The Financial Affairs of 1860 Wisconsin Newspapers: An Analysis of the Manuscript Products of Industry Returns from the U.S. Census of 1860.

A study was undertaken to describe the financial affairs of 49 Wisconsin newspapers enumerated in the 1860 United States Census of Products of Industry schedules. Specific information was sought concerning the cost of establishing a newspaper, the cost of materials and supplies, the number of employees and their pay, the value of the newspaper and job printing work produced, and the financial returns of the newspaper-publishing business. The data were then compared with similar data on all businesses in Wisconsin in 1860. The results revealed that the newspaper establishment was smaller than other businesses in all input and output measures except the number of employees. Newspaper publication and job printing done in association with publication were labor-intensive businesses; therefore, the payroll was the larger proportion of the total actual costs of operation. As production increased, however, the value of raw materials increased more than did payroll. The operating costs for doing newspaper publication and job work were greater than initial investment, and the costs of newspaper production increased per unit of total output at a greater rate than did job printing costs, indicating that newspaper production was relatively more expensive to do than job work. (FL)