2) But for the letter that did make it to these pages, one assumes that the writers spent considerable time and effort to be succinct and pithy in the points they wanted to make, or in the arguments they brought up against what they read. Even in the act of placing their letters in an envelope to mail, there were several points along the way in which these people could still make some refinements to the points they wrote, so as to have the best chance at being published.