The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1888-09-30
ASTORIA. OREGON:
RETROSPECTIVE.

SEVEN years ago, to-day-Sept. Both,
1SS1-the writer took editorial charge of
this paper, and ever since has continu-
ously occupied that position. Seven
years in the life of a man or newspaper
is a considerable time. The past seven
years have been busy and eventful ones
to the writer. an ordinary lifetime of
work and experience having been crowded
into them, and though rarely retrospect
i've, preferring to look forward rather
than backward, yet, at the close of seven
years of incessant labor, memories Of
those years come crowding on.
In those memories there is much of
pleasure and little of regret, personality
being totally excluded, for newspaper
man always puts his individuality away
from him and thinks only what will
make or mar the success of the paper,
his life work, the journal to whose col
umns he gives his life's blood, and
which is the sole beneficiary of his best
efforts.
"Tis not in mortals to command success
But We'll do more, (Sempronius), we'll
deserve it."
So says the Greek sage, and so say all
who form a high ideal and look toward
that shining height even though to scale
it be denied them. Financial success is
casual and secondary, but there is q sue
cess that the writer believes ne has Sc
cured even though financial success be
lacking, and that is the ability to be able
to say without fear of truthful contradic-
tion that during those seven years no
wanton or unjust wrong was done to any
one in these columns.
The consciousness of responsibility and
the maintenance of self respect require
constant care that nothing may appear in
newspaper that would tend to impugn
the one or impair the other.
With apparent egotism but pardonable
pride the writer is glad to be able to say
that during the seven years that it has
been his pleasure and his privilege to be
the editor of this paper he has never
been called upon to retract statement
of any kind, or to recede from any posi-
tion he has taken.
Those who are engaged in daily news
paper work can best appreciate the full
significance of this terse and truthful
statement.
In this regard newspaper and man
are alike. Each has character to make,
to hold, or to lose, and usually its char
acter justifes its reputation.
In being able to say the above The
Historian owes it to the city for whom ii
works to say that it is the public, the
readers and advertisers that make it able
to say this. A newspaper is the exponent
and mirror of the community in which
it is published, from whom it derives its
support, and without the generous aid
and cordial cooperation of the citizens
of Astoria the publication of such Q news
paper as the The Historian would not be
possible. For this as well as for other
reasons, on this seventh anniversary of
our editorial relations with our readers
we thank them one and all for their
kindly aid, and hope that the same cor
dial relations may continue.
The career of a newspaper man is
proverbially short-an hour of wrangle
and strife, and then oblivion-and his
best thoughts and utterances are only
for the day, printed, glanced over and
cast aside; yet there is more patient
labor, honest effort and sincere desire to
do good among the ephemeral writings of
the newspaper men than among almost
any other class of workers. The tran
STORY nature of the editorial life is also
noticeable. OF the 1856 papers in Oregon
and Washington, the writer can only
recall the names of two that occupied
the positions they do now, and at the
time he took charge of The AsToRIAN-
one is H. w. Scott, of the OregOnidn, the
other is p. b. Johnson, of the Walla
Walla Union. Of the others, some
have entered the portals of 'that low
green tent whose curtain never outward
SWINGS" others are in less wearing bust
ness, more have formed new newspaper
relations, and still continue to write, as
these stray lines are written, long after
the most of the surrounding world is
asleep.
Looking through the dusty files we
come on the following, written seven
years ago, to-day, an editorial that under
the circumstances may not be wholly
uninteresting.
The 9ai1Y AsturialI.
ASTORIA, OREGON:
FRIDAY................S SEPT. 80, 1881.