Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1914-12-31
FAIL TO suBslDizE THE COUNTRY
EDITOR.

creased mail order business wanted
the country press on my side. I
wanted to get more kind words into
the columns of the small newspapers
and country weeklies because real
lied then, as do now, the power of
the country press and the great
value it possesses to present claim
for preference before the people of
the community.
l outlined plan to whip the coun-
try newspapers into line and arrange
for them to carry my advertising mat
ter as well as to persuade them to
give me free reading notices and ed
itorials, telling what great help and
comfort the mail order houses were
to the people of the country.
It was nothing more nor less than
bribery. believed that could get
the editors Of the country newspa-
pers to be false to their home inter-
ests and foster ours, for a price.
had the money to pay them and
thought lots of dollars could do the
work easily and readily.
worked months over that cam
paign. l prepared an electrotyped
advertisement in which advised
the use of the mail order medium and
urged the readers of each newspaper
to send into the big cities for the cat
alogue. / prepared sheets of press
notices" and editorials, with elab-
crate and plain instructions for their
use. was going to convert the peo-
pie of the whole country to mail order
buying.
expected to spend thousands of
dollars during the course of the next
few years, but it would be worth it,
If obtained the results. was after
the peoples dollars.
A strong form letter was prepared
as the first step, this letter to be sent
out to the editors Of the country news
papers. From advertising agencies
and from various other sources
complied list of something like 49,
900 newspapers, all of which were pub
lished in small towns / was already
fixed with the big daily newspapers
The only touble was couldn't some
how or another fix it with the coun-
try newspaper.
The letter read something like this:
To the Editor:
Dear Sir-You are publishing newspa.
per for business reasons not for your
health.
You find 1t difficult to obtain adequate
support from the merchants In your town.
They do not appreciate the value of your
newspaper as an advertising medium.
We know that you are printing a live
newspaper in your community and thot
you are entitled to more support than you
are receiving.
The postal laws, under which you enjoy
the privileges of second class postage for
mailing your newspaper, require you to
!, accept all legitimate advertising offered
at your rates.
Enclosed please find contract for ad.
vertising to the amount of............ dol
lars. Please sign it and return to us an6
we will forward electrotypes of adver.
tisements to be run together with in
structions
In giving you this business it is bu
natural that we shall expect you to run
each week, the reading notices and edi
torials sent herewith.
Very truly yours,
BLANK ADVERTISING AGENCY.
Yes, it was great scheme. l ex
pected to swamp the country will
sugared editorials and splendid no
tees about the mail order business
I cheerfully anticipated that woul,
put the country merchants out of busi
ness. l even went so far as to fig
ure out a plan for taking advantage
OF the conditions of business depres
sion that would inevitably follow sucl
IA sweeping fall in values and consid
cred the organization of some sort o
a land trust to buy up the riches
farms and most desirable town prop
erty in the communities where the POI
icy would work out the quickest
was becoming multi-millionaire with
out delay.
But experienced the most aston
fishing disappointment Of my life. TIL
plan, SO we'll considered, so CAREFUL
planned. SO craftily laid out, was al
absolute fizzle.
Why? 1t was the perversity of tn
newspaper editor. He would not b
bought, he would not be bribed, b
would not be cajoled or threatened.
In reading the preceding letter yo1
have noted the bunk" and the jolly
ing, followed by the appeal to hi
business instincts and then the cover
threat about the postal laws Yes, tn
Milan Woc well laid
But who can delve into the soul O
the man who will spend his days an
nights in running a country newspa
per in community that will not Civ
adequate support? Who can fathor
the motives of man who hustles al
the time to boost his home town, bu
who has difficulty at times in collect
ing the subscriptions to his paper an
who fails to obtain more than grude
ing pittance in advertising from tn
merchants in his town?
could not understand it. / be
,lieved that every newspaper edito
would be overjoyed to receive rea
money to the amount of many dollars
u y - a. IL