger ever un-
dertaken in Iowa. 1t is not like 1t
would be if one or the other of the pa
pers was crumbling to pieces. Leader
men have been won't to say the Register
was losing money and the Register peo-
pie have insisted that the Leader is a
property of little value. Justice to both
would declare that both properties have
been paying, not a great amount, but
something; both newspapers have been
fairly prosperous. The thought back
of those who have engineered the pres
ent deal is to make one big newspaper
that will pay well and be credit to
the city and state. But thousand
questions have been asked the past
twenty four hours in regard to the sig
niticauce of the consolidation in all its
varied phases and 999 of these ques-
ticns remain unanswered. What will
lie the policy? Who is the real head I!
How can the conflicting interests be
harmoniZed? Will it last? Will it sat
isfy the people? Will there be another
paper in the field? These and many
other questions come naturally to the
patrons of both the papers, and there is
must satisfy them. On the surface it
appears like an incongruous merger.
The Register has been intensely radical
in many things, deep prejudices have
stuck out all over there mas been lack
of breadth and inability to get out OF
ruts. But it has been loyal all the time
tc the old republicanism, to the leaders
of the past, to the principle OF that
which was is better than anything that
can be. On the other hand the Leaders
present prosperity has been built up by
an exactly opposite &olicy. 1t has been
broad aggressive, generous and just.
But above all else the Leader has come
UP from sheer worthlessness to an even
standing with it's rival by reason of be-
ing a giver of the news. When Allan
Dawson came to the editorship of the
Leader it was the advice of the present
writer to him, based on previous eXpe-
rience in various capacities on the
Register for six years, to give Des
Moines for the first time clean and
reliable local newspaper. With this
program the Leader has been built up.
The points of difference between the
two papers are more than their points
OF resemblance. And yet they come to-
gether and will be one. Which one? Is
the inevitable question. A few weeks
ago Harvey Ingham wrote an editorial
intended to be keen and incisiVe de-
rouncing the movement to modify the
tariff. Indirectly he attacked the plat
form which George Roberts wrote ann
which Allan Dawson defends. Yet he
is to be the editorial writer associated
with both. Then take the railroad ques-
ton so much in evidence in Iowa to-
day; how can the two papers get to-
gether on that? There is but one way
publish the news and not be an organ
AS nearly as can be ascertalned the
new paper viii! have all of the Leaders S
features as newspaper devoted to tell
ing exactly what has happened, and the
Registers republicanism modernized by