Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-04-16
FRANK A. MUNSEY TALKS.
Says He May Quit Publishing New
York Newspaper,

York Newspaper.
New York. April 15.-Frank A. Nun.
sey announced last night that he would
retire from The New York News before
the end of this month. 1T may be to.
morrow and it may not be for ten days
yet" he said, but retire from the
! paper l Will. have put peg in there
at that portland said there I will
stop.
some men do not know when they
have enough, he went on to say, but
l do. L do know when l have enough.
1T is not a long story. In discontinue
ing The News l simply quit a business
for which l recognize | am tenpera-
mentally and by training unf1tted-that
it the long and short of it. 1 shall con-
lne myself to the publication of my
magazines, which is more to nv lik-
ing
You may say simply that have re-
urea from me News. ] expect to go TO
Europe i'll May to take an automobile
trip. Before l go l will relinquish my
hold upon the News.
Mir. Munsey WIS one of the speakers
at tie Sphinx club last night. where.
after litening to Herman Ridder about
Il project which the German editor en-
tertdirs and also to some remarks
about his publication of The Stats
Zcitung, Mr.. Munsey said that he
would be glad to watch Mr.. Riders
future success in the line of publish
ing Il paper from the standpoint of a
man who had tried it and failed
DO you consider that you have failed
with The NeWs?' he was asked because
of that question, to which he replied:
'Well. no. not exactly, but l have not
succeeded enough to satisfy me. That
remark was greatly in the nature Of
Il joke
How about your other papers?" Mr..
Munscy WAS asked.
.'Oh they will continue" was his re-
ply.
No, DO not care to say at present
who will take The News" he went on
further. 1T will continue, l think, but
| do not care to discuss that. The
matter is not vet fully settled"
Mr.. Munsey has three other papers
the Washington Times now understood
to be on Il paying basis; the Boston
Evening News and the Boston Journal.
Mr.. Munsey is a charming gentleman
ard his frank confessions are in har-
IRONY with his candid and sincere ma
tura.
To New York Herald reporter Mr..
Nunsey said:
Il have resorted to every cXpcdient 1
know to make the New York News sue
cessful, but | have been met with the
remarkable proposition that at each
fresh expenditure Of considerable mon
ey the circulation, instead of incrcas-
ing. has decreased.
Il put in a large color press and got
ont what l thought was a pretty good
sunday paper. but we still lost circu-
iation. Because l was anxious to get
out what / considered good newspa-
per I changed the News from an even
ing to a morning newspaper and we lost
circulation. We were handicapped
greatly by the lack of an Associated
Press franchise. and finally L made it
orce more an evening paper. Again
we lost circulation.
1.-THE fact is that the constituency of
the News has always been and still re-
mains on tie east side and the west
side of the city. 1t catered to a class
rathy. l tried to make a place for it
among those with whom l am i'll SYM
pathy and with whom L am daily
thrown in contact. l failed to do so,
for various causes, into which there
is no need Of my going. l do not care
to run a newspaper along the lines
which once made the News successful
and consequently 1 am going to leave
it. I don't know how to conduct a pa
per as economically as would be neces-
sary in the later case, and l have no
desire to make the attempt.
Il simply have made as good a fight
as | know how and now ] am through.
That's all there is about it. AS a mat
ter of fact l have been merely the cap
ita!ist back of the property and have
devoted little or none of my personal
attention to its conduct. That fact of it,
self would make any similar PROPOSE
ton difficult, if not impossible. l do
capitalist as such has been able to
build up Il weak newspaper property or
to establish new paper"
Mr.. Munsey indicated that the News
is for SALE though he did not name any
figure he would take for the property,
but in any event. he said that his con-
nection with the paper would cease
within n month. He has a 40 horse
power Mercedes automobile waiting for
him on the other side.