UNKNOWN

Temuka Leader, Issue 239, 4 March 1880, Page 2

UNKNOWN

The Times, in its obituary notice of the late Mr 1H lie, for near y 40 years editor oi that journal, says : —“Tic work ojfar, e clitor can oidy he appreciated hv those 1 who have had the fortune to have had so ny li-l(Ie experience of it. Toe editor of a London daily icwspaye is held answerable for every -word n 4S, and sometimes 60, columns, The merest slip of the pen, an epithet to myh, a wronr date, a name mb spelt, or with a wrong initial before it, a mis take .as-to some obscure personage only to glad to s ike the nppor unity of show-; ing himself, the misinterpretation of, some passage incapable of interpr tatirn the mast trifji ;g offence to t‘ie personal; or nationa' susci ptihlify of .those wh i dot not even profess to care for the fadings; of others, mav prove not only d'sagi’ceah’e hut even costly mistakes ; hut they are among tlie least of the mis ikes toj. which an editor is liable. \

it is impossible to say what a ni ,'ht mav bring forth and the uv>st important intelligence is apt to 1"-$1 latest it will of U n find him with none to share his responsibility, without advisers, and with colleagues either pre-engaged on other matters or no longer at hand ; the editor must be on the spot till the paper is sent t > the press, ami make f?ceisi ns(. on [which not only the .anpmvai of theBritish public, lu|fc great events, and[ even groat'causes may hang. All the move serious part of his duties lias to be discharged atjthe end of a long day s work, a day of interruptions and conversations, of letter reading and letter writing, when mind .find body arc not what they were twelve hours ago, and wearied nature is putting in Her g-ntle pleas An editor cannot husband hi strength for the night’s battle with comparative repose in the sohtnde of a study or freshness of green imlds. He must see the world, converse with its foremost or busiest actors, bo open to information, and on guard agivnst error. All this ought to be borne in mind by those who complain that journalism is not infallibly accurate, just, and agreeable.