The Washington times., 1918-05-28

advice.
The advice being requested here it is- would not
been volunteered
Members Of the Mississippi Press Association are as re-
CARDS the great majority publishers of comparatively small
newspapers small in circulation and small in profits
pared with newspapers in the big cities
Editors Of the smaller newspapers in Mississippi and
other States constitute the real public driving power and the
real intellectual POLICE FORCE of the United States
Sixty millions of Americans more than half the nation
I've in the smaller towns and villages and read the smaller
newspapers
And those sixty millions of Americans the backbone
Of the United States.
They are the farmers and those with whom the farmers
deal directly.
They are the men and the women that feed the rest of
the United States 7: and great part Of the world
living far from the great ceners of population make the
constituency Of the smaller newspaper editohey belong to
him. and he belongs to them.
Because the editor Of the country newspaper has this
powerful prosperous constituency with its great purchasing
power the local newspapers advertising in proportion
cost and circulation by far the valuable in the United
SALE
The who reads the small newspaper is the man who
buys everyhing-unke the who lives the small fiat
Of big city depending chiefly the opener and the
moving picture theater next door.
The small newspaper editor, with five hundred or a
thousand circulation should be recognized by the intelligent
advertiser the man Of really big business as the worlds most
For the smaller editor with five hundred thousand or
ten thousand readers is salesman possessing exclusively
reach.
Every subscriber to a country newspaper should be
worth the publisher least six dollars per year profit
And the competent local editor will net six dollars year
subscriber when the value of local advertising understood
any salesman could offer to business thous-
and customers controlled by HIMSELF, and visited EVERY
DAY BY HIMSELF AND BY NOBODY ELSE, such sales
man would be very cheap at six thousand dollars year
But the country editor with thousand circulation is
today Iucv If he makes three Thousand wear or even half
of that after he has satisfied the paper and ink dealers with
their high prices and local merchants with their notion that
%ha LODI
tsers that neglect their interests by negeCtng the
country editor.
Now for the advice since it asked for the members of
the Mississippi Press Association and other State assocs
tons Of editors:
Do thirteen States of Union did George
WashiHgtOHs day. Form national HHioH it, and stick
Establish central bodies Of control which among
papers shall be each State what the legislature and
the nation what Congress Is
This writer constantly urging upon big advertisers and
the important advertising agents the value of the country
newspaper is told They small that is hardly worth
while to bother with them
That what Germany might say of the United States if
had here forty eight hundred little separate nations
competing with each other instead of big country
If the advertising power Of the country editors and THE
POLITICAL POWER OF THOSE COUNTRY EDITORS
properly organized and properly used for the benefit of
the editors and Of the country there would be different
story told.
There is just about much rather little interest
the country editor there among politicians
gardng women-before woman could vote.
But now some women vote-observe how important
those women have become.
Statesmen anxious to find out what the women
want and anxious to do it, because the united
at the ballot box
Before women could vote it made no difference what
they wanted, the politicians were too busy to care.
Editors need agreement as to the advertising vaue of
their space-most Of which Is now almost given AWAY
consolidated buying Of paper and ink and united action to
make public men and advertisers realize their importance
It seems late to say In union there is strength" or
Omitted we stand divided we fall"
Yet is fact that the country press lacks strength
lacks the dignity the profit the respect to which is Justly
entitled and Is also fact that the editors do not stand
CcOntnuSd in Last Coumn)