EDITOES AND THEIR LABOURS.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 72, 19 June 1878, Page 2

EDITOES AND THEIR LABOURS.

' - ; By JojinDungan. :y-'yyy : 'A : In "Victoria, the founder of the now' — oldest existing paper— tbe "Geelong: • Advertiser " — was James ' Harrison, . m. practical printer,;- for many years'-itsT editor, and afterwards the. ablest occuEantj of ther edito rial chair of the Melbourne , " Age.' v James Doyle,^ the. best , sub-editor that ever used a.-scissors for; the same journal, wafs' r also a member of the oraft ;.and J. Gv Patterson, thecoiri*^ •mercial editor,- of, .the . Melbourae^ " Argus," was m. "his early days a disciple of Cakton. '.' ' And now -coining ~-> nearer home, can we not point with pride to Benjamin Farjeon as a member of the craft-r-ohe npon whom, accbi*dihg io no less an authority than the "Home News," the mantle of Charles Dickens has fallen, and who' is at present without an equal as a writer^of pathetic fiction. But it is not alone m the ranks of literature that whilom printers have taken their places. All professions am represented, but m none outside of the* Press - are „' they .so . numerous . as on the stage, yln Amerieaj, strange to say "the leading tragedians^and comedians have been printers, and although ■'.-• .many of their names may raot be known, "to a Colonial public, they are at the. top of their profession'in the .States. There are few, however, who have not heard - of Lkwi-enge f 3sari;ett, James - Wallack, and -the- ini mil ablfr Joseph (JeffersoUiO'j the never to r be-forgqUen ■■■■** Rip Van Winkle," aU thVee^bf'whbmWe ebmposir; tors.^ The, 'da tighter ofy the latter has lately given ' beisha »d to Mi? FaVjebh, :. and it is just .possible that a new genera- , tion of typos, with; a geni us for'the stage or literature may arise. In England, that gifted ..disciple and delineator of the Bard of Avon, Phelps, did not at one time ;despise to eajn a crust. atyliisf rame. Perhaps the of the two finest voices whieh^haye Abieeii heard m New Zealand— though totally A different—were those;: off Aßea , QlarkA the silver , tenor, and Gordon, tUe Ausl i'a.l iad basso. The former served his l^meto tbe "Australasian," while the l\lte*r;was indebted to the." Sydney Morning Herald " office for a 5 knowledge .of his trade.. Before - concluding, X must makefrefererice to a member of the craft who was'not'only . closely alliedldahamfethatwillneverdie* butfprhis own abilitiesdeserves mention. I allude to-"W'iliiam;Jerrdld,;bi'6theijp£ i ." Douglas Jerrold, — a man possessed of of splendid classical ' and gifted withTsuperipr.oabililiesj which, through being misapplied'; debarred him' from attaining^^^ ;: 'positi6n which, under happier circumstances he* would y assuredly have reaehed^i.l question i£ ; . if he be now/alive.; i£?hd{£; peace be to ' his manes ; and if he; b^?lie ►still contin nesAhis/noimadio ; life, :/ wauderingi : ; thousands of miles through the Austra- •; lian bush, fromithe^^feimt^ofrSquth-r AusltraliartoT;; ther sea; thatr-layea ;th» / cbast of Queenslanil ,0 a .wandering out* \ , castjand literary Ishiuaeliie. Having re feri^d, .thus ita; the labour* of tlie membe'r^--o&.'thV , 'Fo'uirfh'lEstite^ let ns see what" are- f ,the.-t6rms of. re)muoer«Uion. Times are widely changed • for the" belterl sinee Atlie day"* Jswhei^'; Oliver Goldsmith wrote- for bread, and when '"-. The TraVelle-yVr.i.Ue' -fines"? poeian* m tlie English- lungnag^,-Tr\*asicSq"d,,fOK^ . £l3i Could the spirit of him of whonfcA •; David-GarricksaidA that — ..:.._ .....A .... ._. ! r ■" He wrote lite an angel"" visit the earth asarn, and learaWhafc A while f his pen had .hard"work to proridfSJjj for. his wants,'' li^aulhor of " To^amy^i Make "Room for your ;"^cJfe ? *^rpwr ; £5000 as a Vix'hiouihs* .proiSls.'fdJ" the- r copyright. L Notwit h ; stabdjng r that thaT editor of the "London" Timei '." issaicl to have received , £5"J00 a year, tha " Boston Pilot,', which- is but a weekly* pays Mr O'Eielly,' its' chief, C £6X)oo> annually , or £2000 more than the "Pre&U . dent of the 1 American "Republic receives. InNew York, MrConnery, the managing; editor of the, gets £2006^ Whitelaw Aßeid, of the "Tribune,*-* £2200 j Charles A. Dana, of the "Sun/*" . £2,500,ahd Mr Charles NOrdhoff, though, only "a writer 'for* thb New York - '•- Herald," receivfes £2200 a year, and . writes wheh.apd what he pleases. I am., , not ; aware' whether- the editor of they y "Lyell Ai^us "is a printer or not; but ; certainly/ judging f rom that . admirablospecimen of typography, J 'should de» eidedly say he is ; and if abili l^, like like virtue, carries its own reward*, thafcr clever Pressman"; should command., a noble salary." "Fanny Ferni" whocontributed "Fern Leaves" for the- , " New 'York Ledger, was paid at thfr '-,-'' rate of per column. Alt ,would.^bS|>lmpstan impossibility to arrive/Sflthe '^salaries or expenses of "Special Correspondents'* such r aa y : Stanley of the " Herald," or Archibald - Forbes, of the "Daily rNe^,"', both^of whom hold '-'a carte Wa/kj^efrptn their respective employers. The latter-, gen- *-. tleman, besides . & magnificent salary* , ; has been presented with a gratuity of £1000 as a token of appreciation: for his services during the Jtlasso-Turkish war. But it is not alone men of worlds ; wide celebrity, such asADr. BusseUiA Stanley, and Forbes, who oommand the^ salaries and. deference paid to ambassa-- A dors. Even m the Colonies, the, repre-; sehtatives of the leading Home* ■";..; journals can cope with Ministers ot the Crown m the . matter of :^- f remuneration, and Sir Henry AParkes* the "Times' Special" for Australia* draws not only £2,000 -per yeari but has a roving com .uissionr with, / til expanses pai*^, to visiV the t^woui /

