DOMINION DAY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 312, 26 September 1908, Page 6

DOMINION DAY.

FIRST ANNIVERSARY,; STORY,OF THE PAST YEAR. FACTS ABOUT OURSELVES, . ■ REMINISCENCES OF EARLY DAYS. ; It is precisely a year ago to-day since New Zealand abandoned'her swaddling clothes'as b colony,' and as: a Dominion donned the shorter clothes calculated to aid her . in

people, who have settled in New Zealand during tho past two or threo years, have had time to adopt themselves to tho new order of things, and finding them an improvement on Old Country conditions liavt written "come along", letters Homo to their sisters and their, cousins and their aunts. It is natural for the underfed peoplo of overpopulated countries to seek for bettor things m other parts of the earth, and to theso New .Zealand's claims must be regarded as .greatly superior to some other peoplehungry countries that are more speculative in their general make-up. Trade and Finance. On the whole tho past year has not been a particularly .bright one compared with its halcyon predecessors. We are creatures of circumstance, and when the circumstances

boasted a prouder status. In short, money is tight. So far the. depression has been a mild one; and with a brighter outlook at Homo it is sincerely hoped that the grey cloud will be blown away by'the breeze of returning prosperity.. The Purity of tho Race. In hjs speech on Dominion Day last year the Primo Minister said:— "We may sail with the prosperous winds as,at tho present timo; wo will yet have to beat against tlioso of adversity—though I trust and believe that suchare,, many years distant —but, wo must movo onward, not drift, or lie at anchor, and among tho main guides in the, chart •by which we steer, these are ■ all-important—preserve the purity of the race from which wo have sprung; resist, if 'need be, to the last man

Bravo words, these I And if tho ideal montioned has not been realised in the year that has gone to join its follows, -there is yet tho 9Pi>ortunity remaining for all to aid in bringing about a nearer approach to uloahstic social and industrial conditions than has been obtained in tho twelve months onded yesterday. A "Striking Year." Industrially tho year has been a notable one. "A land without strikos," as New Zealand has been called by come-and-go journalists from tlio corners of the earth, has proved to bo an entirely erroneous appellation. Tho Arbitration Act has been tested and found lacking in its ability to bring about that mtich-desired harmony between employer and employee. Tho workers wish to preserve all the advantages the Act gives them, without its pains and penalties, and the result has been Chaos 1 Other Matters. In defence matters nothing revolutionary has been achieved.; The Council of Defence seeks to attain greater efficiency .in volunteering as at present constituted, rather than recommend a drastio change in the defenoa system, as has been urged bv some critics. Tho subsidy to tho Imperial Navy has been materially increased; Outstanding events were the visit of the American fleot of battleships to Auckland (in honour of which Parliament adjourned for over a week) and tho linking up of the northern_ and southern _ sections of the main trunk railway, which will probably be opened for traffic early in. December.

making of_ a newspaper. Ono of tho accompanying views shows tho northern ' end of the "House," where are tho linotypes—a round dozen in number, lined up like a regiment. The Dominion commenced with only nino of thoso masterpieces of modern mechanism, but it was quickly mado apparent that, voracious as wero their appetites for copy, a groater number was required to keep: tho paper in tho forefront with the fullest and latest news of tho day. An order for three moro machines placed the papor in a position to cope with any emergency from a speech from the Throne to an urgent letter from "Pro Bono Publico." As is well known, tho linotype takes its name from tho words linc-of-type, as instead of tho types being piled up separately as in the old handsetting days, lively little matrices slido into position in responso to tho operator's touch on tho key-board (a near relativo' to that of

a new line), the matter is made up into pages. After being ' made up into pages; several of which are shown in ono picturo laid out on haiidy little steol-topped tables, theso pages (or formes) are' run down to the press, where an impression is taken on specially-prepared paper. This stamped paper forms the mould, from which are cast the curved plates used in the printing proccss. Tiie Dominion is ordinarily a twelve-page paper, which u.eans that twentyfour page plates have to be cast nightly—two of each page, involving the handling of a solid ton of molten "stereo." metal (an alloy of tin, antimony, and lead). "Dominion" Printing Machine. If there is one thing more than another that the office in general is proud of, it is tho great three-decked Foster printing machine, which during tho past twelve'', months has

—and the dullest days in town are as a rule the hardest on the übiguitous reporter. Each day is a complete business in itself—a hard, strenuous, all-demanding occupation, yet ono not without a fascination of its own.