5o The Newspaper World. istic leader conducts an invisible one. We can, even when listening to a concerted performance, distinguish the tones of individual musicians, but we cannot when we read an English newspaper — unless we are unusually well in- formed — attribute any particular article to its author or authors. This arises from the fact that the articles are anonymous and written in strict conformity to the policy of the newspaper, that policy being inspired by the editor. He alone receives the praise or censure for the accept- ability or non-acceptability of the views expressed ; he alone is affected by the success or failure of the policy propounded. It will be acknowledged then how responsible is the position of the editor of an important organ of public opinion. His function is not to write leading articles or critiques himself— this work must in general fall to other hands — but to carefully study the political and other move- ments of the hour, so instructing his corps of writers that public opinion may be correctly led, and so ordering the efforts of his staff of correspondents that trustworthy criticism and information bearing on current topics is supplied through the columns of his newspaper. How great the influence which duties such as these confer can hardly be overrated. Some indeed may, and in fact, do, decry the editorial power, and assert that the familiar " we " represents but the opinions of one man. From the necessity of things any expressed opinions must have an individual exponent, but it must be remembered that the majority of newspapers owe their success to the ability with which the editor represents the views of his constitu- ents. If a daily newspaper had a circulation of one^ no man would trouble about the opinions expressed in it. The fact that many thousands purchase and support a newspaper because they consider that it represents their views, renders newspaper opinion all-powerful. There J
