Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1893-01-14
UNREASONABLENESSl

Observation-Disclosures
Common sense makes haste
slowly with the best of men
sometimes, and a few of us still
act as if we were the only beings
for whom law and right were es-
tablished. Occasionally every
newspaper publisher meets one
of these post-feudal day lords
and this is the way he writes:
"SIR! would like you to in
form me what right you had to
use my name thus, (some slight
error in a news local.. | pro-
nounce your publication a vile
SANDER and shall hold you re-
sponsible for an infamous SLAM
derer upon my name. If there is
any course at law in the State of
w. Va. which can punish vile
slanderer | will appeal to it, y
&c, &c, dd ndusedBl.
Every intelligent man should
know that the law is just as
strong to protect newspaper
publisher as any other citizen.
No man can unintentionally, I'M
knowingly and unwillingly steal
a horse or rob a house. Intention,
consent and malice must have
some weight somewhere in the
violation of the laws by a pub
Usher. His business is to publish
the news. Every mans name is
public property in a public ca
pacity or happening. Good judg-
ment and care are to be eXercis-
ed by publishers, but they can
not go out over the country to
verify and trace every article of
news they publish. Everything
has its source. The correction
must begin where the error or
iginated and editors are only too
glad to right an error when they
make one, but they expect de-
cent treatment like everybody
else who wants to do right. An
editor finds news in three ways.
He hunts it himself he has cor
respondents, and he gets infor-
nation from his exchanges. All
are reliable sources, yet all liza
bic to make mistakes and all
equally willing to acknowledge
and correct them. The men who
want to shoot down editors on
sight or hurry them off to Jail
without judge or jury belong to
the dueling period. They have
simply lived too long. In these
modern times and customs man
is generally given time to make
some defense or explanation be-
fore he is asked to Idle dog or
eat the Ratchet" Editors like
all other honest people are not
afraid of the law. 1t is their
best friend and protector against
dictators, tyrants and criminals.
Whenever a man talks law
against an editor for publishin G
the news, there is some hidden
rottenness somewhere. We all
court the light of day. Suppress
sion belongs to the days when
the few were the slave masters
of the people. AS a rule news
paper writer's especially in the
cities are the sharpest and ablest
men. Judgment and common
sense are their strongest points.
They make mistakes of words
but seldom have to take back
facts or principles. Some great
men who think they know ev-
erything sometimes get their feet
III newspaper traps and then
blame the reporters for their
trouble. Some churchmen
lately thought they would stop
an ecclesiastical train that &C
cording to their notions was 60
ing to wreck everything Ameri-
can. But now they are like the
bear that stood on the track of
the Rocky Mountain Express.
MI est. So with the fools that
write law and daggers to the
newspapers. They get left and
blame everybody else but them
selves. Always be reasonable
and right, reason and justice is
at your command in every print
ing Office in the land.
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Electric Bitters.