Page:Pacific Monthly volumes 9 and 10.djvu/453

Rh which Mr. Snowden had to contend was a strike, the result of which was the establishing of a rival sheet. For many months the strike and the rivalry continued, and when at last the Ledger won out, the owner had all the newspaper ardor taken out of him.

The Ledger, in July, 1889, passed to C. M. Shultz, a newspaper man who had been identified with publications at St. Joseph, St. Paul and Chicago. In the morning field it was without a competitor, but it was feeling the presence of the Evening News, which had been acquired by S. A. Perkins. Mr. Perkins had been without newspaper training, but was a shrewd business man. He built the News into an influential and profitable concern, and in the end

S. A. PERKINS,

Proprietor and Manager, The Tacoma Ledger.

secured an interest in the Ledger. This was the beginning of his complete domination of the morning paper. Today he owns it absolutely, retaining the News as well, and having added to his holdings the Everett Daily Herald and the Olympia Daily Recorder. He is also proprietor of the Tacoma Engraving Company, which does all the art work for these several publications, as well as a general business of magnitude. In a certain sense the Ledger is a one-man paper, for the personality of the proprietor permeates every department, and Mr. Perkins has shown a desire to hire competent assistants. While these do the actual work, they do it with the knowledge that their duty is to carry out the ideas of the head of the concern, and this they are content to do. There was a period during which the Ledger was not deemed valuable, when it had no especial standing, when its news facilities were meagre and its editorial without force. This was because, under some of its ownerships, it had been used to forward individual interests. It was not for the advancement of the community, and politically it was without weight. Mr. Perkins saw the opportunity, and took it. Three years ago, when he came into complete control of the Ledger, he was taking what others deemed a precarious chance. The outcome has been his vindication. Perhaps it has been in part through the editorial department that the paper has acquired a standing that is unquestioned. It is frank and fearless, and when it makes a mistake is not above acknowledging the fact.