The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-06-30
THE EDITOR i
BE A CRUSADER

III o. +%AANA 49,
read the files of his paper and paste
things in scrap books and throw them
up to him every time he changed his
mind"
VIII Lose Money.
If we translate Mr.. Whites, delight
full humor into prosaic fact II reminds
us that if the editor is a crusader, as
he should be, he is bound to lose
money by it sometimes. But at any
rate, if we have the right ideal
namely, that editorial work is first a
profession and then a business, not
first Il business and then a profession;
that the business office is the partner
and not the bOSS-We shall Keep our
courage in many a case wherein there
would be only failure if we should re
gard our papers simply as commercial
ventures. We can't afford, Of course,
to neglect the money side, the practi-
cal side, of our papers, but We can at
least see to it that We make money
for the purpose of expressing our
suppress ourselves) for the purpose
OF making money. There is a fine a
ing of Rudyard Kipling's which | am
proud to have hanging with his auto
graph appended in my office:
IF mere wealth IS necessary to you
for purposes not Our own, use your
left hand to acquire it, but keep your
RICH for you proper work in life. If
you employ both arms in that game,
you will be in danger of STOPPING; in
danger,>too, of losing your SOUL
Need Not Be Bitter.
There is one thing / hOuld not fail
to emphasize, however, and that is
that when | say an editor should be a
crusader, a fighter. [ do not mean
man. IL do not mean that he should
be a bully or carry a chip always on
his shoulder. And l certainly do not
mean that the editor or anybody else
should overlook life's sweeter and
finer graces-"the love and peace and
tenderness of 1.-THE laughter of lit
tie children and the friendship Of
friends" believe he should aim to
be not a bitter or austere crusader,
but a knlShtly one, unafraid and yet
unsecured. He should never be afraid
to fight an evil, but his dominant pur-
pose should be that of suppIanting it
with good. He should not be afraid
to tear down, when necessary, but his
object should be to build better. In
short, he should we have in mind
the constructive principle set forth in
T~ennyson's 1T is better to
fight for the good than to rail at the
ILL.,"
II with this definition Of my ideal,
let Us now consider some ways of APP
plying it IN North Carolina.
Ideal Must Be High.
MY first concern in this connection,
is that the editor shall have an ample
vision OF what North Carolina may
become, that his ideal shall be high
enough. No man viii set out to fight
for that which he has not seen, either
with natural eye or the minds eye
SO it is that our first need is a con-
ceptiOn of how great a Commonwealth
We may yet build in North Carolina.
We must understand that we ave but
5 just laid the groundwork for the
: North Carolina that is to be. 1t was
but yesterday as compared with the
long course of human history, as w
5 look Back 80 the days of Pharaoh
S and Alexander it was but yesterday
2 that the first white settlers came tC
: our State; It was but yesterday thai
the Cherokees and Tuscaroras and
IemaSSeeS roamed unmOleSted W.
: our vast area. AS the man, once
brother North Carolina editor, wht
now represents the United States a
the court OF st. James has we'll said
Y W have in fact, a less developed
and and. people than any other mel
of u ace in all their far-fung line.
G of settlement and industry. And a few
strong men may now make their i'm
e press on the land and on the peopI'
for all time to ONE
-: So it IS hat we have a home Stat
d as but yet in the making. but witt
y infinite possibilities-a state which i
larger in area than England or Scot
d Land OF Greece and which may wei
achieve, in the providence Of God,
1t civilization as rich, varied. and his
IS toric as theirs. And the North Caro-
q lima editor. | would remind YOU, i
d his position as a potential moulder Q
d his peoples thought. has a place @
e strategic n unusual responsibility i
r working out such d civilization. .'Th
: ancestor Of every action is a thought,
as Emerson reminds us; and the me
ie who mold the thought OF North Care
+? lima today, will mold the actions c
h North Carolina tomorrow.
& Let me remind you just here, there
)r fore, of four fundamental State pol
re cleS | am convinced we must Wor
a out If We would haye this great Con
N monWealth that we yearn to have.
D. Excelsior.
re First, we must so on and on wit
~ our educational progress. We wel