PAPERSPAST

He rerekē tā Grey River Argus, ki tāna whakapuakitanga i ōna pānga tōrangapū. He tautoko tāna i te Kaupapa Reipa. Huri kau ngā tau, kei tōna uwhi te tohu, “Ko ia nei te nūpepa tuatahi mō Reipa”.

Ko te Argus te nūpepa tuatahi kia tāngia mai i Greymouth, ko tōna tānga tuatahi ka puta mai i te 14 o Whiringa-ā-rangi 1865. Ko tōna kaiwhakaputa, ko James Kerr (1834-1901), he kaimahi nūpepa i Kotirangi, i Poipiripi me Otepoti i mua i tana haerenga mai ki Greymouth. He rongonui huri noa te Tai Hauāuru mai i ana pānga ki te tōrangapū ā-rohe, ā-motu hoki. He hoa piritata nō Richard Seddon, he mema hoki o te Kaunihera Ā-Ture. Ko ia te rangatira mātāmua o te Argus tae noa ki tōna matenga.

I te tuatahi, ka toru ngā tānga o te Argus ia wiki. Nō te 1871 ka tāngia ai ia rā. Mai i te 1870 ki te 1907 he whakaputanga ā-wiki, ko te Weekly Argus. I ngā tau tīmatanga i ora mai te Argus ahakoa ngā muranga e rua ki te ahi, me ētahi waipukenga maha hoki.

He waimarie te Argus i ngā pukenga o ōna etita i te rautau tekau mā iwa. Ko ēnei ko William Henry Harrison (1831-1879) me Florence Romuald McCarthy (1834-1914). Ko Harrison te etita mai i te 1868 ki te 1879, ko McCarthy mai i te 1880 ki te 1914. Nā rāua rā anō i nui ai te mana o te Argus i te motu mō te kounga o ana pūrongo ā-nūpepa.

Nō te matenga o Kerr ko tāna tama a James hei kaiwhakahaere o te nūpepa ā, nō te 1906 nāna te Grey River Argus Company i whakatū. I te 1912 ka whakaarohia e te Greymouth Evening Star, tērā atu o ngā nūpepa o reira, te hoko hea nui ake o te nūpepa, ēngari he nui rawa nō te utu. No te tau o muri mai ka whakarite te Federation of Labour ki te hoko i te nūpepa mai i ana rangatira. Ko te nuinga o ngā pāpāho o Aotearoa kāore i te rata mai, i ētahi wā he kaikiri, ki a Reipa. Ko tāna he hoko nūpepa mōna ake hei karo i ēnei tūāhua. He tau te hoko i te Argus nā te kaha o te tautoko i a Reipa i te Tai Hauāuru.

Ka takaroa ngā whakaritenga tae noa ki te 1919 ka riro ai te nūpepa i ngā ūniana o te Tai Hauāuru. Heoi anō kua tau kē te Argus hei nūpepa mō Reipa i te wā i hokongia ai. I te 1918 ka tukua e te nūpepa te whakamahi a te Grey Labour Representation Committee i ōna pae hei tautoko i a Harry Holland mō te tūru o Grey i ngā pōti o taua tau. Nā Peter Fraser, Pirimia o muri mai, te whakahau mō Reipa i te Tai Hauāuru, me ētahi o ngā tuhinga a te etita o te Argus i taua wā. E whakaponotia ana he pānga nui a te Argus ki te pōtitanga o ngā māngai o Reipa i te 1918 mō ngā tūru o Grey me Buller.

Ko ngā tau moata o te Argus i raro i ngā ūniana he uaua. He nui te utu o te pepa tā, he whakahoihoi nō ngā kaiutu pānui ki te whai i te pepa Reipa ā, kāore i roa o muri mai i te rironga o te mana whakahaere, ka turakina te tari me te wheketere o te Argus ki te ahi. Ka tere whakahoungia e te hunga tūao. Nā te Hokitika Guardian te Argus i tāngia i tēnei wā ka puta tonu mai ai.

Kotahi tonu te hoa tauwhāinga o te Argus ko te Greymouth Evening Star. Nō te Paengawhāwhā o te 1866 ka tīmata ai te puta o te Star. Taukumekume ai ngā pepa e rua nei. Ko tā te Star mō te Argus he “Labour-Socialists” ko tā te Argus mō te Star he “Tory-Nationalists”.

Nō te 1966 ka riro te Grey River Argus Company i te Buller Westland Publishing Company, ka māunu anō ai te nūpepa i te Huitanguru o taua tau nei me tōna ingoa hōu, te Argus Leader. Ka whakangāwarihia te pānga ki a Reipa. Ka kore te “Ko ia nei te nūpepa tuatahi mō Reipa” mai i te uwhi. Kāore te Argus i ora mai i ēnei whakarerekētanga ka katia ai i te Whiringa-ā-rangi. Ko ia nei te pānui i te uwhi o te putanga whakamutunga, “Nō tērā ahiahi ka whakatauria ai e ngā rangatira o te Buller Westland Publishing Co. Ltd ka mutu te putanga o te “Argus Leader” ki te putanga o tēnei ata nei.”