The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1900-02-01
(srcoND PAPER)
THE EDITOR AS A LIAR.
(By VIII O. cismgh, Egan Express.)

In the title to my subject there Is
neither tacit nor open confession
that editors are worse than other men
nor an assumption of superior vir-
tues to overshadow the venial sins of
a loosely governed tongue or hyper
belle pen. In my treatment of the
subject ! shall not pose as me discov-
prer of a new principle in newspaper
ethics, nor shall | plead guilty to the
sinful act of an Annanias nor the
crime OF modern Judas, betraying 20
The enemy the strategetical advan-
taees and reserve forces of my masters
and co-laborers. So, IL any of the
members of the craft have approached
this part of the program with positive
misgivings, and forebodings of embar-
RAISING secrets proclaimed from the
housetops-still your timidly throb-
bling hearts and rest easily in that Sc
curity which is made doubly secure by
reason of the fact that can't say very
much about you without duplicating
myself. -
"All men are liars saith good book,
ana in this sweeping classification
md arraignment, only the ladies are
excepted; and while some of us may
pose as Ladies' men, the fact remains
that we are men, or ought to be.
TELL THE TRUTH.
Tell the truth and shame the dew
H." is an old maxim by which exhort-
urs of all ages have sought to direct
The tagging footsteps of the over-cau-
lious and the careless, the extrayagant
exaggerators ana plain prevaricators,
along the paths where simple truth is
found in its abundant fruition. The
maxim is a plain one about which
there is no ''yariableness nor shadow
Of turning" 1t Is beautiful In the
courageous fearlessness which it
breathes forth, forcible in it's com
mand, and as precept it ranks among
the sublime utterances of the sage5
and seers of all past ages. But as an
irvariable rule OF conduct, applicable
to all of the peculiar conditions which
may arise, even in the humble expert
ences of country editor whose life
Is pictured in as sombre shades as a
twilight lost in a fog, it appears tine
tured with the impractical and theo-
retical and lends force to the suppose
ton that the author had never ex
pended his talents and his time upon
the columns of a newspaper.
Tell the truth or trump" is the apt
advice of Mark Twain, and besides
being both practical and philosopher
II comes to us as deduction from the
experience Of newspaper man, while
the authorship of the first named max
I'M is shrouded in doubt and obscurity
1T is MIGHTY.
Truth has been named the Imperial
~, he xx,I,i oh mi ar
and must prevail" and while we all
admire it enthusiastically, dwell upon
Its beauties rapturously, and roll 1t up
on the tongue Of popular taste as
deliciously sweet morsel," the obvi-
Gus fact remains taat there is no COM
mandment, either Mosaic or prosaic.
which says: Thou shalt not lie.
And it may reasonably be presumed
that there are those, even in our pro-
fession, who have reason to be glad
that this is true. / am not really re-
GREETING it myself.
In all vocations there appear to be
ethical standards or laws by which arc
measured, conduct, liberty, license,
truth and untruthfulness; but in the
application of these ethical standards
there are certain rights, privileges
and immunities which man does not
abrogate when he becomes amenable
to the general law.
LEGAL STANDPOINT.
According to the ethical standards
of the legal profession man is per-
mitted to keep his mouth shut when
the spoken truth might hang him. In
law also it is permissible after wit
ness has been sworn to tell the truth
oil &c Of ho hn no o.
vented by an attorney f:u') more than
touching mildly upon L. surface. BY
the ethical ssandard OF gai action it
Is right for an attorney u assume the
innocence of a self-confess sn murderer
or help delinquent subscriber, so far
as technical law permits. - evade the
payment of his subscription.
According to the ethics OF the medi-
cal profession it is permissible to ad-
minister pellets made OF bread dough
to counterfeit insomnia, md practice
thousand other receptions upon the
helpless patient to accomplish the
cure which Is sought after.
WOULD RUIN TRADE.
The most thrifty banker who tells
the whole truth ABOUT his loans and
deposits must close his doors and take
down his sign while the comptroller
puts up another.
The traoesman who publishes the
fact that sugar will cheaper cent
a pound within ten days must sell his
four cent sugar for three cents anu III
he has enough OF it, go BROKE.
The politician who tells the whole
truth about himself and his party Will
soon find himself out of job and his
party in embarrassment, IL not In de-
feat
Even the minister whose code or eth
les Is in most perfect harmony with
those of "Him Who spake as never
man SO AXE" finds Il don't know" the
only lie which keeps what he does