Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-03-19

to give to the public on its own &C.
count and that which, If published at
all, should be at the expense of some
one else.
There is not a country editor in the
state. and all of them are country ed
itors. who has not sweated blood! over
this question which involves the very
existence of his publications; but, it
is a fact that very few Of them have
ever arrived at satisfactory conclu-
sions. and still fewer If any at all,
have developed the business f1rmness
to put those conclusions into effect.
And right here lies the cause of more
newspaper funerals than have been
brought about by all other causes
combined.
To be sure commercial advertising
Of all kinds Is news. Much Of 1t is
more important and interesting news
than most Of the other matter that
goes to fill up even the best Of the
newspapers. 1t is certainly more in
teresting and valuable than most Of
the press bureau stuff that so many
papers print free for propagandas Of
different kinds: but does the fact that
it Is important and timely make it the
duty Of he publisher to give 1t right
Of way? II 80, then where Is the pub
Usher going to get the means with
which to continue his work Of pub
fishing?
Then about all this propaganda
matter of educational institutions, Of
political parties, of religious cults, Of
national charitable organizations, Of
chambers of commerce, boards Of
trade, civic leagues. and other such
activities. They turn out enough copy
to fill all the newspapers many times
over, and think Of helping to
pay the fiddler. Suppose you publish
it free. unload 1t all on u readers,
what are they going to say? No mat
ter how much wisdom there may be
in a newspaper, II it Is dull and unin-
teresting to the general public, Is the
public going to pay for 1t Not to any
appreciate extent. Then where is
the right or the justice of asking the
newspapers to try to carry such a
burden?
OF course, If such matter as has
been described Is not published free
it will not be published at all; but
surely that is no argument why the
publisher should be called upon to
pay the expense. AS a matter Of fact
he could not do such a thing If he
wanted to. Even though he had the
money of a Rockefeller and were
willing to spend it for the purpose,
the public would not have his paper
as a gift, much less read it.
Now, for a case in point, familiar
to every publisher in the state. There
are a number Of educational institu-
tons, including Clemson and Win
throp, which maintain regular news
bureaus. They employ men at good
salaries to get up matter telling what
they are doing and how, and have 1t
printed at considerable expense for
distribution among the newspapers.
The matter Is good. Certainly 1t Is,
most Of it. But what is 1t all done
for? Advertising, primarily. The un-
DERIVING principle is exactly the same
as that which makes the stock In
trade Of a newspaper-give the public
something worth while and the public
will patronize. But what is the use
of ali this prepared copy unless 1t
gets to the public? The only way to
get it to the public Is through the
newspapers, and many of the news
papers carry it at their w expense,
and for what? It would be interest
ing to hear some of them answer.
AS we have already said, most OF
the matter referred to Is good. Some
Of it is fine. If a newspaper could
have it exclusively 1t would actually
be worth paying for. The public
would subscribe to the paper on &C
count of it, and the publisher would
be able to get something to help him
pay expenses. But matter that Is dis
tributed free to all the newspapers Is
Of no practical value to anybody. II
diamonds were as common as flint
rocks then the diamond value would
be the flint rock value.
Will the editor and publisher never
learn that he cannot afford to act as
the %gratuitous distributor Of all this
volunteer material? Will he continue
to argue that unless he gives II pub
licity it will all be lost to the world,
and continue to impoverish himself
In trying to do the impossible. Such
matter as Is worth while will not be
lost. Let the editor devote himself to
trying TO make his paper worth while
by his own laborious efforts, and II
he cannot win support by that means,
let him go at something else, for that
is what he is going to have to do II
he continues to allow himself to be
ridden by the public. And so soon as
all the would-be riders find they can
not ride free, those that are worth
while will pay. The others don't mat
ter.
What the newspapers Of South Car
DINA want to do to work out their
salvation-most of them-is to put
themselves on their merits. Let them
give value received, and absolutely
rise above all appearance Of mendi-
cacy This Is the mean by which
they can more quickly build up their
self-respect and acquire the respect
Of others and just in proportion to
their rise in this direction will they
increase their value to the communi-
ties in which they are published and
also their value to their state and
country.
Liquor Blockade in Mountain City
Latest quotations Of the curb for
whisky spots, is $1.25 the pint, thereby
don, oncfrofi fhat tho ronppf hlnpk.