The Washington bee., 1899-06-17
THE HINDOO EDITOR.

The HlNDOO EDIIUR.
THE DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED IN
THE PERFORMANCE OF HIS TASK.
He La Fond of Extravagant Expressions and
Leaves Blank Pages When He Can't Fill
Them-Suspends Publication When He
Takes a Holiday
The Indian press is Of ancient origin.
Ages before the European conquest
every court had its weekly, in some
cases its daily journal, which was sent
out to the principal towns and atten-
lively read by mobiles, wealthy people
and officials. These journals contained
proclamations and DEGREES, and chron-
icled the movements Of the court and
all things likely to be of interest to
the faithful subjects of the rulers of
the various principalities.
Newspapers. in our meaning of the
word, were first published in 1918. But
these were in English. The first ma
tive newspaper was not issued until
the middle of the century. The native
press of the present day may be
and published by natives, the matter
being generally half in English and
half in a native language, and those
journals which are published entirely
in a native language, this class being
much more numerous.
AS a rule. these last are small, very
poorly printed on cheap paper, often
on only one side of the sheet, and not
infrequently the same journal varies
in size. according to the amount of
news obtainable and the personal cir
cumstances and convenience of the
editor.
Generally speaking. the native is
very anxious to acquire a knowledge
of English. 1t not only opens the way
10 appointments in the government SER
vice, but also makes him a person of
great Importance in the district. as
comparatively few of the millions of
natives read English or even under
stand it when spoken. A working
knowledge Of our tongue is indispen-
sable to native editor, because all
the important news is first published
in the AnglO-Indian newspapers.
the native writer is fond of eXtrav-
agant expressions, and makes use,
whenever he can. Of quotations from
Shakespeare or Milton and the relig-
ious phrases he mas seen in missionary
literature. In the use of metaphors
he often gets much mixed up.
The editorial page Of the Indian
country paper is a literary curiosity
For instance, the reader is assured. in
an article on a political crisis. that ''all
IL,
shaking i'm their shoes" Sometimes we
read that 1.-The editor expects. with
divine help. 10 have more reading suit
ed TO the intelligence of his subscrib-
erS in the next issue"
But the editor is seen at his best in
his own announcements. His whole
vocabulary is brought into play TO i'm
press the readers. Sometimes the an
nouncement takes the tone of apology
as in the case of the editor who in
nocertly declared: This is only the
beginning of our paper. We were not
sure how much matter was required
to fill it up. and. thinking. we had suffi-
cient. we did not exert ourselves much
TO get any more. We therefore beg
that our readers will excuse us this
time for the space left blank. and
promise to do better and get more in
the future"
Still more curious was the announce
ment of a paper which came out for
the first time with two columns blank,
the editor making the bold announce
ment that "a large quantity of exceed
ingly interesting matter had been left
out for want of space"
When the native editor wants Il holi-
day he SuspendS publication until it is
convenient to, resume. and. taking his
readers into his confidence. informs
them plainly why the paper was not
issued on the expected dates with
the consent of our readers. we now
propose to take our annual holiday. We
are sure none of them will begrudge us
our relaXa ton"
If il were not for the English news
papers published in Calcutta, Bombay
and other large cities. which are edited
by cultured Englishmen and Anglo-In-
dians, the native journals would be
very poor productions. as nearly all
the news and much of the other read
ing matter is translated in order to fill
them.