As there are already many race publications on the market, it is expected of a new one that an excuse be offered for its entering the field and an explanation be made of its object, its purpose and its policy. The excuse that it is “to fill a long felt want,” although a stereotyped expression, is an appropriate one in this case; for notwithstanding there are already many race publications on the market, none of them seems to meet the requirements, judging from the general expressions so repeatedly heard. There are so many features that we plan to cover, and so many things that are done by other publications that we think are subject to criticism, which we propose _not_ to do, that we will make mention of only a few of them at this time, leaving the balance to be reviewed later. It will not be our sole ambition to make this magazine a “literary gem” either for our own gratification or to suit the fancy of the “highbrows,” but to present facts in plain, commonsense language, so that the masses may read and understand; or, in the words of Brother Taylor, we propose to call a “spade a _spade_” and not an “excavating instrument for manual manipulation.” It is our intention to chronicle such doings of the race as may be of interest to a majority of our readers. Such men and women of the race as may attain eminence or affluence by perseverance, we shall be pleased to make mention of in these columns, as we feel assured that the masses are interested in the same; but we shall refrain from publishing such articles as “Sister Smith of Bastrop gave a chicken dinner last Sunday for Brother Jones of Monroe,” as we believe that of all our readers only four persons would be interested in such an item—Sister Smith, because it tickled her vanity to see her name in print; Brother Jones, to the extent that as he had partaken of many similar dinners under more agreeable surroundings, the recalling to his memory of this affair reminded him how bored he was; Brother Jones’ wife, who was in a quandary as to why Sister Smith should go to the expense to give her husband a dinner, and Mrs. Brown, who lives next door to Sister Smith, who expresses her interest with these remarks: “I think it would be better if Sister Smith would pay her debts before she starts giving big dinners.” As such news items are fully covered by our leading Colored weeklies, we leave the field to their complete monopolistic control.