Labour Newspaper Editor Tenders His Resignation

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 September 1947, Page 6

Labour Newspaper Editor Tenders His Resignation

[SPECIAL TO STAR]

WELLINGTON, This Day.

The Labour Party's first metropolitan newspaper, the Southern Cross, is seeking a new editor. Mr Robert Harper, who was brought from Australia two years ago to edit the newspaper resigned last week and gave up his duties on Friday. He denied that friction between his directors and himself was responsible for his resignation, but no explanation has been given for the sudden termination of his contract.

It is understood that the Southern Cross will advertise for a new editor and that in the meantime the chief of the literary staff, Mr Winton Keay, will be acting editor. Came from Sydney

Mr Harper said that he had tendered his resignation and that it had been accepted by the directors. He added that his contract did not conclude until November, but that the intervening period would give him time lor a holiday in New Zealand. Mr Harper, who was engaged from the Daily Telegraph, Sydney, has had 30 years' experience as a newspaperman and has been popular with New Zealand journalists since his arrival in the Dominion. Most of his career has been spent with the Daily Telegraph, Sydney, with shorter periods on Truth and the Melbourne Sun Pictorial. His future plans, apart from returning to Australia, are indefinite. A Lively' Topic

The resignation of the editor, linked with rumours about the Southern Cross’s fight for funds, has been a lively topic in newspaper circles in Wellington. The paper lost £36,804 on the first year’s operations, from March 4, 1946 to December 31, 1946. The directors stated in their annual report that 100,000 additional £1 shares were available, and a lastminute S.O.S. was sent out for additional capital prior to publication last year.

It is stated, however, that an independent valuation of the existing shares in the company would not be very high. Apart from the loss of £36,804 there are other factors which may discourage prospective investors. Uniop Shareholders One problem is the vast regiment of small shareholders, of which there are more than 14,000. Much of the capital is held by wealthy unions in large blocks of shares. The Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants took up £lO,OOO worth of shares when the directors sent out their S.O.S. for additional capital last year. Excluding these large blocks of shares, the average shareholding must be very small.

According to the annual report, the authorised capital of the company is £250,000. The subscribed capital is £150,000 and there are, therefore, 100,000 shares available. “This extra capital is vitally necessary to provide a building to house the machinery which was placed on order long before we published our daily paper,” states the directors’ report.