The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-10-06

past, present or future acts under his
management
We have fOrty-three carriers, main
~ Washburn college or high schooI
I students. The State Journal pays out
every month to it's carriers over
$1,000. What do you think of that2
Have you ever heard it before2 Every
{ Washburn route on the State Journal
I is scholarship.
Dozens of our carriers make
] their entire way through college from
/ carrying the State Journal, and have
I time to do additional work and to
/ attend TO their studies and rank high
/ in their grades. The work they do on
/ the state Journal is mainly good ex-
ercise and experience
The State Journals present owner
originally arranged the present system
/ of delivery 1t never charged a car
/ rier dollar for route. Other papers
/ here sold routes to carriers for hun
tdreds of dollars. We permitted the
1 carriers to transfer the routes from
/ one to another, particularly as they
/ graduated from school and new stu
dents came in. In only rare instances
/ have we failed to approve the trans
/ 1ers for the reason that our main OBJ
] Ject was TO have the paper delivered
regularly and promptly by young men
/ of good character. We make our
money on selling papers and adver-
/ tising, not routes. Occasionally when
a dishonest man applied for route
he was refused.
Students are wild to carry the State
journal routes. For years We have eau
toned them in their eagerness, but
! the profit has been so great that they
/ have paid for the privilege several
/ hundred dollars. Do you know of any
position for which a man would pay
] "a
4 scores of them, and they pay the
money, despite our efforts to keep the
privileges within bounds.
The State Journal routes are worth
as much today as they were ten days
ago Some may have been valued too
! high. The price of the Sttae Journal
has been ten cents per week, and the
! carrier has paid one cent per copy and
made profit of four cents. He does
not have to buy the papers unless he
/ wants to-unless it is profitable for him
to do so. There are scores of people
who are ready to buy the papers. We
must fix the price. Generally. what is
profitable for us viii be profitable for
the carrier. Formerly the State Journal
was fifteen cents and the carriers Sc
cured Eve cents: later the price was
! reduced to ten cents and the carrier
made four. Now we have added the big
/ Sunday paper, and the carrier win make
three cents, but many OF them Will
make more than they did formerly,
because they win have more subscrib-
ers. A profit of four cents on three pa
pers for instance is not so good as five
cents on four
The losses on collections should be
/ very slight. The rate is ten cents per
week Carriers are supposed to collect
/ weekly. They are not asked to deliver
d paper to anyone that does not pay.
Those who will not pay should be cut
off. Regarding the carriers already
small profit, explanation has been made
above.
The circular says. mo one can afford
I to carry papers at this reduced rate. .
The State Journal could DuE on a hun
dred carriers tonight, two for every
route it has-by selling the papers to
newsbOys or carriers for one cent per
copy for the seven papers and permit
ting the charge Of ten cents to the sub
scriber.
THE reduction in the profit will
( make paper carrying no longer desir-
able or profitable" This is so untrue
that it is not worthy of an answer.
For a long time evening papers have
been delivered IN other cities on a
profit of three cents to the carrier.
/ The Kansas City Star, when it was
| running its evening and Sunday
/ morning edition charged seven cents
for the seven papers, and the carrier
I collected ten cents.
The State Journal has better pro-
position today for its carriers than any
other paper in Kansas.
The carriers viii not be forced to
sell at great sacrihce They should
I not be forced to sell at all They have
/ the best thing they ever had, all
things considered. and should keep it
! and cherish it. All they have to do is
to get out and hustle for new subscrib-
ers and present the great attractions
of the tweny page Sunday ediion.
"The carriers have always been glad
to accommodate their subscribers in
I every way possible" says the circular
Two-thirds of the carriers have unani-
mously urged the proprietor of this
paper to now abandon the Sunday edi-
ton and return to the six papers for
ten cents Is that accOmm Odating to
subscribers? We propose to give the
subscribers seven papers instead of SIX,
and the seventh paper will be the best
we print and we believe the best that
has ever been printed in Topeka.
You cannot compare the new twen-
ty page Sunday edition OF the state
! Journal with a new eight page Monday
morning paper. You might compare
/ the two Sunday papers, but comparison
/ last week was in favor of the State
/ Journal, and the next issue for sun
day will be better than the last. We
! will leave that to our subscribers
The carriers in their circular dis
/ tributed to every State journal sub
scriber. advertise the Topeka Daily
! Capital and commend the Capital and
| condemn the state Journal What do
our fair-minded readers think of that
method of doing business? The car
riers were thoughtless, of course; but
isn't it a shame to pay a thousand
dollars a month to a body of carriers
who thoughtlessly and willfully ad-
/ vertise and commend a rival and con-
I denim their own papers policy2
The Topeka Capital is a morning pa
per That is harder to deliver for that
reason. 1t is seven mornings. There
are not so many Capitals and there is
less profit in it. The carrier can de-
liver the State Journal at a profit of
three cents and make more money
/ Than he can by delivering the Capital
in the same territory at a profit of four
cents. The circular states that the
state Journal has asked for the deIiv-