126 MAJOR JOHN F. LACEY 



running amuck at everything in sight, and dyspepsia 

 should never be mistaken for conscience. 



The editor's stool is a seat of power, but when the 

 power is abused its influence is weakened. The sincerity, 

 the candor, and the fairness of the editor are his surest 

 source of strength with the people. 



The same maxim which applies to other public men is 

 equally applicable to the editorial profession: "Be 

 faithful to the people and they will be faithful to you. ' ' 



And the sentiment of either the people or the press is 

 never to be obtained from mere clamor. 



The silent and earnest opinion of the readers of the 

 press is often difficult to fathom. The noise of the shal- 

 lows should not be mistaken for the tide of the depths. 



It was said by a public man that he spent the first ten 

 years of his public life in maintaining an expensive pub- 

 licity bureau and in trying to keep in the newspapers, 

 and that he spent the next ten years trying to keep out of 

 them. 



Think of the millions that the New York life insurance 

 companies have spent in securing whole pages in the great 

 daily papers in the past. Now they get abundant space 

 on the first page free of charge. 



Mohammed claimed to be a true prophet. His Koran 

 was written on the shoulder blades of mutton and after 

 his death the dry bones were collected and became the 

 guide of Islam. The Koran says : 



If whatever trees are in the world were pens and He should 

 swell the seas into seven seas of ink the words of God would not 

 be exhausted, for God is mighty and wise. 



But the trees have not become pens. Had Mohammed 

 been a true prophet he would have foreseen the time 

 when the forests should be turned into paper instead of 

 pens and when the Sunday newspaper will contain more 

 printed matter than would make several Korans. 



