The Washington bee., 1898-02-05

Then glanced al the gIinnlng young nopeia
and mouTnfully made his reply:
"Is vour son small unbound edition OF Moses
and Solomon both?
"cau he compass his spirit with meekness. anS
strangle natural th?
"Can he leave all his wrongs to the future ant
carry his heart in his cheek?
Can he do an hours work m minute and llV'
on a sixpence week?
Can he courteously tax with an equal, anC
brow beat an tmpudent Ounce?
Can he keep things In applique order, ane
do halt dozen at once?
Can he press all the springs of knowedg'
with quick and reliable touchs
And be sure that he knows how much Il
know and knows how to not know too
much?
Docs he know how to spur up his virtue, ano
out chick rein on his pride?
"Can he carry gentlemanS manners within
a rhinoceros' hide?
cheerfulness, courage and vim9
IF SO, we perhaps can De maxim an eoi'o'
outen o. him."
"rhe farmer stood curiously listening, while
wonder his visage o'eTSpTead,
And he said: Jim guess well be goin'; he 8
probably out OF his head!
To some of you it may seem as
though my presentation OF the editor,
his duties and his attributes is lacking
in that modesty which so we'll becomes
most people, but trust that my offend
ing NAV be excused because cf my de-
sire to speak the truth-which all edi-
tors do not invariably do-and because
my experience as reporter and a
wandering, free-lance, go-any-where-
to-get-into-trouble sort of correspon-
dent is to my editorial experience as
ten is to one.
Now as to the kind of editor you
need.
You need the broad-minded, liberal
ly-educated men or women who are
absolutely honest; who wouldn't sell
a line of their editorial space for a mil
lion dollars; whose opinions will be
trammelled only by the dictates of de-
cency and who will have no other than
the highest possible standard of indi-
vidual uprightness and public moral
ity.
You need men who are not only ca
pable of telling the truth but who will
tell it when the telling oft is likely to
contribute to he general welfare; men
who will not permit their personal de-
sires to interfere with any proposition
that has in it the greatest good for the
greatest number.
You need men who while they pay
and proper attention to po-
litical situations will hold themselves
aloof from the wiles of office,
You need men who will not waste
their force in. foolish trifling agitation
as to non essentials.
You need men who when they de-
mand the destruction or reconstruc-
ton of any of your institutions are ca
pable of at least suggesting the needed
betterments or new plan to take the
place of the old one.
You need men who will encourage
the young man who works. At the
risk of being assailed by those who in
SiSt that persistent effort is being
made to compel your race to occupy
a menial plane, let me say that you
need men who will" encourage your
boys and girls to do those things for
which they are best fitted. Every boy
cannot be a lawyer or doctor or an
educator. Every girl cannot be
school teacher or a teacher of music or
painting. 1t is inevitable that some OF
the men must be carpenters, and black
smiths, and plasterers, anti timers;
while some of the women will surely
occupy spheres of usefulness outside
Of those | have mentioned. Is 1t not
sense to prepare the boys and girls for
the future that must inevita oily be
theirs? Do you not realize the impos-
'ibility OF building well and strongly
when ninety Per cent. of your material
S shaped tor the superstructure and
-evolts when any suggestion is made
hat somewhere or other material must
be had for the foundation? Not for an
instant would l discourage any ambi-
ious efforts of your young men and
young women, but would have your
editors preach continually the doctrine
Of hard work and the necessity of hard
work no matter what the character of
he work may be.
The editors you need are the men
Who will point out the folly of cram
ming classical education into the boys
md girls whose lives will never have
n them opportunities for usefully ap-
,lying painfully acquired information.
You need men who will tell you the
sharp edged truth as to the over
professions and the thou
fdndS vi tllCh tid 7" OhSAA AV oAS AAAS
o-day because their education has not
,nly failed to fit them for the places
hey desire to occupy but has unified
hem for the places which might be
heirs did they have cultivated capa-
,ility to fill them.
And having such outspoken men in
he editorial chairs many of you need
he grace to believe the things they
ell you.
Next to the best men for editors the
Negro press needs great supply of
apacious waste baskets.
In this age of enlightenment and
cry general literary endeavor the ed
tors waste basket has necessarily |
for itself proud position in
he world of letters. Years ago there
,as widespread delusion as to the
nanimate associates upon whom the !
ditor was compelled to lean, the pop
lar conviction being that those asso-
iates were, in common terms, pair
f scissors and paste pot. In Cau-
asian newspaperdom of the metro
olitan sort, the usefulness of the scis-
ors is at minimum and there has
cen corresponding shrinkage in the
Sc of the scissors and paste pot, and
, the place Of these one-time common
ccessories-frequently oyer-esteem-
dis the editors Waste-basket. Iii