The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, August 9, 1920, Page 8

The Coming of a People s New Daily Publication of Mihnesota Star in August to Be Culmination of Year-Old Fight to Establish a Free Press for the Majority BY HERBERT E. GASTON (Editor of the Minnesota Daily Star) HEN (and the day is not very far dis- tant) the big press in the basement of the Daily Star building begins to grind out a stream of papers and news- boys’ rush out on the streets of Min- neapolis shouting, “Star here! Paper! Daily Star!”— When all this occurs something more will have happened than the mere starting of a new daily newspaper. That event is more or less of an-old story. Newspapers come and go. The old inhab- itant has seen their births or demises and their transformations. But in the beginning of publica- tion of the Minnesota Daily &tar there is some- thing entirely different. It is the birth of a new paper brought into being by the working people of the Northwest in response to their feeling of the need -for a nmewspaper that shall be fair, a news- paper that shall be honest. moreover, directly by their own efforts and financed from their own savings. And more than that, a newspaper to be controlled perpetually simply and solely by them. - It is necessary to halt right here to answer a question that is uppermost in every one’s mind, and which the supporters- of the Daily Star certainly have a nght to ask: “When is the Daily Star going to start?” Heretofore we have been somewhat indefinite in our answers. We have told simply when we hoped to start. We have said that we had certain needs that must be met. “The Star will not start,” we said, “until it is adequately financed,” able number of the stockholders in March we told what were our needs and we said; “When an ad- ditional $250,000 of the capital stock has been sub- scribed, we ean begin-publication.” More lately < we said: “We need approximately $100,000 more in money—from the cash sale of stock and from col- lections—to make it safe.for us to begin with the assurance that' our stockholders’ investments will not be jeopardized by lack of working funds.”" PUBLICATION PLANNED FOR WEEK BEGINNING AUGUST 15 Both these expectations are now near fulfillment. If our reasonable and conservative anticipations . are realized it will be entirely feasible to begin publicatiorr before September 1. We are actnally making all preparations to start the middle of the week which begins with Sunday, August 15. This- would put the date of starting August 19. This is contingent only on our not being disap- pointed in our financial plans and there seems no good reason to expect such disappointment. scribers to the Daily Star may onfidently e:;pect the first issue on August 19. = | Thus one material question about the Minnesota Daily Star is answered. Let us proceed to another, " such as some well-meaning, but'not too well-m;form— 2 ed city people sometimes ask us. “Yours,” they say, “is going to be a class publication, 1sn’t lt 9" o Let’s- answer by asking an- other question.:— "~ If it were to be a class pub= lication would it be different in that respect from your existing daily newspapers? : ‘We have just passed through. an important political contest in Minnesota. On this contest the people of -the state in final re- sult were practically evenly di- vided. Would you have dis- covered that to be the. fact through the daily press of the state? Was there any reflec-. tion on the dallg press of the division of opinion? Did the two sides get about equal rep- resentation and equal treatment in the columns of the 'chief media of expression of public opinion? _..0h, no! "Not by any means. Brought into being, . At a meetmg of a consider-. Sub- : 23 . win elections. '~ on the other side. The steel trust had a positive oplmon on the elec-, tion. 'So did the big public utility corporations. So did the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce. did the employers’ associations which are carrying on a campaign for shops and factories closed to any Amercan workingman who asserts his right to ‘belong to a union of workers in his craft or in- dustry. They call it the “open shop!” PRESENT DAILIES REPRESENT BIG BUSINESS CLASS ONLY The principal daily newspapers of the' state all represented solely and excluslvely the point of view of this one class of the population—for it is a single class—the class of the big employers, the anti-unionists, the exploiters of the producer, the men ~who make wealth out of the labor of others, Not only did the big dai- lies open their columns to the views of this ele- ment; they closed them to the views of other groups. This is a class of the American population—an important class—but not, we believe, a majority- class. It is true that they They win them by duping’ and de- ceiving a large number of the people who are not of their class and should not be. And their chief rehance ‘in this deception is their class publications, the daily newspapers of the state. And yet the people won a vxctory in this last campaign