Personal

Tt !s now Si yonrs .nee we issurced ' "f the Antes, and during euoh time Wo liava ñot íorced npon ourrondors editorial statements of our b.nsiness affairs auJ prospecta, but have limitod our pprsoiiül notices to oceasior.al coils upun our ntiMi.H t: fnMill tlieir obligations, by g for t!ij. papbr we bava reguïarly givcn tlieui.. ft ia now iueumbent upon tif, bowever, to spoak out, anJ we trust tluit we shall be excused for so doinr. It is kuown to all who know any tbiug about tbc ucwepapcr business, tliat it ia overdone in tbis city, and that with four papers where there is oniy room for tico, t lio publishers ín tho best of times bave luid hard work to keep their hoads ab.ovo water; and we are coinpellcd to confesa our business has beeu so aífeeted by the uational troubles, that, in commoa with inauy of our eotemporaries, wo have been running our office for the present yoar on the profits accuinulated by ycara of tlie ulosest toil. We are aware that the uuiniliated imagine that the great demand for war news bas made printing a lucrativo busness, but they do not reflect that tb is deinand is only for dai'y papers published iu tho business and commercial centers of the country, and that oven such dailios hans suffered more in the loss of advertís ing palronago than they ïave g.uned on tbeir increased cuiation. Tlie fact is, newspapers have been published all over the country at sosmall a margin of profit, tiiat the capital investcd in the business pays a lcss per cent. than the sanie araount nvested in aoy o tb er busiuess. These Iow prices have been establisheJ by the witlcly circulatcd papers of the castern cities, and to the interior press, compelled to compete vrith thcin, thoy have proved ruinou3. The consequenco has been tbat too large a number of the couutry -papers have been compoüed to drag out a djiog existence by lovying coutributions upon politieal friends, jusL living when their party is in power, and iu too many instances dying when attached to a party in the minority. We have always avoided this pauper mode of lifc, auJ for fourteeu years have made our busiuess a legitímate business, advoeuting democratie principies from a couvictiou of their justioe, and osklDg only of democrats and the democi-atie party the patronage legitimately belonging to us - whieh we havo tiot ahvays received, even when the parties controlling it have been under great obligations for personal Bupport iu our columns. But not of this. The recent unprecedented rise in the piice of priuting paper ill make it still harder for the Press to wcather the storm, and has alreaJy compelled the pub'ishers in all the largo cities to advanee the price of thier daüy and weekly editions from 25 to 50 per cent., aud if paper ia not chcapened priees mitst go still higher or papers go down. To briog the matter home to the underslanding of every one of our readers, we miy say that three months ago we pnid $4 per ream for the paper cm which we print thn Arqcs, and -that it is novv huid at 87, with an upward Undency. At such prices no paper iu the country can live at the old rates, and even at the new rates beiug cstabl8hed they must receive an increased advertising patronage or live only at a dying rate, So much for generalities, now for particularitiea. We do not propose to raise the price of the Arous, but next week we shall issue it on a smaller sheet, which sheet will-however, cost us 20 per cent. inore thau has our proseut sizo, And with even this saving in expense, wo Fay plainly that we must have a larger circulalion and a more liberal adoertisiny patronage or the balance wül be on the wrong side. We therefore urge our friends throughout the county to come to our aid, and tliat now. Let every present subscribor pay vp every cent he may Ie in arrear, and then procure us au additional subscriber wlio vvill pay viadvance. ïhere are democrats euough in Washtenaw County who ought to take the Aiiaus to doublo our list in a week, and besides we don't require any subscriber to be a democrat. Will our friends in each town take hold of this matter ? or do they prefer that the Aitaus "dryup." And in addition to an increased circu lation, our bu-incss frienda in tliis city, and in the other towns of the county, must advertise more liberally, not for our benefit aloDe, hut for their own. The merchante aud business men Ann Arbor advertise less than thoío of any othcr town of the size in the State, and we are not at all envtain that to tliat fact is not attributablo the reputation Ani Arbor bas wou fur being "old fogy." The advertising columus of a newspaper are regardcil by strangers as an index to theljusinessüf the lowniu wliick it is pubüihod, and all tho aosspapers of the country ura taken aud filed by, the Commercial Agpnoiea for llio single purpose of keeping this index open to their patrons. Taking this view of llie matter it is important to our city that every business man advertiso - and that liberally - in one or more of tbe city papers. Wül our business friends thiuk of this aiul give us an adverlisemont in time for our nest issuo, the Lirger tha better fur bolh them and us, but an advertisement if nothing moro than a card for the direc tory, which just now is a rather loan roflcx of' the business of our city. The fncts and ou' necessitic3 as a newspaper publiaher are now beforo our fricudá, and we trust that at least our politioal friends, thoso who wish a democratie paper sustaiued, wül act acuordingly, and a,t promptly. Subscribe, advrrlise, tay. N. B. - Any friond who will send us the namos of ten new subscribers and tho cash, $1,50 each, shall reeeive our thanks and a copy of the Arqüs for ono year, gratis. Will. not some ono in each town do this immediately ? - Those in arrcars can pay up botween this and January 15th at $1,50 a year; after that date bilis will bo made up at $2 per year. - Our friends having business to do with courts, attorneys, etc., should be sure and request that any necessary ad vertisements be published n the Argus.