He had
to give much of his time to the business department--to the details of
circulation and advertising. He felt that the profits of the paper could be
greatly increased by improving its facilities for reaching the advertiser
and the public. He had never been satisfied with the circulation methods;
but theretofore his ignorance of business and his position as mere salaried
editor had acted in restraint upon his interference with the "ground
floor."
As he had suspected, the business office was afflicted with the twin
diseases--routine and imitativeness. It followed an old system, devised in
days of small circulation and grudgingly improved, not by thought on the
part of those who circulated the paper, but by compulsion on the part of
the public. No attempts were made to originate schemes for advertising the
paper. The only methods were wooden variations upon placards in the street
cars and the elevated stations, and cards hung up at the news-stands. As
forgetting advertising business, they thought they showed enterprise by a
little canvassing among the conspicuous merchants in Greater New York.
Howard had charts made showing the circulation by districts. With these as
a basis he ordered an elaborate campaign to "push" the paper in the
districts where it was circulated least and to increase its hold where it
was strong.
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