Year: 1867


New Enterprises-TheIr True Point Of Oepar-


The real cause of the failure of so many new
enterprises is, after all, quite simple. Those
who originate them mistake their true point OF
departure. They forget thatit IL indispensable
to begin at the beginning. They heed not the
wisdom Of the old couplet


Great oaks from little acorns grow;


Large streams from little fountains flow.


Finding always people with more money than
brains ready to invest their surplus capital in
some new scheme suggested by the success Of
similar schemes, they ignore the fact that the
latter have reached their actual prosperity
only by the slow but sure processes Of growth,
and they deem it sufficient to dazzle outsiders
by merely emulating the external show Of
those well-established rivals with whom they
are ambitious to compete. With marble fronts
and glittering signs, and with desks and safes
and counting room and all the approved para
phernalia Of business, they try to start at .
point which their prototypes have reached.
only after passing through long and difficult
ordeal Of experiments. Now, the credulous
public may be temporarily dazzled by such IL
lusory appearances; but the reality too often,
and usually too soon, is found by the unhappy
stockholders in such enterprises to be naught
but failure; and the public quickly learns
the result Such is the case with those splen-
did failures which have been directly oc
casioned by the success Of the older we'll
established express companies. The most in
genious combinations, with the military fame
Of General Joe Johnston and an army of ex-of-
icers to boot, could not prevent failure in one
conspicuous instance; and in no other in
stance can success be predicated in violation
of the rule which we have indicated. Such Is
newspaper enterprises on this and on the other
side of the Atlantic. Enough capital is Sc
cured to issue few numbers of journal
which confidently announces its inten-
ton to vie with, nay, to surpass the old
favorites Of the public that have won this dis
tinction only after long years Of persevering
efforts to satisfy the increasing demands Of our
progressive age. The new claimants for public
favor drag on weary and precarious exist
ence for few brief months and finally sink
beneath accumulated difficulies The spell Of
what they fonily deemed their "open sesame"
is broken, and the doors to success remain
closed and hermetically sealed. They learn
that magic is impotent and that they must sue.
cumb to the painful pressure of facts. In
London, for instance, the Daily Ne,os
began with capital of two hundred
thousand pounds sterling and with the
prestige of genius as well as talent in
its favor; but, neglecting from the outset the
simple but essential prerequisites of success, It
has gradually dwindled to its present insig-
nifcance, which is all the more striking by way
of contrast to its "great expectations" In COM
mencing its career. Nor can we safely predict
any better fate to thu journal which, we have
| been privately informed, is to be started as q
| rival to the London Times. We have not yet
been made acquainted with all the details of
this new enterprise, but we have heard enough
Of its extravagant anticipations Of surp ,ssiny
the Times as an organ Of news and public
opinion on both sides Of the Atlantic to inspire
us with distrust Of its splendid promises. Com
petition, however, is the life of trade, and
whether the new journal shall live or die will
depend upon its observing the simple but
invariable law which we have laid down. In
| France the success Of L. Peia Journal, which
was founded not long ago and which still holds
its own, enjoying . prodigious circulation
throughout the empire, Is altogether excep-
tional. In its turn it has had competitors whose
name is legion, but very few survive to illus
trate, like it, the principle under consideration.


Aud in New York several nondsscript evening
journals have recently been started, which, we
fear, will only swell the number Of exceptions
that prove our rule.