The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1943-09-01
BY WESTBROOK PEGLER

Ladies Home Journal because l am strictly
newspaper except a couple of times year
when break out with message to humanity
on slick paper but if you want to see some
fun, dip your bill into the LII for October
Graeme Lorimer fixed up a match between
James Carey, the Secretarytreasurer of the
CLIO and me which was to have been the
main event but the copy didn't fit certain
page SO they took it off the top of the bill
and used it for chaser. 1t was just as we'll
too, because Carey led with his chin and
they have still got him on the table in his
dressingroom and Phil Murray is pouring cold
water down his trunks and icing the back
OF his neck and yelling for a doctor 1t was
just no contest.
But that isn't what's on my mind What
want to discuss with you is the cold, con-
summate gall and conceit of these magazine
people. Do they think they're good? Do you
know what Lorimer wrote my manager?
Well, after explaining why they had to take
the debate out of the feature position and
stuff it in the chinks between the golfers
and electric belts, as we say in our business
Lorimer wrote: OF course, from our point
of view, an author should consider himself
lucky to be in the Ladies Home Journal at
all. and any position is good position"
And he isn't kidding, either. Most of these
magazine mugs actually do believe they are
doing you a great honor to publish your copy
and they are almost all strictly sWeatshop
in their methods and want more work and
obedience for their dough than prison con-
tractor. A friend of mine who is swell nov
elist with big name made a deal to deliver
a novel for an agreed price, spent more thar
a year on the job and had to write it three
times and finally got it back because the
editor had cooled out on the idea. By then
it was so badly mauled that even the author
didn't know what it all about and all
| IL.
strictly speculative proposition One time
made deal to do a magazine piece about
lotteries. subject on which l have lot of
information and a very strong opinion and
when I turned it in the editor tossed it back
and wanted me to reverse myself and argue
in favor of lotteries. They think their money
can buy not only your experience, work, time
ability and reputation but your principles, as
we'll There I had firm order and delivered
the piece as agreed and discovered that J
was just gambling. He risked nothing.
| Lorimer probably gets his ideas from his
old man who used to run the Saturday Eve
ming Post. Old George was SO finicking anc
arbitrary that he even tried to regulate the
private lives of his stable of writer's to the
extent that they were supposed 10 avoid per
sonal scandal under penalty of Punishment
| Some years ago a dame got mixed up With
another Womans husband and went all to
pieces because she was afraid it would ruin
her with the old man Lorimer who had been
| buying lot of her stuff. Or If you were one
of his seals you couldn't write for other maya
zines although he would not put you on
| regular payroll and reserved the right TO re
iect anything that didn't suit his particular
| taste.
| They get that way because they do pay
pretty well for the pieces that happen to suit
their precious and fastidious fancy and thou
sands of writer's all over the country con
stantly shooting stuff at them on speculatlon
This relieves them of the necessity 10 make
binding commitments even to the regular con-
tributors and the result is they nave 10 oe
buttered and yessed and cultivated and alter
a few years of this, get to thinking TINS means
that they are Wondermen when the 1acl
| is that their magazines are written no oeltef
Than neWspapers and generally speaking, are
MT edited nearly as we'll. Ihey also play up
the publicity or reputation value VI iie 50 Ai,ie
notification to a writer asthou8h you ought
to take part of your pay in presuge as many
writer's. especially young or obscure ones 40
The New Yorker. for example pays peanuts
and that Ross will jerk your copy every Whlch
wav and throw it back and BACK TOT redolhg
according to his peculiar personal tastes and
NV the time YOU get it across ana get your
modest check you haven't even got Sooo DAY
wages for your time. He KIDS himsel mat
the reason he can't get good "flters 10 40
ths+ 20 MANY of them have gone to war
,aas the truth is just that they like to eat
A fellow can do about as we'll on yearly earn
ing, covering night police IN IN " 1gd ae Utah,
and if YOU send whole oale Oh tnose New
WorLar bv.1nes around to the landlord the
most he will allow Will oe liie maj e' value
as slick waste paper
Inst cot cali from Carey's dressing ROOM
He is still out cold and hasn't even twitched.
I guess I didn't know my stfehgth. wonder
- NV could hold me for manslaughter.