Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1880-05-29

No. IL. Il
and useful by dealing mainly with
common things, in an unschooled ana
crudC style. The theory Is failacy
and calumny. Our people are not
a low browed, half evolved anu
cropping people. They are enlIghten-
ed, iuquiring, appreciative; they
read books as well as papers. and the
editor is more in danger of writing
below them than above them. HThere
is somebody whe has more intellect
than Napoleon, more intellect than
Voltaire," once said Talleyrand:
"THAT SOMEBODY IS THE PUBLIC"
1t is peculiarly true of the average
popular mind in these states, that III Is |
well informed, alert and sympathetic.
The census soon to be taken Will Ger
tify, l am confident, that the ratio OF
education to population, Of schools
to taxable property, is greater III this
division of the country which en-
braces Missouri, Kansas, Iowa aud
Nebraska than i'll any corresponding
area of the Union. 1t will not do to
distrust Intelligence. Be assured you
are not likely to write anything be-
yond the grasp and response of your
readers. Colonel Van Horn runs no
risk of being skipped when he drops
politics and writes upon science; nor
Web. Wilder, when he turns aside to
ramble in some poetic by-path, and
say beautiful things for beauty's sake
simply, which is truths also.
do not mean that our newspapers
should discuss and settle all the difll-
cult questions of the time. Life is
too short for that, and mankind, to
quote witty Frenchman, "changes
it's fixed opinion too often" Nor Is
it necessary to seek great themes or
compass a wide vcnEe II order to
make al interesting and valuable pa
per. The boundary of circulation,
speaking in general, is an all-sutficient
limit ; any county in Missouri is large
enoug Ii and important enough to keep
q newspaper busy. 1t should be the
editors constant study to
l KEEP CLOSE TO THE PEOPLE,
to their interests and welfare-not
precisely as children of Adam and
fractional atoms of mankind, nor yet
altogether as citizens of a common
national government, under single
: flag; but rather as neighbors and dis
tinct communities, with the same i'm
, mediate and personal things claiming
, their daily thought. Happiness anc
prosperity are matters of narrower
3 Obtainment than the statesmen ant
: theorists would have us believe. Tn
, commissioners Of this county of Pet
t tbs have more to do with the conten
: and well being of the people of thu
: county, than the legislature at Jctfer
! soil almost said ut Sedalia, or th
l congress at Washington. These peo
pie are far more concerned abou
: their local taxes, and the prices y
l butter and eggs, than they are abou
: the Geneva award or the quotation
0 OH four per cents. The things tha
/, come home to the Individual, TIN
: things that make for or against tn
h growth of the neighberhOod, a town
/. or county, arc the things above al
S others that the editor should under
a stand and deal with. For out of sue
e things come the aggregate and shin
d ing results which build up states an'
d urge civilization forward.
/ Never fear but you will find plent
:, with grace, profit and effect. In all
e society, however small, are all til
d elements that Shakespeare werke
h with. The same things happen l
l. the rural Missouri village that hal
II pen,in the large cities and centers
commerce aud fashion, If only W
10 have tho wit to catch and the skill
~ interpret them. Everywhere, ii
o human family plays the same dali
d part, with only difference of scener.
l. There are ali The materials for u coli
!. edy, the whole five acts of d TRACED
s. in the occurrence of any given weel
st in any community. The editor do
4, VITAL ISSUES
20 he has but to put himself i'll accel
l, and sympathy with the desires al
!, objects, the efforts and undertak i'll z
70 o! the people who read his paper, al
f. he will never lack for Inspiration.
o. Is yet too much the fashion, inherit'
lc from the old times, to attempt
sc cover the entire world with evel
issue of u newspaper. The world C;
le get along without it. Europe ina
" Ue trusted to adj ust her affairs. theug
s. tho press of the Missouri Valley ket
ss resolute silence about them Hcnde
Is sou has taken the contract to hand
u the third term for us, and Kelly c
III fers to relieve us OF Tamman
lg Charless was not so fortunate, or
IN would not have given three pages
sd his Gazette to the war OF 1872, al
III less than three sticksf to the loc
ne news of St. Louis. The people ST
Tn hal n -
lf tell them of all current events wor
ce knowing upon the earth, aud will !
III ways continue to do so. But TIN
ct rely upon them for more than tn
OF The mere gathering of news no lon
K er satisfies the demand, no long
sutiices to give the press ascenden
sc and mastershlp. L saw it assert
u the other day Ill a meritoriOus dl
ne course at St. Louis that the New 4o
ry Herald is the greatest existing js,
re nal. With all respect, l chailen
"a that statement. As simple chro
'h icler of news from all quarters of t
hs globe, the Herald, i allow, Is u
OF rivaled but that is the limit Of
OF superiority, and that is not greatne
Tx Its neighDor, the Tribune, thou
re not 30 large, Eor so overtowlng Wi
news, nor SO widely Circulated, ma
lhousand-fold more influence, a.
rs approaches much closer to the
bt tinctieu of being our first great ?
mn per. And am not sure but there d
rn papers in the west which might sa
ON iy dispute the claim; for obvio
ar. reasons 1T would be lndelicate nC
he and here to naIne them.
H. The point that | am urging appli
Ell with special force to the journals
he of Missouri Valley. Newspaps
ur mean more here than anywhere e
lr. in the world. As their opportul
Dy ties are greater than i'll other loca
of ties, so are their obligations. Tn,
- owe supreme ailegience to the hol
ne and plans, the aspirations aud ent'
n, prIses of the communities they I.
10. resent. 1t is not enough that til
ce furnish the news. They must al
CO and above that, be dedicated to t
IL ruiing purpose of the time aud pla'
ak which is