"The delivery of milk, pastry, newspapers, etc., in which many children are employed in Vienna and other large cities, does not cause frequent absences, but is responsible for tardy arrival at school in the morning and for the fatigue that reduces attention and prevents mental alertness."[42]
[CHAPTER III]
NEWSPAPER SELLERS
By far the majority of the children in street occupations are engaged in the sale or delivery of newspapers. The newsboy predominates to such an extent that he is taken as a matter of course. As Mrs. Florence Kelley says, "For more than one generation, it has been almost invariably assumed that there must be little newsboys." Ever since he became an institution of our city life, the public has been pleased to regard him admiringly as an energetic salesman of penetrating mind and keen sense of humor. There seems to be a tacit indorsement of the newsboy as such.
Ordinarily there are five classes of newsboys to be found in all large cities—(1) the corner boys, (2) those who sell for corner boys on salary, (3) others who sell for them on commission, (4) those who sell for themselves, and (5) those with delivery routes. The bulk of the business is handled by the first three of these classes, which are always associated together and found on the busy corners of the downtown sections of all our cities. The choice localities for the sale of newspapers, namely, the corners in the downtown sections where thousands of pedestrians are daily passing, come under the control of individuals by virtue of long tenure or by purchase, and their title to these corners is not disputed largely on account of the support they receive from the circulation managers of the newspapers. In former years the proprietorship of the corner was settled by a fight, but now it undergoes change of ownership by the formal transfer of location, fixtures and goodwill in accordance with the most approved legal practice.
In Chicago a system of routes has been established by the newspapers which send wagons out with the different editions published each day to supply the men who control the delivery and sale of newspapers in the various districts. These route men employ boys to deliver for them to regular customers and also to sell on street corners on a commission basis. In Boston, ex-newsboys known as "Canada Points" are employed by the publishers at a fixed salary to distribute the editions by wholesale among the twenty odd places in the city from which the street sellers are supplied.
Ages, Earnings and Character of the Work
The following individual cases will serve to illustrate the various forms this business takes. One nineteen-year-old boy paid $65 for his corner in Cincinnati about five years ago; he now earns from $4 to $5 a day clear and would not sell the location for many times its cost. He works there from 11 A.M. to 6.30 P.M. on week days, starting an hour earlier on Saturdays, while on Sundays he delivers the morning newspapers over a route to regular customers. Two boys of about twelve years of age work for him, to one of whom he pays 25 cents a day and to the other 30 cents a day; their duties are to hawk the different editions and to dispose of as many copies as possible by hopping the street cars and offering the papers to pedestrians from 3.45 to 6.30 P.M. daily on week days. If they do not hustle and make a large number of sales, they lose their job.
A corner in another part of the city is "owned" by a thirteen-year-old boy who earns about 80 cents a day clear for himself in eight hours, and on Saturdays in nine hours. He has two boys working for him on commission, to whom he pays one cent for every four papers sold; they average about 15 cents a day apiece for three hours' work. When questioned, these commission boys admitted that they could make more money if working for themselves, but in that case would have to work until all the copies they had bought were sold, while on the commission plan they did not have to shoulder so much responsibility.
Regulations made by the circulation managers of newspapers concerning the return of unsold copies greatly affect the newsboys' business. Naturally these regulations are made with an eye to extending the circulation. Corner boys are allowed to return only one copy out of every ten bought, being reimbursed by the office for its cost. Consequently they urge their newsboy employees and commission workers to put forth every effort to dispose of the supply purchased. The independent sellers are never permitted to return any unsold copies, except in the case of certain energetic boys who can be relied upon to work hard in any event. These are known as "hustlers," and owing to their having won the confidence of the circulation manager they are granted the special privilege of returning at cost all copies they have been unable to sell.
In Boston, beginners are often on a commission basis; "in this way they secure the advice and protection of the more experienced while serving their apprenticeship. These strikers, as they are called, keep one cent for every four collected; few of them earn more than 25 cents a day, while many of them earn less than 10."[43]