I am most puzzled by the Aug. 9 letter to the editor from Larry W. Mayes. It seems Mr. Mayes is using the Gettysburg Address to argue that the Sun-Journal has an editorial policy limiting letters to fewer words than he deems fit.

This is a most oxymoron argument. The Gettysburg Address summed up the aim of the Civil War, at a time when the end result was much in doubt, in less than 400 words. It is an example of concise writing at its finest.

To use it to argue its counter-point – that it was too wordy to fit this paper’s guidelines – makes no sense. Prior to Lincoln’s short address, the premier speaker of the time, Edward Everett, gave a speech. After it was all said and done, Everett wrote Lincoln “I should be glad, if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes.”

Lincoln summed up the purpose of the Civil War in less than 400 words. If a writer can’t express his view on a subject in fewer words than Lincoln explained the purpose of a nation, the fault is not with the newspaper’s guidelines.

Andrew Hall, Lewiston

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