Mexico weekly ledger. (Mexico, Mo.) 1855-1956, 1899-02-23

Books mailed free by Swift Specific
Company, Atlanta, Georgia.
Hired girls, tired girls. short girls and tail,
Tongue-tied and cross-eyed, kiss 'em one
and all
I'm likely to he "ired'' from the navy, SO
they say"
But what care /, since may kiss FIVE hundred
girls dayf
So long as may press their lips / think I'd
be Ounce,
To long to face the eannon's mouth the way
did It once.
Fat girls, dat girls, sour girls and sweet;
Girls with beaux and pigeon-toes and No.
II feet;
1.-the girls, blithe girls, and girls whose
looks appall.
But having faced the lannon's mouth, l
face 'em one and all.
The editors are bowling mad because I've got
a snap,
'Tis envy stirs EN- up. and 80 never care
rap;
And II the ones who howl the most and rant
and rave and scoff,
Had half show, why. don't you know, you
couldn't choke 'em Off
Sly girls, shy girls, hasty girls and slow,
Some who cling like everything, and some
who touch and go.
Giggling girls, wiggling girls, large girls
and small,
Thick or thin, wade right in and kiss 'em
one and all,
The editor should be honest. Hon.
est with himself and honest with his
readers. The time has passed when
an editor was expected to think at
the convenience of political COM
mittee or at the behest of some pub
lie man whose acolytor satellite he
was. The readers Of a newspaper
pay cheerfully their subscriptions
and the advertiser pays for his space.
These are legitimate sources of rev.
enue. But there is a contract be-
tween the editor and the subscriber,
who is more than mere payee for
the paper, in that he is supporter
thereby of its tone and policy, that
the opinions expressed by the editor
shall be unpurchased and unpurchas-
able. More than that-that the edi-
tor will not use his columns, which
are joint property, for personal or
mercenary ends. Let me illustrate:
A man of means and ability In one
of our cities owns a newspaper.
Whoever may be the technical edi-
tor, the managing editor, the person
through whom the copy passes to
the printer, this gentleman is the
real editor, as he controls the opin-
ions Of the paper. The story goes
that in adirectors' meeting of bank
recently one director madean inoon-
siderate aud unjustifiable remark,
an insulting remark, about this edi-
tor. There followed, in consequence,
two long o-called news items which
were attacks upon the credit OF the
bank. say ''so-called' news items
because their burden was of informa-
tion which was two or three months
old and known of business men gen.
orally. The publication had none
Of the elements of journalistic enter
prise. It was pure and simple
case of brutal slugging Of fancied
enemy Fortunately, though loss
has been met, the solvency of the
bank was beyond question and the
harm done was not as great as it
might otherwise have been. Much
damage was done, however, to doz-
ems Of innocent holders of the stock
in that institution, some of them
women and many others compare
lively poor persons, not one Of whom
were parties to the offensive Lam
guage, and, perhaps, not one of
whom would have approved it. If
just a little more misfortune had
preceded this attack irreparable In
jury would have come, for the credit
of a bank is like the virtue of a
woman, easily tarnished by the
tongue Of the gossip. Hefe, thsn.
is an instance where the perversion
of the use of a newspaper by its
owner for personal ends seems to
have been uniustifiable. Indeed the
less an editor uses the columns of
his Journal in that way the better,
not only for the public, but. / am
persuaded, for the influence, and
profit even, of the editor himself.
To be entirely honest the editor
must be absolutely fair. His oppor-
tunity for harm is quite as great as
his opportunity for good.
1t is one of the anomalies of our
politics that before an election our
newspapers throw up their hats and
shout themselves hoarse, as 1t twere,
for their candidates for office-paint
them in most glowing colors as
pinks Of perfection-statesmen wor-
thy of the highest honors, and that
no sooner are they elected and in
stalled than they become with some
editors-opprobriously --office-hold-
ers, pap-suckers, barnacles, and all
manner of more or less disreputable
things. Perhaps our brethren of
the press err at both extremes. It
may be that this class of persons are
neither so perfect before nor imper-
feet after election, and that fulsome
tiattery and hypercriticism would
better both be omitted. The truth
is, Office holders are no better nor
worse because they are such. II
they were good men before, as q