The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1908-07-03
IS TIME TO AWAKE
NECESSITY SHOWN FOR lNTELLl-
GENT COOPERATION.
APPEAL TO GENERAL PUBLIC
Up-to-Date Farmer Points Out What
Coud Be Done If Agr;culturists
and the Local Press Pulled
Together.


retailer places sufficient Importance
upon the necessity for cooperating
with the editor of his local paper The
latter is in position to mould the
sentiment of his readers to a degree
which makes his assistance on any
matter in which the community is in
terested, very important
There are of course instances where
local newspapers are operated in such
a manner as to be of little benefit to
the community in which they are pub
lished, but these are decidedly the
exception and as the Up-to-date Farm
er says:
Your home paper should receive
your earnest attention. 1t may be
that your home paper is not run to
suit you. 1t is possible that it pays
much more attention to what it con-
siders the best interests of the adver-
tisers than to those Of the farmers
There is nothing at all strange about
that. You probably pay 81 a year
subscription. The average country
paper does not have more than 900 cir
culation, and at least one-half OF these
are exchanges, deadheads and compl-
mentary. The $500 which the aver
age country editor receives does not
much more than ray for the blank pa
per and postage. The editor of such
country paper, therefore, must rely
almost altogether upon his adverts-
ing and job work for his support
rs it any wonder that he pays lit
tie attention to the desires or the de-
mands Of the farmer?
1T is true that the merchant of
the country town depends upon the
farmers for his business, but country
merchants, until lately, have not
studied the economics of country life
and have not realized their entire de-
pendence upon the prosperity of the
farming community of interests in
every neighborhood which is directly
opposed to the Capitalization of bust
ness in a few large cities has not ap-
pealed to these people.
The country merchant has taken
his ideas from the merchant who sold
him his goods; the country banker
has usually supposed shat his inter-
ests were identified with those of the
banking certers of the world: the
country lawyer has taken his political
views from !he attorneys of corpora
lions, and the country editor has had
his work cut out for him by the edi-
tors Of big daily papers owned and
controlled by people who were at the
head of special interests.
These special interests people have
tried and have, until recently, made
us all believe that the interests of all
classes were identical and that a few
people who had specialized in the
study Of finance and politics were to
be looked to as the leaders Of public
opinion.
Since the panic of 1898 it has slow
~ dawned upon the general public
that the teachings of these self-ap.
pointed leaders were not altogether
perfect in their logic, and that what
was good for the Standard Oil monop-
oily or the steel trust might not be
for the best interests of the farmer
or the merchant.
Corporation lawyers from the city
represent us in congress and in the
United States senate, and corporation
lawyers have framed most of our
state laws 1t is time for farmers
and for those who depend upon them
for support to learn that the interests
of the speculative classes are not
those of the producer or the consum-
er, and OF the honest exchanger of
wealth. The editor Of the home paper
should study these questions from the
standpoint Of the producer and con-
sumner and not from that Of the spec
ulator. Tho producer should then
support the paper SO that it will not
be necessary for it to take advertising
from any but legitimate firms that are
looking out for the interests Of farm
ers and producers. The interests of
the merchant in a country town de-
pend upon the prosperity of the farm,
er, and the paper that teaches con-
trolled marketing deserves the sup
port of merchants and a much bet.
ter support than they now get from
farmers"