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RENEW
THE
VOL. LVL N o . 9
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill at 373 Fourth Ave., New York, March 1,1913
SINGLE
COPIES, 10 CENTS.
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^.OO 0 PER S YEA£ 1
The Man Who Holds The Hammer.
W
H I L E recently discussing business matters with the head of a large enterprise, he made the
point that solicitors representing various advertising mediums who had called upon him im-
pressed him with the fact that a large percentage of ihem, instead of throwing the whole
weight of their argument on the distinct advantages of their mediums to the manufacturer,
devoted much time to knocking rival publications.
Me said that he did n-ot care for knocking or for the men who knock, and he did not care to listen to
them, and if the only claim that a solicitor had for getting a contract from him was that his rival's paper
was worse than his own, he did not care to have anything to do either with him or his publication.
There is too much knocking in every department of human life, and I have always counseled the rep-
resentatives of this trade paper organization to never knock competitors, no matter how inconsequential
they were. I have advised our representatives simply to ask comparison between publications and to
emphasize the quality and variety and value of the journalistic work which we are putting forth, ff our
work bulks large by comparison it would seem as a natural sequence that we would be entitled to a greater
consideration than if we were small and lacked the power to impress.
I do not believe that knockers in any line win—I do not believe that it is the proper spirit, and I do
not believe that a man who relies upon knocking a competitor comprehends newspaper work in any of its
sub-divisions, for in nine cases out of ten it means tint he feels the competitor very keenly.
What a newspaper man produces is apparent to all readers, and if they are men who possess discrimi-
nating intelligence they should be capable of comparing values, but they are not interested in the personal
feelings which may exist between representatives of different publications. Most men are interested in
throwing their support in behalf of a clean press, but there are some who do not weigh the values offered
but bestow patronage to render themselves immune from attack. Such men are actuated by fear and are
the real mainstay of the abusive press—because by their support they keep it alive—they are warming up
the viper which later on will sting them.
The true spirit of journalism is to produce—to do things. No matter whether it may be in daily news-
paper work or in special lines of trade or technical papers, the same principle exists.
The newspaper life is not an easy one. There are many matters constantly coming up which require
fine adjustment, but there is a charm about it which is fascinating, and the men who have been on the firing-
line enjoy it—they like to be where the fight is the thickest.
Some of us who have grown gray in the service look back over a long period which has been marked
by many a conflict, many a struggle for principle—for right as we saw the right, but with all of its wearing
qualities, it is a fact that most men when once in the journalistic harness rarely ever leave it of their own
free will.
Many of us desire to give up the fight and seek fields of peace and contentment, where the harshest
sounds that greet the ear are the sounds of birds in the treetops or the rippling of brooks whose waters are
hastening onwards to the great rivers journeying to the sea.
This thought, however, comes only to us when we are weary with the exhausting work of the day,
when body and brain refuse longer to respond to the prick of the spur and the bite of the whip. When
the new day dawns and we awaken with renewed strength and courage we no longer think of retirement,
hut are eager once more to return to the fray.
Many men have turned their backs upon newspaper work, firmly resolved never to return to it, only to
discover after a few months' absence that the old life is most satisfying, even though not the most remuner-
(Continue^ on page 5)