The Conservative (Lovecraft)/April 1915/The Question of the Day
The Question of the Day
The debate over the propriety of outside matters in the amateur papers, begun in the National association, has quickly spread to the United, where Mr. George Schilling challenges the distinguished exponents of the negative with an able article on the minimum wage. The Conservative, mindful of the nature and aims of amateur journalism, cannot but be opposed to the present attacks on the liberty of the press.
The agitators who would restrict the work of amateurs to subjects immediately connected with the associations base their opinions on ridiculously exalted standards of amateur writing. Endowed with an almost too great refinement of taste, they cannot endure the general article of ordinary merit, but demand that every author become a specialist in his chosen field before he shall so much as dare to express his views in public. While it is easy to imagine the supercilious displeasure with which our faultless critics must examine the average amateur's half-formed views on outside affairs, it is difficult to understand why these impeccable censors should take it upon themselves to stifle the dawning spirit of research in the beginner by suppressing his crude, nascent efforts. The uninspired and unintelligent presentation of a topic may often elicit reams of really valuable discussion, in the meantime forcing the original author to acquire a truer grasp of his subject. It is in this atmosphere of lettered freedom that the educational side of amateur journalism is best developed.
The position of those who favor the exclusive discussion of amateur journalism is peculiarly indefensible. Amateur journalism is like a great machine for the production and publication of literary matter. While it is of course necessary to keep the mechanism in running order, our greatest interest naturally centres on the product. It is only the child who becomes infatuated with the machine for its own sake; who spends all his time in watching the wheels go 'round.