ill tread aside and let the reptile live.
The creeping vermin, loathsome to the sight,
And charged perhaps with venom, that intrudes,
A visitor unwelcome, into scenes
Sacred to neatness and repose, the alcove,
The chamber, or refectory, may die;
A necessary act incurs no blame.
Not so when, held within their proper bounds,
And guiltless of offence, they range the air,
Or take their pastime in the spacious field.
There they are privileged; and he that hunts
Or harms them there is guilty of a wrong.
The sum is this: If man's convenience, health,
Or safety interfere, his rights and claims
Are paramount, and must extinguish theirs.
Else they are all--the meanest things that are--
As free to live and to enjoy that life,
As God was free to form them at the first,
Who, in his sovereign wisdom, made them all.
Ye, therefore, who love mercy, teach your sons
To love it too.
WILLIAM COWPER.

CHAPTER XVI

EDITORIALS--CONSTRUCTIVE

"Opinion in good men is but knowledge in the making."
JOHN MILTON.

I. Introduction

An editorial is a newspaper article in which the opinions of the editor
are set forth. News deals with fact. In news articles the opinion of the
writer must be suppressed. The pronouns "I" and "we" have no place in
news. The essence of the editorial, on the other hand, is the opinion of
the writer. On the editorial page, the man who directs the policy of a
paper seeks to interpret the news in accordance with his own views and
to persuade the public to adopt those views.

Editorials are therefore for the most part argumentative. In them the
writer either comments directly on some news item and thus produces what
may be called a constructive editorial, or takes issue with the
editorial opinion of a rival in a controversial editorial, his object
being to destroy the sentiment produced by his rival's article.

The power of the editorial writer for good or for evil is clear. That it
is usually exerted for good is one of the best evidences that the
newspapers of the country are controlled by men who desire to serve the
public well.

II. Assignments

1. Write an editorial calling attention to some feature of current
news.

2. Write an editorial advocating some plan or reform for the good
of city, state, nation, or mankind.

III. Model I

We made the point some months ago that our ele