The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1876-11-16
THE EDITORS WASTE BASKET.
An Experts valuations Of Advisory and
Indignant Letters.

Undoubtedly the most entertaining
parts Of editorial correspondence are the
indignant and the instructive letters.
Horwiath, Billingsgate and bad grammar
deliberately written out, scaled, stamped,
posted, aud arriving in due course of
mail cool aud still, arc very ludcrous.
The staieness of champagne that has been
opened for some days is type of the let
ter Of wrath aud fury when it reaches the
editorial hand. And if anger could ever
be reasonable, the furious gentleman or
lady would count twenty five with Tatty-
coram before committing indignation to
ink and paper. lie does not mean to be
ridiculous, but lie makes himself so, and
no peals of laughter in the busy sanctum
are ever more sincere and ringing ;han
those which greet tho missive of The in
dignant correspondent.
or course. honest and simple correc.
ti0ns of statement are of the utmost use,
and are i'll the highest degree valued by
every sensible editor. When the con.
luctCr of the London Times was asked
how he knew the movement of public
opinion, which his paper so accurately
represented, he answered that he knew il
W his correspondence. That was, per.
haps, as good an explanation rs he could
give OF what is really inexplicable. For
an editor apprchends instinctively, by
tact which is not to be learned, so that,
like the poet, he is born, not made.
Great vollcys of epistolary ccnsure are,
therefore, not necessary to teach him that
he has done something which dispeases.
He knows that he will do 80 before he
begins only because he has counted the
cost. If the editorial object be to reflect
hi l,a lntta
only tile scattering readers who disagree,
already discounted" If inc object be
to oppose q strong public opinion, he
knows equally that there will Le vehc-
ment and general protests and that, also,
he has already weighed. If, indeed, the
editor be not an editor, but simply MI
occupant of the editorial chair, then he
is utterly at sea. Two letters or twenty
equally confuse and confound him. He
has nc idea, and can have nonc whether
they represent the crochets of twenty
people of public opinion. The editorial
sagacity is that which assures its posses
sor Of action and reaction in public SEN
tsment, although lie cannot point out to
| you the detailed sources ofhis knowledge.
In political Campaign" he apprehends
the movement for or against n candidate
or party, and knows that, to-day, the
chances are doubtful which yesterday
were favorable. To write little letters OF
Indignation to such man is like swear
ing ut the north star. 1t is mere waste.
The other kind of rcmonstrances is the
didactic. This unusually concerns the
character of the feast Which the editor
provides for his readers, or consists of ju-
dicious hints as to his management of
his own business "The Father of a
Family" wishes to know why the editor
admits Il story which he is constrained to
say is far from the standard which lie
conceives the editor of publication of
such lefty pretenLions should constantly
regard; aud he is sorry to say that he,
the parent, is considering whether it be
not his duty to decline TO receive the
work any longer. This is uuquestiona-
bly, an interesting consideration to the
parent, but he should remember that
editc-s are very busy men, and should
therefore refrain from troubling them
with his men.al processes. If the father
Of family would but reflect for mo.
ment, he would perhaps suspect, what is
the precise truth, that for every such
letter Of reproOf, an editor receives an
other of commendation, and if he should
undertake to govern his c0nduc. by them,
the result would be pitiful. Indeed, the
same disposition must bo made of the
didactic letters as of the indignant, and
they must be dropped in the limbo of
entire usclessness. What the individual
A suggests, the individual b ridicules,
and that wh:c; arouses the ire of G, re-
joiCes the heart Of ID. Tie editor, there
fore, is the only person who can intelli-
gently end properly reply, i'll .he tabled
words C. an eminent philanthropis, whose
charitable attention was asked single
case of suffering: II am tto busy with
humanity to have time for Individuals" !"
The object Of this brief discourse is to
save the time of worthy people who are
about committing indignation to paper
or who kindly design to teach somebody
else how to manage his business. The
text is to be found in an editors waste
basket.-Nr. Curtis in tic Noren,Jer Har-
Der's