Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-08-29

the news he can; but II he would have
due regard to possible consequences, he
must know where that news comes
from-where his paper can be justified
in case justification becomes neces-
sary.
One very interesting department of
The Enquirer is its about People" To-
calls. 1t is not generally appreciated.
perhaps, but there Is as much careful
labor expended in the collection of all
these items as there Is on any other
department. This column for instance,
can be filled with short notes or long
editorials three times over with less
trouble and labor than Is required to
get up half a column Of personals"
Most of the personals" are secured
through the alertness of members of
the staff trained to the work; but 1t Is
impossible for members Of the staff to
get them all. Many intelligent readers
realize this, and take the trouble to
write or telephone us of the coming and
going of people in whom they are in
terested, and this is very much appre-
ciated, even though sometimes we may
have already had the information.
Sometimes persons send a personal in
writing and neglect to sign a name to
identify the sender, and Of course such
information Is not used unless 1t has
previously been procured from some
other source. When the sender fails
to make himself or herself known,
there Is no guarantee Of the genuine
ness of the information, and 1t Is only
in rare cases that the editor would be
justified in an attempt at verification.
Following the distribution of the
last issue Of The Enquirer, there was
received an article on the subject of
the location of the court house. The
article was anonymous, and aside from
that was unobjectionable; but the writ
er should have known that 1t would
not have been published except over
his signature.
In last Fridays issue Of the paper
was a statement of facts as carefully
as the same could be collected with
the means at hand, in connection with
an alleged miscarriage Of justice. The
object of the publication was to let
what was going on. Mr.. ]. E. Nc
Alliley Of Bullock's Creek township,
had reason to believe that he knew the
circumstances of the case as they were
and came out with statement Of
things as he saw It, His statement
was published gladly, of course, be-
cause whether he Is mistaken in any
particular or not, there is no question
of his honesty of purpose, nor is there
any question Of the fact that he threw
more light on the subject, and light is
what Is wanted.
Where writer wants to give his
views on any question of neighbor-
hood interest, or of public moment, 1t
Is perfectly proper for him to send a.
communication to a newspaper, II he
so desires, and what he has to say
should be published over his signature;
but 1t is a mistake to think that the
editor has no responsibility in regard
to such matters. In the case Of mat
ters that happen to be silly or absurd,
the editor is subject to criticism for
giving 1t publicity, and in case Of mat
ters that happen to be lbelous. the
editor and publisher are subject to the
same personal and legal responsibility
as the writer.
1t is not the custom OF The Enquirer
to print TIE name Of the writer of
purely news statements, for reasons
that are obvious. 1t Is of no concern
to the reader to know the writer; but
he is concerned only as to the reliabil-
ity of the information. The newspaper
must assume responsibility for this.
and on that account must know where
to go in case Of question.