capitals with a view of procuring pabulum for his letters. While, however, the lucky knight receives somewhat like £177 per letter, his humbler confreres reap not such a golden harvest, and the literary hack who has no fixed appointment rests well satisfied' to receive £1 an article, while the labours of bis pen are subject to acceptance or rejection. Although, as I have said, so many fail m realising the bright career veiled beneath the editorial anonymity, the effect is far from discouraging, and were the signature of every writer attached to .each article, -the public would be rather surprised afc the number and names of those who aspire t o the Fpu rl h Estate. Some few years siuce a Press Club was being established m Dunedin, one. of the conditions oE membership. being that the ca odidal e sbou ld derive a portion oE his income from his .pen. It was then found that almost every profession was represented, while every Ihi rd member of the M Devil's B •hade," supplemented their incomes by their contributions to - the Press. It has been repeatedly charged against our. city papers that the vi Frances of yesterday are flatly contradicted to-day; I ask, how can auylhiog else be expected where there is no staff with' fixed- opinions, and that while Brown, who is a red-bofc secularist, . writing one day "editorially, gives bis idea's au ex cathedra stai us ; while next the' columns are ' ojien 10. Johes, who directly opposite views. |CA I cannot "better conclude this article than m giving the words of the well-' y known Stuart Bbbson, an American actor whose name is a household word m the States :— "Setting type," said Mr Robson, " is composition. A printer couldn't write an ungrammatical sentence if he tried. So with writers. Writing is but another word for acting. Both are the literature of thought, if the expression be _ allowed, It's art ; and it'ijthe most natural- thing m the world for printers to drift from the case to the stage or the editorial sanctum." This remarkably hazy and indefinite exposition the speaker went on to illustrate with a really formidable list pf instances, all going to prove ths truth of his assertion. J. H. Stoddart, one of the best "old men" on the stage, was originally a compositor, as were also Crane; Warren, Burton, Burke, Wallack, Purselle, "Neil Bryant, Barney Williams, Theodore •"Hamilton, Harry Crisp, Lawrence Barrett, •nd a whole host of others. "Then," continued Mr Robson musingly, " there's Montague of Wallack's. One wouldn't think to see him bowling up Fifth Avenue behind his span of bang-tail thoroughbreds that he was once a printer. Yes, " the speaker went on to jay, stroking his chin thoughtfully, . " Montague . the gallant — Montague the handsome— Montague the brave—-Mon-tague whom half Murray-hill is breaking its heart over, was a type-setter on the Londoii^ra, and that at no remote period either. \, ■ . y-... ; A