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New Zealand Herald, Volume XV, Issue 5173, 15 June 1878, Page 4

Tue New Zealand Times, now edited by an ex-Minister, whose services were dispensed with by a not over-grateful Parliament, is in great distress. The newlyappointed editor complains that his journal has lost the " patronage'"' of the Government, and that Ministers are behaving improperly, because they allow the Auckland papers to report the different interviews and meetings with the natives, and do not permit other journals the same privilege. The mixture of politics and business in the leading columns of our contemporary is amusing, bat we really cannot see that the present Ministry are in any way responsible for the financial condition of the New Zealand Times Company ; neither can we see the justice of continuing a subsidj of £1000 or £1500 a year out of public revenue to keep our contemporary afloat and pay the editor's salary. In the question of advertising Ministers are responsible to the House, aud they will probably be able to auswer satisfactorily any enquiries that may be made upon the subject. It is well known that the Government receive from the leading newspapers of the colony four times more revenue for postage stamps and telegrams than they pay in return for advertislug ; audit would be just as sensible to say that the wovernmeut are under obligations to the newspapers, as to say the leading journals are indebted to the Government for I' favours received." With the "colonial" journal in Wellington this, however, has not oeeu the case, because it has received annually from a grateful Ministry, large 6'.nu for printing as well as advertising, *nu it has given little in return. All thk is chauged now, and in future Government advertising iu Wellington is to be kept within reasonable limits, whilst the printing required is to be executed outside of the Government office is 60 be tendered for in the usual way, and the lowest tender accepted. i\o doubt iu economising in this direction Ministers will be abused, because retrenchment is generally unpopular, but they will not be so foolish as to exercise their " patronage" iu favour only of purely Ministerial journals. We agree with the Wellington Post, that purchased support is of no vaiue whatever, aud that a newspaper which is absolutely independent of Ministers, aud ready to criticise and condemn any shortcomings or errors, is the one which, iu the end, will prove most successful. In refereuce to the foolish complaint about reporting native meetings by the Auckland press, we may point out that at the recent meeting at Waikato the Press Agency and the Waikato Times had reporters present, as well as the Auckland papers. And the New Zealand Times might have had one there also had there been sufficient enterprise iu the management to send a man and pay his expenses. We have referred to these two questions to show how very difficult it is for the Opposition to rake up grievances against the Government. The recent successful floating of the loan, the marked progress of the Government in their native policy, and above all the victories gained at recent contested elections, are as gall and wormwood to the remnant of the Opposition left in the House, who predicted every kind of failure and disaster if the Grey Ministry were permitted to remain in office for a single year. But, as yet, there is no sign of the dire misfortune—the coming crisis—that is said to await us. On the contrary, we see visions of peace and prosperity now that we have got rid of some of the members of the "governing family,"amougst whom we must class the present editor of that moribund journal, the New Zealand Times.