The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1865-09-06

| A writer in the New York Commercial
Advertiser, who is obviously convsrssnt
with the topic which he discusses, makes
the following sensible reflections on the du.
ties and responsibilities of the membere ol
the "fourth estate:''
Still more, ii you have q particle Of the
Harold Skimpolc blood in your veins II
you count business details below your
while, and have an aversion to details and
facts, then understand that when you pro.
pose editorial work you are thirsty man
going to settle in desert. Life being q
bundle Of little things, this sort of life 10
particularly so, and the types which give
the printed impression are not more nu.
merous or trif1ing than the details which
compose the matter of the paper. Tho
viands. which are served up with attractive
spice, look we'll in the ample columns; but
you do not see the disagreeablc toll of their
preparation, and the labor Is seversst Ia
those details at which the eye glances most
carelessly. And here is a wide spread er.
ror among young aspirants in supposina
An editor has chiefly to write. On the con-
trarY, his work is not 80 much to write as
to arrange and select from the writing o{
others; and so true is this, that while good
writer's are plenty, good editors are rare.
Secure publisher his editing, the work
most unthought Of by the public, and hs
will sleep quietly. Any successful news.
paper knows the meaning of that abomin.
able but expressive phrase, "a live news.
paper;" and to produce this, an accurately
balanced character is requisite, rather than
encentricity or the special development of q
single faculty.
But consider the single department of the
| writing. Doubtless every rejecting man
has some moments when he feels full Of
thought upon current topics, which he
could easily, perhaps eloquently, express |;
and some are thus misled into thinking it
easy. But the best horse is not the fastest
trotter, but the one that holds out the best.
A mans finest writing is the fruit of his
entire previous experience, and he natural.
ly gives that that is in him at the time the
reservoir is full, and writing is irresistably
easy. But continual repetition applies tho
test. How can exhaustion be escaped f--
The labor is incessant, repeated in a single
direction; the most memorable thing in the
world is the press, and if not fed BY writ.
ing, its iron nav demands the writer him-
self. Most editors are obliged, by the ne.
cessity Of their work, TO become gold beat
ers, and some do not even have the small.
est grain of gold left to beat. Whether ex.
haustien and WEAKNESS can be escaped.
depends upon the individuals own men tai
habit quite as much as upon the quantity
with which he sets out; whether he pru.
IDENTIFY manages his resources, does or does
not break himself upon some one subject
as upon q wheel, and whether be renews
bimself by contact with men and events Of
the time, determines the answer in his par
siasm with which the young set out, is the
most dangerous enemy they have. r..
Every man ought, Of course. to be moro
than his work, but the possibility in every
case is that the work will finally become
the measure Of the worker, aud this is true
of nothing more than editorial work. Sc
much is routine that the certain tendency
is to degenerate into mere hack. This
mental bankruptcy is the danger constants
ly overhanging literary life. Like all de-
generacy, it is gradua! and unconsciously
suffered; and while it is not inevitable, It
must be carefully counted as the chief dam
ger menancing editorial work. "f at
Do you then become discouraged, dear
neophyte, and ask what is the use? There
is great use. He who marks the rocks nd
shoals upon the mariners chart does not
mean to dissuade the mariner from the
voyage. Only note well that If you have
given yourself in simple devotion to liters-
turc, making her your earthly good in
willingness to be sacrificed for her sake,
you will probably be sacrificed !; but you
must not enter the editorial 6rld, on pain
of breaking your vow and still sacrificing
Yourself The work is one Of immense i'm
portance, and that importance is constantly
growing. It is even curious to note how
the opinions Of one man which, uttered in
knot Of persons at corner, would pass
only for opinions, receive an exaggerated
importance when expressed in the columns
of newspaper. The extent to which
public opinion and action are not controlled
merely, but suggested and created by thu
press, is quite inadeqpately understood
published opinions being so insensibly &C,
cepted as individual ones without noticing
them as second hand. Every man has hi.
particular paper, and the form Of persona
conversation is getting to be, not what
or B thinks of such subject, but what hs
thinks Of what his paper has said. Th'
editor is the teacher in our day, and tn
| ucNSpikcS 10 laSt 6elsh6 W oo tnS outy
book, occupying the first rank in the order
of popular reading. Thousands never en-
ter church or read 3 bic; thousand,
more scarcely open any book bat thei1
Ledgers, but it is almost literally t.us thai
no man omits looking over paper.
Such being the case, the profession nesd
not apology or eulogy, nor can it be dam
} aged by honestly indicating the lions in il
way. Its voice at present is, that it is no
much more profession; that its standar'
is not higher; that its qualifications arc NOR
rigdly teli to be special ones The ignor
ance, the venality, the political tnmblinl
and trimming, the license shown in person
aities, and the slang which passes 70
spice, are faults from which the profession
!. needs to be emancipated No work hold
out better promise, and none has weightie
responsibilities. 1t demands the rares
gifts, the best training, the most earnes
) discernment of correct principles and mos
single fidelity to them. Next to an enlight
ened and fearless clergy which shall no
fear man more than God, the need now i
for good editors, and falling these, publi
opinion must be nodded by bad ones. G,
to the ranks, but go understandingly, will
clean hands and earnest hearts of honesty
ROMAN CATHOLIC STATISTICS -Th
greatest authority on statistics in Europe
, the at, Mr.. Dieteiici, estimates the pcpu
lation of the globe at ! 300, 900 900, TWEEN
: ty-five per cent OF whom are Christians
Half of the Christians are Roman Catho
. lies, making 1852, 500, 900 Of that dcnomi
nation in all Il . worll. However, a cen
w.