The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1871-02-17


The outside" Is the printers term
for the first and fourth pages of news
paper containing four pages. II will be
observed they are on the same side of
the sheet of paper. AS they are seldom
devoted to news they are usually occu-
pied with miscellaneous reading that
Is always In season. They are always
printed in advance Of the inside pages
the second and third. Recently a
scheme has been concocted by New
York Sharpers to furnish country pub.
fishers with paper already printed on
the outside, at very low rates. The
reading thus furnished is mainly insip.
i'd and worthless and disgrace to the
editorial fraternity. 1t wholly takes
from the editor the control of one.half
his paper, and that very often the best
half. 1t gives to the reader meaning
less and useless reading, necessarily,
for these outsides are used for an
indefinite number of papers, of all shades
of opinion and morals, and must be
made unobjectionable to ALL Ofcourse
the only way to do this is to avoid all
positive opinion or assertion, every
thing that has point, and consequently
the articles thus printed are all mean.
ingless or totally indifferent to every
body. An editor who can submit to
that must have less metal In his soul
than editors ought TO have.
Any body may thus get up paper,
for they can steal the inside pages from
their more industrious or abler cotem-
poraries, as the inside is usually made
up of news and of political opinion, or
what is relevant to these. We are
aware that the plan saves expense and
labor, but it cheats the reader. The
labor of making proper selections, If
conscientiously performed, is much
greater than that of writing editorials
upon familiar subjects-greater even
than any writing. But sinking this
labor is far from being justifiable.
When we agree to print paper for a
subscriber, and he pays his money, the
contract is clearly that we are to give
him as good paper as we are able to
print. We agree to do all the necessary
work to give him as good paper as we
can. If he wants somebody elses paper
he will send to its publisher for it, and
if we palm somebody elses paper upon
him for ours we are guilty of false pre-.
tence. When that somebody else's is
so constructed that it will suit all shades
of opinion and be equally agreeable to
all, the transaction becomes a swindle.
That is plain saxon but it's true.
Why should not an editor feel it as
strongly his duty to print creditable
outside, why should he not be as am
bilious to excel in his outside, as in the
inside print? We know that many
lazy editors set up the excuse that any
thing will do for the outside. But those
who reason in that way ere. superficial
and foolish. AS we'll might they hold
that any kind of talk Sensible or not,
agreeable or not, offensive or not would
do as well for their associates as care
fully considered and intelligent conver.
sation. Upon the whole, any paper
gains as much Tor loses as much) by the
quality of its selections as by the merit
of its original articles. They are of at
least equal Importance and are as gen.
orally sought and enjoyed by the reader.
For the credit of journalism, and espec-
tally of country journalism, let every
editor edit his own paper and do his
best to excel. When we ask hotel
keeper for a dinnor of bread and beef
we don't like to be set down to mush
and milk. The readers of newspapers
are very much of the same way of
thinking.