The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-06-06

great and possibly radical changes had al
ready begun in the periodical publication
BUSINESS. Some of these, he thought, were
oue 10 the great, eyen marvellous, inn
ploVement in the Sunday issues of news
papers ana some of them to a change In
lne puphc taste. In banking circles in tnis
CITY II is the general belief that Mr.. Num-
sey ventures into banking We're inspired
~ part ey his forecast of a possible de-
ciile IN the prosperity of the cheaper
periodical publications.
AT one time when the periodical publI-
cation, at least of low priced magazines.
was most prosperous, John Brisbane
"aiher was approached by British capt.
tai winch purposed creating a holding
company with s5,O00000 of capital with
Whlch to absorb as many as possible of
'ne american cheap magazines
Mr. Page and some other experienced
men wonder whether IL American maga-
zine .pupi1cation is to regain the pros
perlty which it had between 1895 and 1908
or 1913 1t Is not essential that young but
highiy trained men should be called to
the edltorship of these periodicals. They
are presumed to be in closer touch with
American life and to possess a more vivid
appreciation of what the newly aroused
demand of the American reading public is
than the older editors.
riodical was started upon its career of
prosperity and gained its greatest COM
mercial results through the management
OF young men. Mr.. Munsey himself was
only little past 80 years of age when he
started upon his phenomenally successful
career from, the commercial point of view
). 5. Mcclure was only SO when he with
out any capital excepting the ability and
enthusiasm of a group of young men, ven-
In fHaI dow r1r I,t- .f ~ H..
to issue a low priced periodical. DIR. Hol-
land, Richard Watson Glider the Scrib-
ners and their very able editor, Mr.. Bur-
lingame, were all young men when they
ventured into she fields of periodical
publication and all of the Harper publi-
cations were begun, with possibly a single
exception, when the Harper brothers were
still young men.
A Queer Comparison
Within a day or two after the Frisco
Railway company was put into a receiv-
er' s hands announcement was made tnat
a syndicate of bankers, some of them of
this city, had underwritten or taken care
of obligations of the National Railways of
Mexico, one of the undertakings being the
providing of funds to meet $4,000, 600 of Az
per cent notes which became due on June
2. The question has been asked frequently
lean railways We're able to secure $4,000
900 to meet imperative obligations while
the Frisco system was unable to obtain
one-third of that sum to meet equally i'm
perative oblgations?'
The Mexican Railways are controlled by
the Mexican government, but so far as the
United States is concerned there is at
present only provisional government
in Mexico. The Frisco system will un-
doubtedly in time and under good man.
agement prove profitable.
1t is not unlikely that if it had been felt
that a receivership for the Frisco meant
also receivershps for other American rail-
way companies the attempt to prevent re-
ceiverships would have been successful
But nobody suspects that any other re-
ceiverships for American railway COM
panies are impending.
In Paris there seems to be some irri-
liability caused by the fact that shortly
before the receivership of the Frisco a
large block of its obligations were sold
to the French bankers Yet according to
common understanding here the French
bankers prospered far more than did the
American bankers who handled this
financing The American bankers are said
to have received a trifling, almost nomi-
nal commission, whereas the French
bankers are understood to have marketed
these securities and a very handsome
profit for themselves.