The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-26
MEETING oF sTArE EDITORS

By President Harry M. Ayers.
 The meeting of the Alabama Press ass
 sociation in Birmingham this week is an event that should command the attention and enlist the attendance of every news- paper publisher in the state, for not since
 the civil war have the newspapers of this country been faced with such grave problems as they are now being called upon to meet as a result of the world struggle under way in Europe.
 The publication of newspaper is finan- cially hazardous business at best, ne cessitating a close account of costs at all times, and since the war has forced up prices on practically everything 8 newspaper uses in it's make up this haz- ard has been practically doubled.
 Just how these new conditions are to be met will afford an opportunity for ex- ceedngly profitable discussion at the Bir- mingham meeting next Thursday and Fri. day, and the programme has been so framed as to enable Alabama publishers to more intelligently and effectively ad- just themselves to the complex problems at hand.
 The flood conditions that have swept nearly every section of the south during the past few weeks also place responsibili- ties on newspapers, opening the way fof constructive work through cooperation with other agencies in enabling the farm CTS to recover from the heavy storm losses they have sustained; and in the develop ment of agriculture in the south it should be the duty of every southern newspaper. particularly the newspapers of Alabama, to lend it's influence toward the location in this state at Muscle Shoal of the gov ernment nitrate plant-and accomplish ment that will mean tremendous savings in the fertilizer bills of southern planters
 But these are not our only avenues of activity. Alabama editors should cooper ate to secure rural credits bank in this state; we should act in unison in ex- plotting Alabanas mineral assets and in- dustrial opportunities; our excellent waterways and equable climate; our only seaport and it's development, etc. We should be attentive to the political needs of the state-to the questions of local taxation and compulsory education to be acted on by the voters next year; to the | tion; to the adoption of the budget sys-
 tenn in the administration of the state s affairs, to the activity of corporation at torneys in legislative enactments, and to many other issues that are to be faced by the people of Alabama in the next few years.
 They cannot openly discuss all these questions within the two days allotted to the convention at Birmingham; but by coming together in this wise the editors of the state can bring about largei spirit of unity in their labors for the common good, can broaden their visions and secure new inspiration. Nor is thera any paper in Alabama too big or too small to profit by this professional inter- course. That which tends to uplift the struggling weekly will eventually have | it's effect on the metropolitan daily; and 1 in proportion as the big dailies educate 1 the national advertisers of the country to l the use of newspaper space, even so will 1 the weekly eventually get it's share. Our | interests are common, and we should De
 actuated bNcommon purposes-the better
 ment of our papers and the communities
 we serve.