The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1900-01-18
(Atlanta Constitution.) }

A man need not be great writer
to be good editor; he has no need to
bother himself about style or diction,
All the capital he needs to make HIM
self interesting and influential is to
have earnest convictions, and To bc
sure that these convictions have fixed
principles behind them. In writing,
he has only to mean what he SAYS,
and to be able to give reason for it.,
to make himself interesting and at
tractive.
The great majority of men do not
| reason at all. They act on impulse;
they are unable to give an account of
all their beliefs; they do not know
the difference between probability
and Inference, or between assent and
gertrude; the man who has their ear
for moment is the man whose ideas
they will absorb. On some Cf the
most important questions of the
hour, the average man entertains the
views that he has heard latest be-
cause these are the ones he can re-
member best. He is most vitally con-
cerned with action, with attending 10
the business of the day or the hour:
and he is willing to reason only when
he is forced to do so from necessity,
or when the cue to do SO comes from
without.
1t is this state of public mind that
offers such an inviting field to the
editor of Il country weekly. If he is
intent only on filling up his edito-
rial page, he will WELD no influence
save that which naturally attaches to
the medium in which the people read
the news of their county and their
neighborhoods; but if he has real CON
victions-a very rare article in the
world he will have policy, and the
earnest advocacy of a policy i. sure
to attract attention, and if his con
victions are based on fixed 7rinci-
pies which he can fall back upon and
defend, he is sure to have follow
ing.
Earnest convictions breed ideas,
and open up new avenues of thought
and discussion. Whenever Il paper
has fixed policy and endeavorS to
educate the people to think that way
and reasons out clearly and logically
why they should do so. it will not be
long before that paper will have an
influence in the community where it
is published that will be felt by every
interest in its reach. If, however,
upon the other hand, the editor
listens to popular clamor, or so words
his editorials as to read two wavs and
lies awake at night thinking out the
big side of question and after he
has found it varies his opinions here
and there to suit it will take but a
few short months to make the paper
he edits valuable only for the new ;
it disseminates, and soon that viii
go at a discount because the populace
have a contempt for any man who has
no iixedness Of purpose or who is too
cowardly to take a bold stand for that
which he believes to he right.
The man who is really convinced by
his own views and beliefs will find
means for convincing others, and
these means will be at once simple,
direct and forcible. What a man
feels keenly he will describe earnest
ly, and the thing is done. The model
county paper is that i'll which the
editor not only reports all the local
news in attractive fashion, but hring-
to the attention Of his readers what
he conceivcs to be right views on al
questions.
Nevertheless. it should be said that
| a county weekly is not obliged TO
have a lively or an attractive cdito-
rial page, especially if it be the chlci
aim of the editor to gather and pre-
sent all the legitimate news Of the
county. In that case the paper be
comes sociological in its character
and tends to knit the community
closer together than ever before.
The theory OF the Constitution j.
now and always has been that the
man who refuses TO support hi
county paper, no matter whether hc
agrees with the editor or not, cannot
be depended upon to aid in the
growth and devclopn cnt Of his town
and his community. The man who
takes any paper at all should take
his home paper; if he makes this
small investment he will soon betrav
4 desire to widen his point Of view.
and will patronize, in addition. some
newspaper that has wider field Of
operations