THE BOYCOTT OF A NEWSPAPER

Maoriland Worker, Volume 13, Issue 36, 5 September 1923, Page 13

THE BOYCOTT OF A NEWSPAPER

Held Up for .Nine Months by Capitalist Intrigues

All 'those interested in the creation of a free and independent press ■should know the story of the new Paris newspaper, .the "Quotidijan" (The Daily). The story related hereunder, by Georgo Slocombe, the Par's correspondent cf the London "Daily Herald," shows that Capitalism is the 'same the world over. * « O 9 The "Quotidian" is not a Soc'talls* organ; it is not the organ any party, but it numbers on its staff and board .of directors several Socialises and several others who were until recently members cf the Communist party. . Its political purpose appears to be that of defending the French Republic against tho unrepublioan ati ivitiea permitted & nd tjven encouraged by the Bloc National; of defending peace and pacific ihistUutions against the wiar party; of reaffirming the rights of free speech and free press; arid of pursuing at borne and abroad a policy of moderation, reconciliation and reform. Bu t what J " m concerned to describe Is net the pclit'cs but the history cf the paper. A year ago it was announced that 25,01*0 Frenchmen and Frenchwomen of broad end lib-' pral minds had subscribed —in comparatively small amounts of from 30s. [a 100s. each —a total capital of£l7o,ooo—for the founding of an independent newspaper. , A POWERFUL COMPETITOR This newspaper, it was sLatedT would become a powerful competitor of the five great organs of the Boulevard press, would give all the newn of the day, would be independent oi subsidies from banks, railways, tionable advertisers, and <kp -embassies of foreign governments; and would tell the truth. l The paper was due to appear on the streets about nine months ago, and posters on walls and hoardings J informed the public of iikat fact. But thp-9 25,000 honest Frenchmen had reckoned without the hostility of the great Capitalist newspaper proprietors/prefects cf police, bankers, and even the Government The syndicate of the Big F've Boulevard organs— their names are those most familiar, through long quotat'eh, to newspaper readers outside Franc? —put into motion the powerful machinery of ;ho boycott aided by the destructive dynamite of sabotag-y. The firs t tbJns that the founders ol th 0 "Quotidicir" kniifvv was that they had losf- their pointers. The "Pet't Journal" (M. Loucheur's organ, and one of the B ; g Five) had contracted to print the new -dlaily in their printing establishment. A few weeks before the advertised first appearance of the paper, the "Petit Journal" broke its contract and refused to print the "Quotiden." Remonstrances and threats of legal proceedings wera useless. The "Pet"* Journal" ingeniously explained thaii to print the new paper would be an unfriendly act to its four contemporaries, whose presf'ge had beeti "threatened"- by the "Quo'.-iaitoi." During tlie next few days the new paper tried to find a noma among the other great newspaper printing" establishments of Par's, but everywhere it was rerfiised hospitality. The word of the Big Five had, gone the round of the Paris printers, and was law. MACHINES HELD UP So the founders of a fnae press sol to work "to build on another foundation. They bought a building and ordered printing machinery. They issued new posters explaining the delay in tho appearance cf their newspaper, and sat down to wait patiently until their printing machines appeared. Some were delivered and some were not (moral-- sabotage had doubtless been employed in this direction). Wheal enough machines were assembled to print >a limited edition of the new paper, the first number -of tbe "Quotidien" appeared, and was! sen;', through the mails to subscribers only. .-,. ' The first readers were, of course, the loyal and patient 25,000 who had cast' their bread upon the .waiters'. Soon new subscribers were added, until after two months of obscure activity, and before a single issuei of the paper had been seen upon the streets and by the general public, the,, subscription Mate of the "Quotf-diem" numbered 65,000 readers —or more subscribers than axe possessed by any other dally newspaper In France. .(Posfjage' rates on newspapers in France* tfc should foe explained, are

paid by the publishers, the inland rate be'ng only 2 efintimes for a newspaper which is sold at 15 continues). v-A RAPID INCREASE Eventually tlie dearly-bought printing establislimeint of tho new daily was complete, and, a fortnight ago, the first edition on ' the streets. Since then the ■"Quctidien" had ach%-ved the respectable circulation of 250,000 —a figure which piaces It fifth among the daily newspapers in France. But the oapitalis'-, p,ress boycott persists. Mewsagents in Paris and the provinces r;.re Snt'm'clated, bribed and coerced not to display or stock the paper. Railway bundles are lost, stolen, or misdirected. The name of 'he paper ie carefully «o4 mentioned in papers which freely quote from other papers already established. And w : 'th its appearance on the streets the hard, uphill fight cf this would-be free newspaper has only just begun.