13

orders diligently attended to.³⁸

From this date, approximately, the young editor
seemed to have more and more difficulty conducting
his paper. From his frequent reminders to merchants
that the Maryland Journal was an excellent medium for
advertising, one may judge that revenues from merchants
had fallen off — rival newspapers seemed to carry
their full quota of advertisements, but seldom men-
tioned such matters in their columns. There seemed
to be difficulty retaining a sufficient force of work-
men to keep the wheels running smoothly. Hardly an
issue was without its announcement that a journeyman
compositor, a pressman, or a mercury (carrier)
would bo taken on at the office of the Maryland
Journal; apprentices frequently absconded and were
advertised for. There could be several reasons
for this difficulty with labor. Perhaps competent
journeymen, compositors, and pressmen were scarce;
rival offices advertised for belt), too, but not with
the frequency that Edwards did; so this reason, if
correct, is not the complete answer. Perhaps wages
were low; Edwards sometimes advertised that he would
pay the highest wage; if he did not keep his promise,
printers' compensation could account for the diffi-
sulty. Perhaps working conditions were bad; as will
38 Maryland journal. September 5, 1795.