against this class of exploiters. They gained ground. They carried county after county. They elected a large proportion of members of the state legislature.” This was the case even though they could not get their message to any but a frac- tion of the population. - The money, the power of-- publicity, all the means of organized coercion, were But the people won a great v1cto The final victory is in the conversion of public sentiment to a clear knowledge of the facts and a2 fair judgment upon them. Whether this or that candidate is elected at a particular time in a par- ticular campaign is comparatively a small matter. The-Star has been dedicated by the people who are _bringing it into being-to the task of getting the . truth before the people. Since the Northwest Pubhshmg company was Jincorporated early in 1919, with an authorized capi- tal stock of $1,000,000, there has been subsecribed of the capital stock a total of $700,000. Not all of - this has been paid for and issued. The total of . the stock paid and issued is (on July 20) $415,000. This'is the sum out of which investment has been This is the new- building erected to house the Dafly Star and also the Nonpartisan Leader, Labor Revxew and other tenants who: be- hemn,_m free press. It is. lmted in aneapohg,, Moy : «EAGE EIGET So _ ~This is a picture of a portion of the. pressroom of the Minnesota Daily Star. Leader’s giant press is shown at the rear. -chase price. “made in the Star building and plant an in an initial supply of print paper sufficient to last for about three months of publication. In addition, of course, there have been pald the expenses of stock sales and organization, averaging up to date approxi- mately 12% ‘per cent of the total stock subscrlp- tions. The remainder of the subscnptzons are nearly all in the form of valid notes given for stock purchase, - which are expected to meet maturing obligations on the plant, to purchase additional machinery as it is required by the expanding circulation/of the Star, and to furnish working capital sufficient to carry the Star forward to the period of established good will and earning power.. This is a period that va- ries in the case of all newspapers, but all have to go - through an unprofitahle period of early operation untxl they are soundly established businesses. In that respect they are not other lagge business ven- tures. ~ This working capital fund is one of the most important require- . ments held in view from the start. 7 Stockholders of the _Daily Star have the se- curity caused by the fact that so large 'a propor- tion of their capital is in- vested in solid value in the shape ‘of a building The Nonpartisan “more than the $300,000 that has been invested in them up to date. The Star’s building: and plant have been most carefully planned. The building -is located in ‘one’ of the best and most rapidly improving sections of downtown Minneapolis on land now worth considerably more than its pur- & ] PLANT IS ONE OF BEST IN AMERICA, IS REPORT The plant has been declared\ by experts to be one of the very best in America. newspaper founded to serve the working people ever has been so comfortably and adequately housed and equipped and with such care for the comfort,. convenience and health of its workers. The Star will start publication with a circulation well toward that of the other dailies inithe Twin Cities. It will undoubtedly be larger than any other newspaper ever started with in a similar sit- uation. Tts volunteer growth in advance of pub- lication has been remarkable. No extraordinary schemes or campaigns: have been e_mployed. Only a very few canvassers have been used and no forced schemes of getting circulation will be employed These are not necessary. e The need of such a free newspaper has been felt by all to be great and the response to the appeal for advance.circulation has been mnothing short of wonderful. The Star has on its lists nearly 20,000 advance " gubscriptions sent in without any assurances of the date when publication would begin, and there seems every reason to predict-that the paid circulation on the opening date, angmented by the thousands who are merely-waiting for the paper to start to send in their subseriptions and to buy copies, will be_be- tween 40,000 and 50,000 copies. Other newspapers have been years in bmldmg clrculatlons only slight- 1y greater than this. Other newspapers, too, reahze what the new peo=. . ples daily means, and are preparing for a fight. It is doubtful, though, if any wxll change theu- Te- actionary pohcles Various departments of the Star s plant alteady are in operation. The photo-engraving shop for some weeks past has been making illustrations. for the Nonpartisan Leader and other purchasers. The pressroom crew. has been busy operating the Non- partisan Leader’s big magazine press, installed in the Star building, and the Minnesota Labor Review is being printed entirely in the, Star’s plant under contract. different- from many and plant worth today . Certainly no Two floors of the Star’s bmldmg are -