The story of the Sun, New York: 1833-1928 / by Frank M. O'Brien ; with an introduction by Edward Page Mitchell ...

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THE STORY OF "THE SUN"

to them. He then found himself, for the first time in
many years, owner of only two newspapers-the Sun and
the New York Telegram, the latter being combined, in
January, 1924, with the Evening Mail, which Mr. Munsey purchased from Henry L. Stoddard for $2,000,000.
What was more to his liking, he now became owner, for
the first time, of a newspaper that was successful from
every point of view. By combining the Sun with the
Globe, which he bought on May 27, 1923, for $2,000,000,
he had secured for the Sun an afternoon franchise of the
Associated Press. The Sun, already successful, grew
steadily stronger in circulation and advertising.
Mr. Munsey was sometimes criticized for "putting
newspapers out of business." His own view of it was that
through mergers carefully considered he put newspapers
on a sound basis.
"There is no business," he said in 1908, "that cries so
loud for organization and combination as that of newspaper publishing. The waste under existing conditions is
frightful and the results miserably less than they could
be made. For one thing, the number of newspapers is at
least 60 per cent greater than we need."
To reform what he considered an extravagant business
he spent money without stint. When he reentered the
New York field in 1912, the standard daily newspapers of
the city were as follows:
MORNING PAI'ERS
New York Times Tle Sun
New York ecrald lThe World
New York Press New York Tribune
New York American