People's Pilot, Volume 2, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 February 1893 — How It Circulates. [ARTICLE]

How It Circulates.

K»ml»ftoa Prats. The Rensselaer Republican man appears to be geiting a little warm in under the collar. We beg leave to call his attention to the fact that we said in our article that “the rates allowed by the law are too high, and that the law should be changed.” This is a fact that Bro. Marshall very well knows, but is very careful not to say anything about it in his paper. We believe this is all we have claimed, and further, we have never contended “that public printing should be done for the same price as ordinary display business advertising,” as the truthful (?) editor of the Republican would have his readers believe. We said that the work is worth about double what ordinary advertising was worth, but was not by any means w r orth the outrageous prices allowed by law. In regard to the Newspaper Annual’s report giving the circulation of the Republican at 1,100 and the Press at 384, will say that these Annual's usually give the ratings too high, as they are sent in by the publisher himself, and that there has been no report sent from this office to our knowledge since we purchased the plant of Mr. Hopkins; and

we will say that the report of 384 at that time was about 100 too high, but is about one-half of our present circulation. Speaking of this mutter of circulation, we find in an old Annual of ’BB (which by the way is the only one we have ever had in the office, as we do no business with these firms and consider the money or advertising paid for these books thrown away) that the Rensselaer Republican’s circulation “including special editions” is between 1,000 and 1,100. As we may suppose the last report also includes “special editions,” it would look to a man up a tree as if the “organ” had not kept pace with the increased business and population of the country during the past four years. According to his figures given above, the Republican probably has a circulation of about 600 or 650 in Jasper county, 500 or 550 which is strictly local, that is, it does not go outside of Rensselaer and its immediate vicinity. We must say that we are surprised at this. We fail to see where—outside of Rensselaer —this boasted county circulation comes in at. We believe the figures we have given above are nearly correct. Taking out the foreign list and the packages and exchanges going outside to other towns, would give about the circulation in the county as we have shown. The population of the county is about 12,000. However, we are not, as one would infer from reading Marshall’s heavy editorials, after the county printing, but there are three papers printed at the county seat. Each of these papers pay taxes into the county treasury, why should not each one of them have an equal chance at the county patronage? Why should one paper have a “cinch” on this county printing which pays so well? As we have before stated, we nave no personal fight with anyone on this subject. We say that the work could be done for one-fourth what is now paid, by any paper in the county, at a good profit. We do not care to devote any more space to this sheet, which if the public teat was taken away from it would have to depend on its own merit for support instead of the patronage of the county. In the beginning we stated that the rates allowed by law were too high, and showed what the rates were. This man, whose principal stock in trade seems to be slang and abuse, has tried to make it a personal matter between his paper and the Press, and as we have shown up what a “snap” the organs have, has vented bis

venom upon us. We do not feel called upon to reply to all the insinuations made him, which by are merely the result of a soar stomach and the over-taxing of a naturally weak brain, and are beneath the notice of intelligent people.