At the outset, let me say that I am a full time professor with teaching duties and carrying out my own research program. I do the editorial work primarily for the prestige of doing so and as a service to the scientific community. If I may condense your comments, my interpretation of your letter along with my response is given below. The editors try to pad the journal to increase journal price. Professor Barnes and I accept or reject papers based on their scientific merit independent of any input from Elsevier.
All papers undergo rigorous review by respected scientists and substandard manuscripts are rejected.
Most published papers have recommended improvements suggested by the reviewers. The decisions whether to publish special issues and other matters are discussed periodically with the editorial board, which consists of internationally renowned scientists. The editors are not involved with setting the price of the journal, and we have not been encouraged to expand the number of pages for the journal. In fact, Elsevier limits the number of pages of print each year and this currently is delaying the publication of some accepted papers. These are designated to honor the top people in the structural chemistry field, and the contributors are also outstanding scientists who have been invited to submit papers on their most recent work.