Disquisition by Scripps, E.W., Small business vs. big business, November 15, 1910

              Ohio University Libraries, E.W. Scripps Papers, MSS 117, Series 4, http://media.library.ohiou.edu/scripps
SMALL BUSINES.S- ...V. -S.. -. BIG ..B USINESS.
I have been trying to teach the young men in my !8ii,1~1i'''',
.~~~ my basiness associates that in my business. the newspaper busi- i \
l\'il[$'S;s, la.rge capital was rather a detriment than a bene!i t. Especially'~'
I Dla.intain that in the cae of founding a new newspaper that la.rge ca.pi­ta.
l in the hands of or a.t the di sposal of the founders of lilie project
was a most serious handicap.
I have stated, that given two enterprises, -- two ne. news­pa.
per ventures, everjthing else being eque.l, one should have a ca.pital
of $200, 000 and another should ha va a capital of $10 J 000 I I would set
. q~
a higher value on the venture founded with $10,000 than I woulvthe one
wi th the greater sum.
As a. lender of money I would not under any consideration
loan on the credit of the new newspaper itself any money to the insti­tution
tha.t had the la.rger capital, while I would be willing to lend
to the small-capital enterprise.
I will put it in this way: and I won't buy a twenty year
bond of the $200 J 000 capi ta.lized new venture even at one cent on the
dollar. On the $10,000 enterprise I would be willing to buy bonds
paying some considerable part of the face value of the same.
I should qualify this still farther and say t~t if the srune
-.n or finn of men proposed to start one of two different kinds of
ye.ntures, one with $10,000 and the other with $200,000, and that they
~ the opportunity- of getting the capital for either one of the two
rprises and should come to me as an expert newspa.per business man
d"iring me to furnish some part of tle capital in order that I should
rested and assist them, and if the, should offer me $200 ,000
ue of bonds for$l ,QOO other parties to furnish the $199,000,
decline to risk the $1,000, whereas if they asked me to put up
n~7i.. .~ ~.