The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-07-05
ASSISTED EDITING.

ASSISTED EDITING.
With the assisted emigrant" we
have been long familiar, the man verg-
ing on pauperism in some foreign
country, whom philanthropic gov
eminent or society assists with money
enough to get to some other country,
usually this, where he may develop
into full-f1edged pauper, or, by some
unusual stroke of chance, become a
useful citizen. We are now coming to
know the assisted editor, a person no
has assumed the function of enlight-
en1ng the understanding of a more or
less limited range Of inferior intellects,
but Of whose ability to rightly per-
form this important task superior per-
sons have doubts and kindly vol
unteer to supply him with ready-made,
hand-me-down editorials, prepared at
the very fount of the Pierian spring
by especially trained intellects. The
similarity of condition between the as
sisted emigrant and the assisted ed
itor thus becomes very striking. The
one is suspected of verging on pauper-
ism, the other of verging on mental
imbecility
Even casual readers of two or more
of the Republican papers of the states
of our immediate Northwest must have
been struck with the similarity of the
editorials appearing week after week.
nVn Ila,
several hundred of these editorial col
umns, noted the same phenomenon
appear some weeks ago. The casual
reader may have simply wondered;
the exchange editor knew that some
where a literary bureau" was at
work. Generally the editorials are
alike word for word, but occasionally
the editor, evidently shamefaced,
strives to mask his assistance under
the guise Of changed wording, but the
thought is the same. Now and than
there is some one of these editors thor
oughly pauperized who runs the whole
matter sent him. but for the most mart
selections are made with more or less
intelligence, usually less.
The cat is out of the bag, as all such
cats do get out sooner or later. The
managers of the bureau have either
been indiscreet or misinformed, and
have sent their offers of assistance TO
an independent Republican or to a
Democratic editor. One of the latter
the Sun, of West Duluth, informs its
readers that the Republican national
committee offers to furnish it free
"originap editorial matter, which It
declines because it has seen no recent
cause to change it's political views
Then there is the New London Times, a
paper that carries it's .Republicanism
under its own hat, which notes the as
sistance given by the committees liter
ing to see some of our country papers
rehash these articles as original editor
ials," and asks why not be indie
pendent enough to write your own ed
itorials instead Of just resounding to
the crack Of the party whip?" Stick
to your principles, it says, "but re-
member that in order to keep that
party from the macine you must at
least be somewhat independent"
Then there is that paper, with its
name suggesting the stimulating ele-
ment in North Dakota's atmosphere,
the Steele Ozone. which has also been
nc,Iy n6 hxr ID
Washington, D. c." to accept the as
sistance OF the committees bureau.
1--WE are able to construct our own" 1t
says, and adds that "they are no lies.
either" the necessary implication be-
ing that the others are, an insinuation
whose truthfulness we are compelled
to admit. eff we desire to state that
some Republican members and meas
ures are pretty good stuff, and that
the people are not having their pockets
robbed every time the senate opens its
mouth, we can jot down a line or two to
that purport-if it occurs to u.s." a
very judiciously interposed off" With
becoming modesty the Ozone says that
while our opinions may not have
much weight before the school kept by
Tom Reed, and are not always swal-
lowed whole by our esteemed readers,
the latter may always be sure that
said opinions are not prepared for their
view by some $10-a-week man in the
employ of Mark Hanna, or even Mr..
Bryan's managers" But the Times and
the Ozone are the rare exceptions, the
only other ones being the compare
lively few who commit the assisted
editorials to the waste basket. Thus
again we get an insight into the man
ner in which Republican opinion is