Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1920-02-06
TWO-CENT DA|L|ES
MAY HAVE TO 60
TO THREE CENTS
Increasing Costs for News Print
Paper and Labor a Serious
Problem.
MUST SEEK SOME RELIEF

Newspapertom. January 30
With news print paper selling Mt four
or FIVE times as much as IL did early IN
the war, and hard to get ut that; with
the wages of compositors, pressmen and
clectrotypers mounting higher and higher
right along, and with the cost of dlstribu-
ton increasing proportionately, the lot Of
the newspaper publishers is not happy
one. During the last year and half
more than ninety per cent of the news
papers, both dailies and weeklies, have
increased their advertising and subscrip-
ton rates TO meet the additional expense,
and although they are carrying n large
volume of business it is going to be
toss-up during the next year whether some
of them will be able to keep out of bank
ruptcy. i,
The only revenue a publisher has is
derived from subscriptions and advertising
Hence. when production costs exceed in
come for any length of time the only thing
to do is TO raise subscription and adver
Using rates, If the newspapers business
affairs are already being economically adj
ministcrcd.
Last fall the publishers of the Seattle
Times found themselves facing a serious
problem Because OF the almost prohib-
tive price of news print and the great adj
vance In the cost of other moterlals and
labor. they found that the expense Of
getting out the Times during 1920 would
be S40O. 900 more than they had been IN
1919. This meant bankruptcy. What could
be done TO avert IL? Advertising rates had
been raised several times during the war
and it seemed AZ If tho limit had almost
been reached. 9TH Times was already
selling at three cen a copy or Sl2 a
wear. The publishers finally decided that
the only chance they had of staving off
ruin was 20 again raj the advertising
and subscription rates. But if this was
done it WAS inevitable that there would be
a shriukage In advertising and a marked
falling of IN circulation. These losses
combined might be so large that expenses
would exceed income, IN which case they
would not have improved the situation
They believed, however, that the Seattle
public would stand by them but they
wouldn't now definitely until the expert
ment had been tried
Advertising rates were advanced last
September 20 per cent, the price per copy
WAS increased to 5 cents, and the yearly
subscription TO SIS. The publishers took
the public into their confidence and
frankly stated the reasons for these adj
vsnces. The largest department store in
Seattle and one or two other heavy adj
vertisers refused to paw the increased
rates. The circulation of the Times drop
ned 10000 copies For awhile it looked AS
though the property would 60 to smash,
but presently the advertisers who had
dropped out came back and paid the new
rate. And now, st the end of four months,
the lost circulation has been recovered
and the Times is sailing along on an even
keel.
Not All the newspapers can do what the
Seattle Times has done and come out so
succs ssfully, but many of them can snd
should follow its example. There Is GER
tainly no sense in selling newspa pers at less
than cost. II the public will not, after
reasonable length of time, pay the news
paper publisher such rate as will enable
him to pay his expenses and give him a fair
return on his inves tment, he might As well
Quit now and save what he can out of the
wreck as to 60 on year or two longer and
lose every cent he has.
Advertisers have felt for some time that
they ought not to be called upon to pay
all OF the increased cost of newspaper
production. Is there any reason, they
ask, why newspa pers should not be sold at
a highe- price? While the day of the one
cent newspaper Is over, the most of the
rlailies do not sell for more than two cents.
This price, when charged for sixteen
page rxue-many are twenty-fOur and
TIVE nty-eight pages-does not cover the
cost Of the white paper upon which II Is
printed If the newspapers were sold
st three cents . copy, they would net the
publisher two cents.
HOW THE SITUATION OPERATES