THE question has been asked, not once but many times, Why has not Canada a high-class 10c. magazine, one that would compare favorably with the best periodical products of the United States and England? The question is not an easy one to answer fully and satisfactorily.

      In order to throw some light on the problem, Bookseller and Stationer has interviewed leading dealers in Montreal and Toronto, who have very kindly expressed opinions. The opinion in general is that such a priced Canadian periodical would be welcome, but that the limitations of population and the lack of advertising support, with the high price of paper, would render such a magazine an impossibility.

      To supplement these opinions, Mr. John A. Cooper, the editor of the Canadian Magazine, who has made a close personal study of the question, has stated his views.

Montreal Booksellers' Opinions.

Mr. Abbott, manager of the book department of The S. Carsley Co., Limited.

      I would welcome a ten cent magazine of a high character for various reasons. For instance, it is undoubtedly true that Canadians are widely influenced through reading American periodicals with American advertisements, and an up-to-date Canadian publication at a popular price would eliminate to a vast extent this evil. Twenty-five cents is not a popular price, although our sales of the Canadian Magazine are fair. A magazine after the combined style of Pearson's, Strand and Munsey's should prove a go as a seller.

C. W. Coates.

      I consider such a popular magazine an impossibility, due to the restrictions of population and the lack of enough large towns and cities where magazines are sold to ensure large enough circulation to make such a venture a paying proposition.

F. E. Grafton.

      The field is not large enough for a ten cent magazine, and the cost of paper too high to make it pay. Advertising enough to make the loss on the subscription price equalized would be almost impossible to get.

F. A. Scroggie, manager book and stationery department W. H. Scroggie

      There would he an assured demand for a high-class Canadian periodical at 10c. The question of sentiment lends strength to this assertion. American magazines are essentially American in tone, and a Canadian one with good, strong Canadian stories would be welcomed I am sure. People pick up a 10c. magazine without thinking, and I'm certain such a Canadian one would sell.

      The advertising to make such a venture pay could be secured, once the circulation is gained. Canadian manufacturers would certainly support it, and American ones would soon find it a necessity to do so, to retain their hold upon Canadian trade secured through American periodicals. If such an up-to-date Canadian magazine were published I would take at least 100 copies as a start, and if it looked especially good would not stop at 300 copies. We have enough large cities and towns to ensure a circulation of at least 20,000 in a short time, which, when one considers the number of people who read borrowed magazines, is sufficient circulation to attract advertisers. It would be a good medium for departmental stores too.

Mr. Foster-Brown.

      A good Canadian 10c. magazine would secure enough home advertisements to eliminate the demoralizing features attendant upon the widespread circulation of popular priced American periodicals. They tend to draw away a good deal of trade which should be kept in Canada. American advertisers secure Canadian trade without enriching Canadian publishers to any great extent. It is like so much free advertising. There is no duty on American periodicals, and not even the extra postage demanded as in the United States when a magazine is over 1-3 advertising. There is the crux of the matter, increased postage should be levied. It would be hard to make a Canadian periodical at 10c. profitable, however.

E. M. Renouf.

      I hardly think there is trade enough for a high-class 10c. magazine in Canada, as past attempts tend to prove. Consequently there is not the opportunity to gain the advertising support.

Mr. Morgan, manager book and stationery department, Henry Morgan & Co.

      I would welcome such a magazine, but the field seems too limited to make it a paying venture, and to tax American popular priced periodicals is a ridiculous proposition on the face of it.

Mr. Drysdale.

      Past attempts, such as the National, Progress, Resources, etc., have not compared favorably with American competition, although there is a certain sale due to sentiment, as well as the worth of the magazines.

      However, a splendid literary magazine at such a price is commendable and ought to be encouraged for various reasons. One notable feature which would result is the employment of home talent, and the development of latent literary resources. The majority of home literary effort goes to swell at the present moment the account of Cousin Jonathan. We should pay our own Canadian writers to do good literary work. Such a magazine should be utilized to foster and encourage the higher tastes of our public, and it should obtain circulation enough to secure a powerful influence.

      It would certainly take a lot of money to carry to a successful issue such a venture, but it seems deserving of support. A guarantee fund for at least 5 years would seem necessary to put it on a sound basis. Money used to foster such a venture would be much better spent than supporting libraries where only fiction is procured. A sound literary magazine is the kind I would favor at even a popular price.

