The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-07-09
EDITORS AND THEIR CRITICS.

One of the p~erplexing things in an
editors experience is that there should
be so many complainers and captious
critics among the readers Of a newspa-
per. Each man invests two or five
cents in a copy OF a given issue, and
deliberately reads it with the expecta-
ton of having all he reads to be in ex-
act agreement with his own views,
wise or very otherwise. He does not
consider the probability that his infor-
nation may be defective and his Wis
ion obscure, and that possibly the edi-
tor had a more perfect knowledge Of
wider range than he had upon the topics
ne dissents from. He expects agree
ment every day with his own opin-
ions, however obscure or p~rejudiced or
limited in information ne may be. He
damns the editor, calls him names. as
sumes great superiority IN ability n
Judgment, and rejects what he reads,
just as if he were infaIfible or the ar
ticle or articles condemned by him
We're written specially for him, and in
the nope ~ VIII Ills dpptoSdA div
smiles. The fact is an editor worth
the name does not consider a man or
men in trying to perform his tread
mill duties daily. He does not have in
his minds eye' as he indftes his re-
Elections upon matters and things in
general" He loses complete sight of
the great man" or the "querilous
man" or the "captious complahner," or
the inevitable GROWER" or the man of
mOney-bags, who thinks he owns you
and has a bill Of sale Of your brains,
time, culture and all thai you are. 1t
may be very wrong in the editor not
70 keep before the mind always the
image Of these m~agnates so As he nay
always. remember their demands and
-oDcdiently submit to their dicta, but an
editor is mortal and faliible Ike the
other poor fellows who are neither
great" nor 'rich," and ne does the
best he can from day to day as he
writes Of many things. a~ggregatinS in
a year probably some thousands, and
remains ObliviOus of the great man."
9Th knowing man." the dogmatic
man. and the ''infallible man." and
even forgets that money bags will
see his mental products.
The editor can only hope TO DE right
some times after doing all he can. He
can only hope to meet the appreciation
Of the superlative wise now and then.
He must try to tell the truth and to
teach right morals, right principles,
and enforce all that is good and lovely
and beautiful and of good report. But
he will err often and make curious mis-
takes and no one will know it better
than he does. lie must be honest and
fair and conscientious i'm SO far as in
him lies. He will be traduced, SLAM
dered, damned in spite of all brains
and every effort to be well informed
and to do his duty to his country, his
conscience, his readers. his God.
We have on this very hot 18th of July
Occurring on the 5th) hastily written
the above suggested to us by a long
editorial from an able North Carroll
MAN long resident in Virginia, and
distinguished as an editor. We refer to
Colonel w. G.. ELAN, editor of the Nor
folk Pilot. The following will well
close our own hurried emarks and is
exactly germane:
You will despise The Pilot your
selves if it ever come to that: non
-cOmmittal, saw as ring. or faction, or
party, may dictate; time-serying ;cring-
ing; falstaffianly discreet; the parrot
of bosses and special interests; facing
both ways brutally cruel and lnso-
lent to the poor and ignorant. and
fawning like a spaniel at the feet of
syndicates, wealth, power and preten-
sion; puerilely commonplace; solemn
ly ~platitudinous, while saying nothing;
a led-ape; carrying k to market;
and generally, and in all things, weary,
stale, flat and Improbable. and eSpe-
cially Improbable in an age that sup
plies such journalism largely in excess
of the demand.
OF course The Pilot has its critics.
The dead alone cap crfticism;-ay,
the triply dead, not only physically. but
intellectually and morally dead, and
with no assets of any kind worth talk
ing about The first lesson a newspa
per learns is that no course 1t can pos
sibly pursue, not even silence, on any
subject. will please everybody; and
therefore, if for no higher aSon 1T
should only endeavOr to be for the
truth and right, and to be foremost for
these, all the time"