The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1917-08-17
III

Ill.
A third newspaper was established
by a stock company with the avowed
intention of concentrating the pat
ronage of the public on it and taking
away enough of the patronage of
the others to force a surrender of
their Objectionable methods or to &C
cept financial failure. The man in
charge of the new paper was new
in the newspaper business, and made
many mistakes of policy and business
management, and the original plan
did not carry we'll enough to bring
success. Some of the stockholders
sold their stock, others gave it away
or made such ridiculous offers that
it hurt the business, and the pub
Usher had a hard time to save his
own business from the fate intended
for the others. During this period
there were six men engaged in news
paper work in the present confines of
the county, none of the newspapers
carried good thoro county news
service, and each, publisher was so
swamped with expenses and had so
little income that he was trying
every possible device to maintain
himself, and to take business away
from the others. None of them at
tempted to develop any new and
meritorious service for the public,
and neither of them tried to make
himself acquainted with the county
and it's resources so that better
service could be rendered. The new
paper tried making up mailing list
and sending the paper to everybody
for their consideration, and sent each
of them letter asking them to ex-
anime the paper for three successive
issues and if they did not care to
subscribe for it to notify the publish
err so he would stop it. People re-
membered their former experience
with another paper that was sent
without the courtesy of any eXplana-
ton, and considered the new paper
in the light of robber and denounc-
desirable advertising.
".
While all of the newspapers were
too poor to buy needed equipment
or employ reporters or do the work
necessary to produce a good news
service, one of the publishers who
had been writing much spicy matter
and at once entertaining people and
making enemies, tried unloading the
burden by leasing his paper to a
transient man in the community. He
thought he had made good bargain
and considered the transient man
was foolish to take it and pay such
rental for what income he could
derive from it.
All thru this period the political
situation in the state was such that
there was an unfortunate difference
between two classes of people, and
each class wanted to control the
press. The extremists of both sides
assumed that there was not room
enough in Idaho for both classes, and
all such radicals on both sides were
jealous of any statements in news
paper that looked like catering to
the other class. The transient man
shrewdly seized upon this spirit and
with the first issue of his paper he
devoted most of his space to news
articles telling what the people of
one class were doing. He got
prompt response, for the radicals of
the class he favored began to drop
in and subscribe for the paper and
pay up. The radicals of the other
class rushed in and paid up their
subscriptions and stopped their
papers. He spent so much time re-
ceiving money that he hadn't much
time to prepare the next issue of the
paper but he filled as much space
as he could with the same kind of
sop, and continued to reap bumper
crop of collections. Under the ordi-
nary means of making collections OF
such small accounts it takes a great
deal of time and consumes large
percentage of the amount due to
collect it, but in this case the patrons
brought the money in and laid 1t
on the desk, and he did not even
have to make out a bill or address
a letter or buy q postage stamp. 1t
was all velvet" to him for he was
to have all he could take in If he
paid his rental for the plant This
program continued for month or
so when collections began to ease
up, and the monthly bills from local
firms began to come in, and the
transient man disappeared. His wife
remained for time writing receipts
for as much money as was offered,
and then she disappeared. The own
err took his newspaper bushes back
again, but it was ruined, and he was
not able to build 1t up again. The