, 1863-03-07
"Who Writes Your Leaders p

Standing at our "case" the other day, busily
engaged in the performance of our task of setting
up the "outside," an individual at our elbow, in
quired: "Who writes your leaders?" Turning
round to get a fair look at him, and to see
whether he was really in earnest in asking, what
at first seemed to US so impertinent question,
We beheld an individual, fresh from the land Of
Webfoot, and dressed in style that would have
well become a capuchn monk, cycling us with an
eager expectancy that at once dispelled the half
formed harsh reply at our tongues end. When
we had answered him, he looked again, and, per-
haps with feeling akin to our own when we had
surveyed him, turned away witha halfsatisfed
air, and began making a nervous search among
our exchanges for-nothing; but handling them
with dexterity that at once convinced us that
cusing hin for his seemingly rude inquisitveness,
upon the ground that he was recently from Port
land, where tradition says the publishers of news
papers have always had to "go a begging" foT
brains, and without devoting further space to
him now, We must say that his query suggested
to our mind thought that has often occurred
before, namely; that, in our judgment, Wala
Walla can boast Of containing a more eveilIa BAL
Gnced population than any other town of equal
size that we have ever been n for the reason that
every third man one meets does not seem to think
himself peculiarly qualified for editing newspa-
per, or that if is his especial duty to dictate to
al, Ill -. L. L I I
through his columns. Of all traits in human
character, that disposition to meddle with the af-
fairs of other people is most contemplate, and
few persons have more experience with that class
of men, or more reason to detest them than edi-
tors of newspapers. In some parts of California,
and in Oregon especially this disposition amounts
to mania, and woe be to the man who does not
give ear to the advice Of every ninny who deems
his suggestions or his scral0s worthy the eye and
ear of the public. Articles must undergo anat-
omization, by these "weak critics" until they are
stripped of their meaning, and the editors inten
tions must be questioned until community is all
buzz and he sacrificed upon the altar of ''public
opinion" However, without intending our re-
marks as wholesale, we agree that the oppo-
site extreme to the characters described above is
scarcely more commendable Most persons in
community have some thoughts which, given to
the world, might result in public good; and while
we hold to the motto of "every man to his own
business" and deem ourselves competent to
write our own "leaders, we solicit contributions
fully realizing that there are many things daily
occurring in our midst which we overlook, or
which from the nature of our employments we
never hear of at ALL and which if put in shape for
publication, and published, would be matter of
interest to readers both at home and abroad
Contributions upon subjects of general interest,
or Importance or upon local affairs that may ex-
cite inquiry or tend to the development of our
growing country, are at all times acceptable and
will be published under the proper head We
have made arrangements by which we will con-
tinue in receipt of correspondence from all the
principal mining camps throughout the upper
country, but this does not supply the demand en-
tire. We want home correspondence, and upon
subjects of home interest, and we ask our friends
who take an interest with us in the development
of our own resources to lend us helping hand.