Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-02-06
LIKE A BILL OF FARE
Is the Average Metropolitan
Newspaper Of Today.
AN A LA CARTE AFFAIR
ONE DOESN'T HAVE TO READ ALL
BECAUSE IT'S THERE.
Business Man Of All Others Wants
Big Paper, Says Colonel Taylor
Of the Boston Globe.

Before the Louisville, KY. board Of trade,
few days ago, Col. Charles H. Taylor,
publisher Of the Boston Globe, gave an
admirable address on Journalism. Among
other things Col. Taylor said:
Journalism is a topic on which Louisville
Of all places should need no instruction,
but in which she should have a proud and
Intelligent interest. Here Prentiss that
brilliant pioneer, and New Englander like
myself, helped blaze the way for the mod
ern newspaper. and here in true apostolic
succession Henry Watterson has won honor
for my calling and renown for your city,
Among the great editors Of the old school
Col. Watterson was the peer Of the great
est, while we Of the present day proudly
hail him as the ever-youthful and always
unrivaled leader Of our journalistic 400
The change in journalism which has come
during his time and mine was very we'll
described by my old friend, John Russell
Young, few years ago, when he said: THE
press Is no longer the expression Of per-
sonal power. Thirty or forty years ago the
newspaper was teacher, the voice of one
thinker. one leader Now 1t is a university.
As much intellect is needed to disseminate
q journal as to govern Harvard or Yale.
The fly sheets Of the earlier days have
given place to a daily volume which en-
bodies the genius Of the artist the writer,
the artificer and the statesman"
Some people complain that our newspa-
pers are too large. This objection Is diff
cult to meet, for the simple reason that 1t Is
unusual for customer to make fuss be-
cause he Is getting too much for his money.
There are many lines Of business represent
ed here tonight, but feel safe in asserting
that mine is the only one that has to en-
counter this kind Of faultfinding.
Like Hotel Bill Of Fare.
The newspaper of today is like the bill Of
fare In a hotel There 10 no
table Of contents which shows the reader
that which he most desires tr read. You
do not go into hotel, pick UP the bill of
fare, begin with the first item and eat right
down through and then lie Of apoplexy On
the contrary, you select what you wish,
and you should do just the same with
newspaper.
aims to meet the wants of all classes And
this Is what a small newspaper could not
do. 1t would have no room for the intelli-
gent presentation Of any. subject. 1t could
announce that the President Of the United
States had sent q message to Congress. but
from lack Of space it would be unable to
tell what he said. 1t could say that there
had been great debate in the Senate or
the House, but 1t could not tell who spoke
and what was done. A national political
convention might assemble, but we could
not learn from the small paper how the
ballotlng progressed and what platform
British empire might define his position on
some big world question, but the small
newspaper would be unable to state what
position he had taken.
GU would ready that there had been a
wild fuctuation in market values but Won
could not find out from the small paper
now your interests were affected because
it would not have room for the necessary
information. You would be startled with
the headline on an awful accident by rail
or at sea, but you could not learn whether
your friends We're lost or saved, because the
lists or the dead and the rescued would be
crowded out of your small paper A great
Ire ragged in the city, but you would not
Know where 1t was and how it was met by
insurance, because your small paper would
nave no space for details. A big horse race
mas taken place, but you wouldn't know
whether your favorite won or whether the
record was broken because your small pa
per would not be equal to an adequate re-
port of the meeting
Big Newspapers Indispensable.
harvard and Yale have played an excit-
Ing foot ball game, but how was II won and
who made the score? A small paper could
not tell you little things like that An i'm
mense business failure has occurred Int
who failed, for how much he failed. and
who the creditors are 1t would be imnossi
Bile for the small paper to tell The social
event Of the season has taken place but
where 1t took place and who were present
your wives never would learn from your
a radical change. but as to what that
change Is your daughters could gain no
hint from the small paper.
A base ball game has come off but in
your small paper your boys never would
md the score and the story of the runs A
wonderful race has been sailed for the
America cup. but whether and why the
British or the American flag came in ahead
you wouldn't know from reading your small
paper. Marconi has bound together the
hemispheres with chain of lightning, but
where he did it and how he did il the small
paper could not take the space to tell you.
Truly, the small paper would be a power
full arouser of public curiosity; but believe
me, 1t would satisfy no one, least of all the
busy man. We hear from time to time that
the newspapers of the day are too large for
this busy man. I don't believe it. The
busy man is just the man for the big news
paper, he is for other big things and
most of the busy men of my acquaintance
go through two and three and four newspa-
pers every day. They know how to dis
patch their reading as they know how to
dispatch all their affairs, and if 1 could be
guilty of the folly Of putting a small paper
on the market l should not look for much
sympathy among the men Of business. The
loafer is the only man / should expect to
please, and since he generally sponges his
reading in his club. at a barber shop or in
the public reading room, 1 probably should
not gain a very large circulation even
among the members Of the lazy class.
Wouldn't Meet Requirements.
The small paper certainly would not meet
the requirements Of the home. There the
spirit of our American democracy has
emancipated the children well as the
women, until now every member Of the
family stands up for hts or her rights as a
newspaper reader. 3and for liberal slice of
the large newspaper. ED
In the good old days when our fathers
really were masters of their own houses,
the newspaper was made for men alone,
and 1t was SO forbidding to youth and to
women that 1t was the last thing that the
wife or the son or the daughter would
think of looking ,at.si' That narrow spirit
made 1t possible for the newspaper to be
small, but who would revive those condi-
lions in our day?
So much for the readers who have the
first claim, and whose members form the
real basis of a successful journal. How
about the advertiser? The daily newspaper
is the best medium through which adver-
tisers can reach their patrons and increase
their sales and profits If you print from
twenty to 200 columns of advertising In
single issue, how can you do it in a small
newspaper? The whole proposition is so
absurd that 1t is astonishing that intelli-
gent people persist in making It topic of