ALMOST THE minute he took over as managing editor of this newspaper in 1947, James Russell Wiggins jolted the city room staff with his passion for rectitude and integrity. No more freebies, he decreed, not even movie passes for copy aides. No more fixing of tickets at police headquarters. These were not the crotchety preachings of a fuddy-duddy; Russ Wiggins, who died yesterday at the age of 96, was a vigorous and engaged editor who cared deeply about ethical standards, old-fashioned honesty and the importance of a free and independent press. During his 21-year stewardship here, his enthusiasm for the competitive pursuit of information was girded by an insistence on fairness.

Today the news and editorial departments at The Post are independently managed. In Mr. Wiggins's day, though, both fell under his exacting command; he took care to main-tain a sharp delineation. "The ideal newspaperman," he told the staff, "is a man who never forgets that he is a reporter . . . not a mover and shaker. . . . Nothing could be more alarming or dismaying to me . . . than to encounter repeatedly the suggestion that the reader knows from the news columns what the views of the newspaper are." The reporter ought to have the commitment "of the honest witness, the fair narrator," he said.

A largely self-educated, extraordinarily well-read man who never went to college, Mr. Wiggins kept reporters and editorial writers alike on their toes--quizzing them on findings, recommending books and suggesting further questions or research. Cartoonist Herblock remembers showing sketches to Mr. Wiggins, who might argue about the views and then say, "God knows, I tried to reason with you"--and let them go.

Mr. Wiggins's own editorial views, often churned out in bunches on a given day, were no fence-sitters. He railed against the evils of gambling, the dangers of a large national debt, restrictions on the press and the slowness of mail service.

Mr. Wiggins left the Post more than three decades ago. But that's not to say he retired. As publisher of the Ellsworth American in Maine, Mr. Wiggins worked and wrote and read on; and he kept up correspondence with this newspaper, exchanging ideas, complimenting an occasional piece and reprimanding us for certain stands taken.

We paid attention, too. To the end, Russ Wiggins was extraordinarily important to this newspaper.