Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1912-06-06
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EXPOSING THE MAGAZINES

EAFO0IN0 ] TIE NARRATIVES
The story of the popular magazines
has long been subject of much con-
lecture. McClure's, after various I'm
comprehended changes, changed own
ers. Success, with all the qualities i'm
piled by it's title, failed. Hampton's
got into some kind of trouble, though
no reason was apparent, and Pearson's
has reefed its sails to meet the gale.
In the Twentieth Century Magazine
for June, George French, magazine
writer, publisher and advertising man,
tells for the first time, the true story
of what happened to these publica-
tions.
Where are the popular magazines
that only a few months-two or three
years-since were killing off trusts at
the rate of one or two each month, put
ting politicians out of office, and gen
orally regulating affairs in the inter
ests of the people? Where are those
magazines now, and what are they
doing to regulate the affairs of. the
universe?" asks George French, in the
current number of the Twentieth
Century Magazine.
1.-THE process of damming the flood
of criticism that beat upon the strong
holds of the great interests, the great
politicians, and the great takers who
are tfattening upon the guileless ulti-
mate consumer has been deliberate,
but unrelentingly sure in its effect"
The Failure or Success.
Success had revealed itself as an
other undertaking periodical prepared
to stir up the compost about whatever
man, party, or enterprise it conceived
to be flourishing unnaturally. Accord
ingly that silent force we call the Big
interests, without one Of those inter-
ests doing single thing that could be
cited as an overt act, or uttering
sentence that could be quoted as
threat or a command or a request,
proceeded to snuff out a concern that
shortly before might have been sold
for nearly 100000 Success had built
up great publishing business. 1t
was solidly based upon, that mos. es-
sential of all publishing assets, the
sane and popular policy of an editor
full of genius and del1cately attuned
to the forces that are rushing man
kind onward. 1t had a great and loyal
body of subscribers. It's readers had
bought $350,000 of it's bonds. 1t had
large number of "life subscribers, :"
each of whom had willing paid S25 to
help finance the enterprise. All this
disappeared as if by magic, because
| the ambitious publisher, wishing to
bask in the same limelight he saw
playing about his contemporaries,
made an injudicious choice of his
stunt. What q startling exhibition of
the influence of the money power over
the press!"
| Parsons and Punishment.
t. "Pearson's did not get off so easily
when it offended an advertiser. In its
May, 1910 issue, it printed an article
about How Food Prices are Made"
one of the conclusions Of which was
that there is scarcity of men in the
food business who are not robbers
Plain language, surely. Too plain,
the Armour concern thought, and its
agents Cancelled an order for the in
sertion of eighteen pages of advertis-
ing. This ended the. patronage of the
Armour's, and Pearson's discovered
that the amount paid the author for
his excocriating article was only the
nrst instalment of its cost. The read