Alfred T. Chapman.

      The country seems barely large enough for such a periodical to make a success. A good popular magazine, with live stories, would come nearest to hitting the mark.

Toronto Dealers' Views.

Wm. Tyrrell, of Wm. Tyrrell & Co., Toronto.

      I don't know how far the public would he affected by the fact of a magazine being Canadian. People want something to read, and they want the most for their money. If a magazine were merely Canadian, it would naturally he deprived of a number of interesting topics essential to a magazine's success. It would in the end simply have to compete with every other magazine on its merits. I don't attach much importance to the prestige it would derive from being Canadian. People would have to select it from among other magazines, and if it should not be equally interesting to the other's it would be passed over. Whether such a magazine could be produced in Canada is doubtful. There is not the number of contributors which would make it possible to produce one. One sees the constant effort to establish a Canadian 10c. magazine, and the result is so far behind that it dies. In furnishing a successful magazine with articles and stories, the editor has to go to the great literary centres, and Canada does not possess as great opportunities in this respect as New York or London.

Harold A. Wilson.

      From a purely business standpoint, a 10c. Canadian magazine could never be a success. In the first place it would be impossible to produce a magazine in this country the equal of Munsey's or McClure's at the same price. There is not a sufficient population to support one. Leaving out the French Canadians, the Indians and the poorer classes, the reading population of Canada is very small. Outside of a few cities and large towns, no magazine has any circulation worth speaking about. While a magazine might sell well in Toronto and Montreal, outside in villages and small towns the sale would be extremely limited. A man in Toronto spends a dollar where a man in the country takes a long time to spend ten cents. It would be impossible also for a Canadian magazine to secure sufficient advertising patronage, and it would be absurd to suppose that Canadian manufacturers would pay prices for space equal to what is paid for space in such a magazine as McClure's. When all is said and done, sentiment enters little into the mind of the magazine purchaser. He wants the best he can get for his money, and a Canadian 10c. magazine could not possibly be the best. Personally I would rather sell a 10c. Canadian magazine than a 10c. American magazine.

J. P. McKenna.

      I do not think a 10c. Canadian magazine would be a financial success; it would have to be equal to Munsey's, the Strand and other imported magazines in merit, and even then it would cost a mint of money to work up a circulation on which sufficient advertising could be secured to make the production profitable. At the present time I believe there come into Toronto alone about ten thousand Ladies' Home Journals and six thousand Munseys every month. As a book and news dealer, I am not in favor of 10c. magazines, as the margin of profit on the majority of them is so small that it hardly pays to handle them.

An Editor Speaks.

John A. Cooper, Editor Canadian Magazine and President Canadian Press Association.

      I am glad to know that the people are getting interested in knowing why there is no 10c. magazine in Canada. The late W. E. H. Massey spent $12,000 in trying to find the cause. When he finished his investigations he was convinced that the people of Canada preferred a "good" United States magazine to a "fairly good" Canadian magazine.

      Even were the Canadian people willing to give a preference to a Canadian magazine the difficulties are so great that it would be impossible to publish one at 10c. In the first place, the postal convention of 1875 was one sided and entirely in favor of the United States. Under this international arrangement Canada loses about one million dollars a year in postal revenue, and the periodical publishing is centered in New York and Philadelphia instead of being divided, in the ratio of population, between Canada and the United States. The second difficulty lies in the duty on paper. When paper is printed and bound into the form of a magazine it comes in free, when, it is imprinted and comes into Canada to be printed and bound up into a magazine it pays a duty of 25 to 35 per cent. On an edition of 50,000 copies per month this would mean $7,500 per annum which the Canadian must pay and which the United States dealer escapes. With a handicap of $7,500 a year to start with, in the matter of paper alone, no publisher could issue a 10c. magazine in Canada.

      Of course it would be quite simple for the postmaster-general to cancel the present postal convention, and it would be even simpler for the Minister of Finance to do what they have done in Australia, put a tax of 6c a pound on all magazines containing over 15 per cent, of advertising. If these two reforms were effected we should have a half dozen 10c. magazines published in this country within a year, and four of these would be named Munsey's, McClure's, Strand and Pearson's.