Western Carolina Democrat and French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1913-1915, 1914-11-12
WHY a GOOD NEWSPAPER CAN'T
BE SOLD FOR LESS THAN ST.
Other Commodities Have Increased ii
Price and Service of Newspaper :
Justifes Better Price.
lThe AmericaH Press. }

. s -
The American Press receiyes day BY
day the announcements of suspensions
cf papers in every part of the country,
and the details accompanying such an
nouncements lead to the conFictinn
that one factor is primarily at fault
with those papers that have given up.
the ghost. = That factor is the sub-
scription Price of 81.
The papers charging this price for
years subscription are, of course.
greatly in the minority. That is only
natural, for but few papers can exist
at that rate, and those that do are
merely dragging themselves along. The
subscription price of 81 is doubly
wrong, because the mistake in asking
it is made in the beginning. What
reason is there to believe that sub
seribers will not be willing to pay at
pay at least 81 so @for their paper?.
What reason have some publishers to
suspect that the community in which
they are settled or about to settle will
not gladly show, an enterprising spirit
and materially assist an enterprising
paper as it should be assisted? Amer
ican fair mindedness will surely not
fail the publisher who has made up
his mind to serve the community well
through his paper. There is no doubt.
in the mind of any one who has an in.
sight into the matter that the country
paper is the great champion of the
rights of the country community. Not
alone does it fight the battles Of it's
own immediate community, but it ex-
presses in greater measure than any
metropolitan paper the true sentiments.
of the American people
But, further than this, the country
paper is accepted practically as mem4
ber, of every family. The publisher
knows the conditions that prevail in
every home. He is called upon for ad-
vice in this matter and in that; he is
called upon for his. opinion in all mat
ters that engage the community
this aside from his duty as a newspa-
per man to provide his readers with
news of the neighborhood and of the
county, state and nation. This service
alone entities him to the most gener-
Gus patronage, advertising as well as
subscription, at the hands of the COM
nlunity. But there are other consider
ations to be taken into account by the
publisher which make a higher sub
scription absolutely imperative. Fore
most among these are the increased
cost of almost every commodity that
enters into our homes or, in short, the
increased cost of living. Food prices
have gone up; raw materials are high
er. In fact, wherever we turn we find
that we must pay more now than We
did formerly, except when we buy our
newspapers.
The grocer, the clothing merchant,
the hardware merchant, the druggist
and others-all of them raise their
prices when the market demands II.
but the newspaper goes on at the same.
rate, high cost Of living or no high cost
of living. Why is this? Is not the
publisher entitled to raise the price Of.
his wares I'M the same manner that
every other merchant raises his Most
assuredly he is.
AT the subscription price of $1.50 a
year the weekly newspaper, read at
least by two persons in every family,
costs the reader little over cent
For this sum the reader is informed Of
what is going on in his immediate
neighborhood: he is put in touch with
the affairs of the state and nation he
Is instructed, amused and entertained
As we have said once before, the read
er profits, and the advertiser profits
But where is the profit that belongs to