The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-12-22

that he had been instructed by the
board Of directors Of the Retail Mer-
chants Association to notify US that
in future tho members Of the asso-
citation would withhold patronage
from any st. James newspaper or
newspapers that attacked the street
railway company for not making u
tive-cent fare to Riverside Park.
Austin and l debated that letter
from three O'Clock in the afternoon
until nearly seven in the evening.
1t didn't require all this time for us
to discover that the men responsible
for the letter had made a stupendous
blunder. which would react on them
II we took it up. but 1t did require
time to decide just what to do. Here
was q serious situation. Manifestiy
We could not operate II newspaper
in a town where the association of
retail merchants, comprising nearly
all the mercantile establishments, had
boycotted us. We realized. and had
always realized. that by the time our
sixty thousand dollars was spent we
must have procured sufficient ad-
vertising to keep us going. and we
had always believed that We would
procure it. But already half of our
money was gone. and IL we went into
an open, knock down-and- drag -out
fight with the merchants associatio
We feared we wouldn't be able to
win 1t before our reserve was ex-
hausted. Austin finally put it up to
me on the ground that 1t was purely
an editorial question.
l backed Off so that l could look
at the problem from distance, and
applied my Journalistic principle to
1t: Here was the question OF five
cent fares to the park. Here was
Van Dyke using the rlimsy excuse Of
the Mitchellville Interurban to con-
troll US Here were titty retail dealers
trying to direct the editorial policy
OF the Sun through control of Its ad-
vertising. Here were the people OF
st. James-our readers What were
their rights? We're they entitled to
know what the street railway COM
pany and the advertisers were doing !?
An k1eyen Thousand Dollar Fly.
Looked at that way, there was but
one answer-and l made it. Austin
agreed to 1t. and the next afternoon
we used the three middle columns Of
the first page OF the paper to present
1t to the public. We published the
letter from the Retail Merchants
Association in three-oolumn measure
in ten-point black-faced type. Below
1t. In the same form, we printed what
we had to say. 1t was this:
Tho foregoing. received yesterday.
speaks for itself. We are publishing
1t for the benefit of the people OF
St James and for the purpose OF
making clear what we have to say
for ourselves.
We are peaceably inclined to all
the world. We seek no fight with
the Retail Merchants Association, but
the foregoing cannot be accepted in
any light save q declaration Of war
As such We accept 1t. and we here
and now declare that We are prepared
for war
The Retail Merchants Association
has attempted to dictate the editorial
policy of this newspaper. trst by
offering US advertising IL We would
do what it wanted done. and after
ward by threatening to withdraw ad-
vcrtising II We failed to yield to its
demands
We cannot be controlled by either
method. and we hereby announce that
any member OF the Retail Merchants
Association who is now advertising
with US and wants to quit may have
has contract by calling at our office
We do not want his business if he
thinks he can use it as bride. The
same principle applies to those who
may consider advertising with US in
the future.
The obligation OF the St James Sun
is to the people Of st, James. We be-
iieve the people are entitled to five-
cent fares to the park and we shall
work for hye-cent fares until we get
them.
Whatever this be. make the most
OF II.
Austin and ! signed this statement,
sent the paper to press and sat down
and held our breath. We felt we had
either made or wrecked the paper and
naturally We were something more
than curious to see what would hap
pen.
II began to happen mighty fast The
paper had not been on the street more
than twenty minutes before the tele-
phone began to ring. 1t rang every
Few minutes from three-fifteen until
Austin and l went home at six o'clock,
and It was sweet music Thirty-two
OF the individual members of the Re-
tail Merchants Association called up
one or the other OF us and en-
phaticaiIy repudiated the action OF
the board Of directors They declared
they had never heard OF the boy
colt until they read the directors
letter In the Sun. and that they
wouldn't think Of attempting to con-
troll our editorial policy by giving or
denying advertising.
There was one fly In the ointm emit,
and II was a monstrous big fly. Cor
man & Nudge, the second largest de-
partment store in the city, took us
up on our offer to cancel tho con-
tracts Of any advertisers that desired
them Cancelled. The manager OF the
Utore called at the office. produced Z
copy az the paper, CURLY demanded
his contract declined to talk with
Austin. pocketed his agreement which
had been signed but a few weeks
before. and departed. When he
walked out Of the office eleven thous-
and dollars Of our annual advertising
receipts went with him. never to re-
turn. This was the only big sd-
vertiser we lost AZ . result Of our
stand. Mills Brothers. the Streets.
the Longman and the Tuttles, the
foremost influences In the Retail
Merchants Association. we had al
ready lost. and they were NO more
determined to control us or force us
out of business now than they had
been before. so we had not hurt our
selves by antagonixing them.
The next day We followed up our
declaration by printing interviews
with all but about a dozen members
OF the association. In which they dis
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