The independent., 1903-07-09
pLUTocRAr1o LIrEHArURK


is the enormous mass Of plutocratic
literature that is thrown broadcast
over the land. The rural homes are
swamped with it and in the cities the
daily papers are distributed by the
hundred THOUSAND at far less than the
cost of the white paper. 1t is not true
that the advertisers pay these enorm-
Gus bills. 1t would come near bank
rupting the mercantile world to do it.
Take it here in Lincoln. There are
three large republican daily papers
published here, in this small city of
less than $4,000 inhabitants. The i'm
mediate range of their circulation
must Of necessity be small. Every
man acquainted with the newspaper
business knows that they are pub
lished at a loss of from 5000 or $500
month each. Who is it that puts up
that enormous sum of money? One
OF them is furnished free to- all its
subscribers, that is, the News and the
Journal are furnished to their sub
scribers at the former price of one.
Two daily papers for Is cents week
every man knows must cost some
body enormous sums beside the pit
tance that is gathered from subscrib-
ers and advertisers. Who furnishes
this money? In the case Of one Kin
coin daily the proprietor holds a gov
ernment position with salary of ST.
GOO. That may account for it's con-
tinued publication. The three papers
publish exactly the same news matter
and as for the editorial matter it is.
too insignificant to be a factor wheth-
er considered from the quantity or
quality of it.
What is true of Lincoln is true of
other cities. This plutocratic stuff is
forced on the people in such masses
that any attempt to furnish another
kind is always met with the reply:
Il get so many papers now that
can't read half of them" They never
stop to think that the time spent in
reading these plutocratic sheets is
wasted, that the real news is sup
pressed, garbled or put in some insig-
niticant place where they never see
it They only think that they get
host of papers.
Against this condition which results
from the contributions of the great
syndicates and the rake-offs from Of
fice-holding, the publisher who tries
to furnish paper giving correct in
formation and reasonable discussion
Of things affecting the people must
contend. @'5'~ Ff'r. .~
There can be no doubt that itera-
ture has a much larger effect in in
fIuencing voters than all the speeches
that can be made. All the good there
is in a speech comes from it's repro
auction in the press and furnishing a
theme to write upon. Until those who
are opposed to plutocracy find some
way of extending the circulation of
their literature among the people,
there can be no advancement A coun-
ty that will expend s100 for speakers
would make ten votes where it makes
one If it spent the same amount in
putting such a paper as The Indepen-
dent in circulation among the voters.
There stares every publisher of a
reform paper in the face the terrible
handicap of the free circulation of this
mass of republican papers, and Mad
den never interferes ! ith that sort of |
thing. If every man had to pay for
the paper he received, then thousands |
could be induced to subscribe for The |
Independent where now only a few
scores do so. The man who gets a
free republican paper can keep sort
of run of the affairs of the world, |
learn of it's storms. floods. mine ex-