Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1883-05-24

ION ds W tue uou-tAisttnCe OF a place OF lu-
ture punishment. An editor stands on the
same plane, or should. as any other man.
The possession Of steel pen, several fonts
of type and a press, either hand or power
does not give him any special nights or priv
iIeges. In no country but this is he accord
ell any. II he Is manly, courteous, lnteli-
gent-if he contributes his share to the pub
lic entertainment. refinement. or instruction
he should he credited with it otherwise,
not. Under this head comes the whole ques-
tion of dead headlsm." An editor who i.
recognized IA society because of his person
al qualities. or who receives klndnesses on
that account, or who gives value received,
no matter what the obligation, Is not
dead head. The editor who asks fa,ors
which he does not expect to reclprocate in
any manner, but merely because he IS an ed
itor. real or alleged, is dead head. And
if he accompanies his request with a threat
as TO what he will do ii he is refused, h, is
something worse than dead head he is
biackmaIlIng scoundrel.
With all our professions Of truthfulncsS,
beloved brethren. for all that we are pal
ladlum" and a "bulwark" and torch Of
civilization, We have Very well established
reputation for lnsincerity regret to say
that this reputation Is gaining on Us, The
word liar j. used in unpleasant proximity
to the names of the family Journals which
We conduct. As the Southern orator SAID,
they "cast asparagus" on us; but thi, rrpu-
tation extends, | think. more to the local
than the editorial page perhaps because the
former i necessarily original, while the lat-
ter Is frequently stolen; but, indeed We
have >canty justice done Us. In law the in
tention is every thing. and believe there are
very fe~ editors who deliberately utter ma
licious falsehoods. with the design Of lnlur-
ing their fellows. No, the greater part of
our evasons. our little economic. of the
truth. are the result Of our good nature of
our desire 70 spare the feelings Of others
This is well understood among the brethren.
| and 40 far a. they are concerned there is no
deception
Not 10 ohtrude my prrsonalit, ofFensiyely.
| trust, think know about all there Is 70
know Of the ups and downs: the m, and
outs (; the JOYS and sorrows the tempta-
tions, the trials, the faiiures-and, IN
small way, the successes. Of newspaper life.
have known personally little army Of
newspaper men Of ever, grade. great and
small. famous and obscure. | have worked
With them. living. aud nave written up thctr
short and simple annals after they we're dead ),
and here are my conclusions.
We are not members Of a profession
We as rule, have not INDUCED IN the read
my. the observ alton. nor do We posses, the
| crl,lcal faculty, the Judgment 70 tell lufal-
b, and unaldcd our fellow what /, best
fot them TO do. The man Who has. inside
Of an hour. to write an advertisement for
sra, Cow. convince some bluckhe4l that an
article about the Emperor Of CHINA did not
mean ham, MAKE out receipt for .ub,crlp-
ton. and ~, up bill u ,air, oaHno, expect
10 dca! out the wisdom Of a philosopher
sIth The rloqueuc- Of an apostle. Inc most
that b. can do i, to ,tl. what he believes la
a slrAls shtiOr~ard ~ay. ana III a lev words 4,
or. # he has not time FOR that, to give " hal
he himself DrIle,e- Ia the language nf an
other. Time, practice ana good sense tell
the editor how 10 use MS shears, the most
I~ttu. Implement about a newspaper office
| and the one With which he can 10 the most
good.
solomon. who never had chance 10 run
newspaper. else he would not have died
with the reputation for wealth that he did
sad, nevertheless, some Very good things.
ilc said that there va, nothing nsw under
the sun, and this Is very true IN our voCa-
ton. We do not originate much only
circulate. We are not the seed We are
the Wind tha, bears II abroad. so that il shall
spring up on the hillside and by the stream.
We are not sIngtrs-for ourselves wr are
voicrl-,s and harpicss but We send abroad
the songs that mothers Groom over the
cradles, which inspire the sunburnt laborcr
at his to!l the warrior IN that dread moment
when the Warning bugle, blow.
We not. rule, wits Or humorlsts,
but add more than can well be e,t!nat-
ed to the stock Of the worlds innocent en-
Joyment A bright thing i, said On the
coast Of the Atlantic and We pas, il along
from paper to paper, Till the echo of the
fir,tlaugh b comes back from the Pacific Ever,
day the vein Of humoF, pure and good a,
gold, too, IS worked. Every great paper
has its bright paras rapher, sometime, sew
eral Of them. and We cull the Jokes, some
taking one. some another. until all are
served, and the digestion ut twenty or thirty
millions Of people mas been promoted.
We are not good a. We could WISH
We don't know as much, between YOU and
|, as We would Ike TO but are not half
as mean as many Of our subscribers would
like to have We stand between many d
skulklng sauderer and the object Of his
aversion; We do not throw the dirty missile
he hands Us, and he goes away and SAYS We
lack pluck and independence. We are pret-
" bad sometimes, but We are better than
some of our neighbors. thank God.
do not need TO remind those here pres
ent that the newspapers are not exactly
gold mine the editors wife never mistakes
her husband for Vanderbilt There are
great many men of my acquaintance who
have condemned themselves to something
very like poverty for life, BY remaining IN
the newspaper business; and they stay in il
from a sentiment of LOYALTY akin to that
which holds the priest to the altar and the
soldier to his colors. A bookish and studl-
Gus boy, unable perhaps To obtain the edu-
cation he desires, enters a printing office be-
cause he wishes to BE- where there are 50
many papers. aud once there he stays there
all his life, animated by the same enthusl-
asm which inspired hi, boyhood. He wish
es to be in an Intelligent business to know
what the world thinks, and all it does. and
SO be stays. There Is something noble and
faithful in this, ii seems to me.
We do not move the world. We do not
shape alone its opinions: We are not It's
lungs-we are its voice; We are not its heart
we are the instrument that records It's
pulsations. The world moyes-we do not
move 1t; but We repeat day after day with
Calico, "But II does move"
When all is said and all that is II asonabe
admitted, the fact remains sure, that in spite
of the temptations which surround them,
an enormous majority of editors are for
the right against the wrong, for truth as
against falsehood, for freedom as against
oppression, for light as against darkness
II is certain, too, that the editor is every
where the first ad, ,ocate of every public ma
terlal improvement. 1t is the editor who
insists that the little desert Of public square
shall have a public we'll; it is the editor
who first shouts for an iron bridge across
the creek it is the editor who wakes heay-
en- and earth for the first railroad and 1t is
the editor who takes the first free excursion
thereon.
SCRoRULA. A medicine that destroys the
germs Of Scrofula and has the power to
root it out is appreciated by the afflicted