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Show i ing often without any hope cf materia! reward. j Unfortunate indeed is the community which neither appreciat-' es nor-t?pports its local newspaper. THE LOCAL NEWSPAPER In spite of the fact that the metropolitan press now reaches into nearly every town and village in the country, the local newspaper news-paper in the United States is each year getting on a firmer foundation founda-tion and becoming more and more useful to its home community. It may be said that the day of the metropolitan newspaper is at hand. This is true, but it is equally as true that the day of the local newspaper is here too. , The metropolitan daily with its world-wide news, its comic sheets and its magazine supplements, while of course essential in our modern civilization, cannot take the place of the home newspaper. news-paper. The very fact t'hat the big city daily must cover a broad field forbids its becoming local in any sense, and it is in the local field where the home newspaper dominates and where it finds its true usefulness- For, after all, it is the home news which is most important to most of us. We have the greatest interest in the community in which we. live, and in .he people who are our neighbors and friends. And it is the local newspaper which records! the happenings of the folks at home, and in addition fosters the civic pride and progressive progres-sive spirit of the community. Id is the home newspaper which boosts the town, year in and year out, whic'a refuses to advertise the city merchants in competition competi-tion with the local business men and which takes, the lead in every enterprise which has for its purpose the upbuilding and prosperity cf the community. We frequently hear it said that the old time independent spirit of the newspaper is gone, that its editorial policy is now subservient to the business office. Yet this is not true. There is more unselfish unsel-fish idealism in the average local newspaper than in any other business busi-ness enterprise. It frequently speaks out of the way which it believes be-lieves will be for the good of the nation and of the community, regardless re-gardless of '.vhat the cons equences may be from a business standpoint. stand-point. This is more than the average business man will or can do. Of course the local r lewspaper is now on a firm business basis. This is wl.iy it is improvi ng from year to year, why it is giving its readers a constantly bett er newspaper, and why it is increasing its influence for good in th e community. But the local newspaper it still the -principal booste r for the community, and it does its boost- |