Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1889-07-11

lie. requires L withrNtr tncrea sing en-
pha~i~ and discrimination. Ii may he
nothing but the heading OF tele.ranl~.
or it may lie editorials proportional
To the gravity and interest of the sub
iect. BrcviiieS need expansion. and
more often expansions need cont rae
/ ton. ob~curitie- need clariiication,
and cont radictonS reconciliation.
/ Devils tempt and try the poor editor,
not only in the outer courts of hI>
sanctum, but across the street in the
+ telegraph office names are incorrect y
reported: dates omitted. and figures
I that are most important are most
confused. But the editor j. expected
/ to correct all these mist axes. II l.
I part of the II raw that he must furnish.
/ without delaying the brick machine
eli her II an English duke has bank
rupte'l, or "A continental no-account
/ has >uIcidcd, and the dispatch fails Ia
! give the reason the editor il expected
30 supply the deficiency. especially Ia
say whether ornot there was a woman
in he ease: or ii gold il found in he
bed of some Bitter Root creek, The edi-
tor is expected To Indicate the lead
that II was from. Or If q strata of
beeswax. or castor oil or some highly
colOrel perfumery is struck in an arte-
san well. the editor vino publishes
such piece OF news must have the
DRY to account iorit. His license does
not permit him to deal in brick unless
lac is prepared to furnish straw.
BESIDES, IA newspaper, great or small,
nlI IL. ,n.l q L..
tor to some extent an organ grinder
lie must belong to One or he ot her OF
the great parties, or he ranked as
mugwump processing independence 10
secure u retainer. So, too. must he
belong to some church or some creed.
some school of art. medicine, philo.o-
ply or science, and never allow his all
vocacy of any cati~. tn check mate any
al the accepted canons of any of these
schools. The straw must l, of Il spec
flied quality.
In Tact ii not in theory. every adver-
tiser and subscriber regards Il newSpa-
per as Il sort of cooperative concern.
II personal organ o play for him when
he wants Ia dance whatever measure
he wants to dance. lie iancie> he holds
he ISSUES OF life or death with his fatal
bolts stop my paper, or subtract
my al. 80 1t Is necessary that an
editor should know every pat ron and
what Office lac aspires to. Straw col
ored taffy IN such cases is expected.
But we have been considering this
subject from the standpoin OF public
expectation, which * oft EN- crude, and
unrea sonable. Let us step mp into
the higher plane ri duty and privilege
The man who edits a newspaper in
this reading age of the world, when
right and reason rule the world of
thought and action. holds a position
Of honor, trust and usefulness, bet or
than any office in he land. bettert han
the sceptre of any aut ocrat or here,li-
tary monarch in the world. Like Mel
ehlse'iec OF old he Is prophet, priest
and king in one. However small may
be he size and circulation of his paper.
however low and mercenary his mo-
tive> IN >eekingt he position, the oppor-
tunlty Is there. 1t is the position
loneed Tor by the philosopher. who
discovered and demonst rated the
power of the lever and declared i'm his
enthusiasm that ii he only had "A place
to stand-a pou ~to-he would move
I t... i 4,
-, IL W" ,t'ie t''i'a 10
,,';,t VI ~ y, 'li'i 'ei '",lili're"
nv ~ '"' worm "' 'h"iSht'
'' ''' ,"N>'
But words are things. aud a small ,lrnp Of
-. ink;
T, amy iihe ae" upon u Thought prod
'"''' " "i,li n', ~, thousands perhaps
When one thus puts himself into
COMMUNICATION with the linking mil
mons that are are to be. he has lev
erage TO move SECULAR systems and
NOT Val ITS merely.
ii3crU there IA" no tla,ning swords
10 protect lhe ent rance tothe editors
saii''uh' none should dare 10 enter
n''' ahnoiited nigh priest willing to be
liIe '''.''i''h' through which sovereign
anu e'er'''' N's'hr' truth love AMI
"is'oi'i may speak 10 the waiting
""i'''
No profession that j. or can he has
larger responsibility les than that of
the editor. There * none broader
II covers the world OF humanity. The
editor can truly say: Humani nihll
alienum. All the uplands and low lands