The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-03-13
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the Bookman, treating Of 1.-The
ffSt editors case" II may be that
- Leslie Stephens touching account
OF his work on the Dictionary of Biography
has started the wave of compassion, or it
may be that fewer manuscripts than usual
have been returned. At all events, in the
columns of this magazine and elsewhere it
has been said, and we think proven, that
the editor is no monster, and some have
gone so far as to credit him with good in
tentions, decent manners and a rough no
ton of what he wants. 1t is, however, a
false peace, due solely TO the animal spirits
of a few happy contributors. meaning no
more than if an inebriated charity worker
were TO toss a dollar to a tramp. The re-
iation between editor and contributor is one
OF the imperfect affnities' described by
Charles Lamb There are periodicals pro-
fessedly founded on mutual love, but they
are like those boarding houses which land
ladies advertise ''all one family'-to be
avoided by any boarder who can climb
tree. MIR. Bliss Perry in a recent essay
the analogy of boarding houses to ma ga
zines has said that as the landlady OF the
Atlantic Monthly he does not particularly
like some of the dishes he serves. He
thinks that would be too much 10 expect of
any caterer and mentions a number of tai
ented editors who in bringing contributors
and readers together suppress their private
tastes. He might have added that the re-
lation Of caterer TO green grocer, of editor
To contributor, Is apt 10 be eold-blooded
And IL is we'll known TO all who have read
and boa rded that geniality is injurious alike
10 editors and landladies. and that taking
their work whole it needs more crit
icism than it receives. They lie becalmed
on the habits OF their majority, and they
need a blast from the discontinued to make
them go.
Editors complain of abusive letters and
unreasonable demands Landladies tell you
of vipers nourished at a table that, IL any
thing. is far too good. For all that, the
honest grumbier is the ally OF progress and
the friend of man. Boarding up and down
the world this many year. worn to the
bone with table talk. veteran OF countless
clearinghouse engagements and conten-
tCus meals, we have learned that the COM
fort of the many hangs on the fury of the
few. The wrath of the party in the third
floor front, hideous though IL be, temperS
the wind to the shorn lamb in the back
parlor. The malcontent shakes his fist and
the beds of the meek are made in the
morning. Towels and food and heat are
no mere products of the arts of peace. They
are wrung by the fears of insurrection. Ii
Is the voice of RienZi in his bathrobe, the
oratory of some ballroom Hampden, that
brings these things to pass. So ii is with
printed matter, whether II be magazine
dictionary of biography. 1t is absurd
10 say an editor knows his business. Edi-
tors. landladies and kings never know their
helps them TO learn. That is the main
point IL the clearinghouse analogy and
Mr. Perry left 1t out. Editors are far too
sheltered as class. Only a small fraction
OF the large volume of instructive denun-
citation and ridicule ever reaches them. An
explosive sarcastic reader relives his
feelings in private conversation, and that
Is as far as 1t goes. Time and again on
talking with editors you find them strange
~ unconscious of opprobrium. With GER
tain editors Ii Is unsafe to take IL for
granted that they know what the joke is
against themselves. They would not even
wink at brother augur. The critics of
Mr.. Stephens great work were often utter
~ unreasonable No doubt he had ten let
tiers blaming him for an error in a day of
the week to one that caught him in glar-
Ing mtsfnterpretation OF a mans whole
work. No doubt he was deluged with COM
plants 10 the effect that Brown received
two columns. and Jones. incomparably the
greater, only one. while Smith, the ineffa-
Bile, the peerless. was actually left out al
together Nevertheless. work of that
class was ever done in a sluggard's heaven
OF acquisence, and had II not been for the
sense lively. captious and watchful few
even Mr.. Stephen would have sometimes
slept. No philosophical citizen should ever
lose chance to prick an editor or write a
letter about rapid transit and crowded
trains