N.Z. MAIL PUBLISHED WEEKLY. FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 1890. THE NEW ZEALAND MAIL.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 956, 27 June 1890, Page 16

N.Z. MAIL PUBLISHED WEEKLY. FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 1890. THE NEW ZEALAND MAIL.

U?' We present ourselves this week in the not common character of a new friend with an old face. The New Zealand Mail, having passed into the hands,of its new proprietor, is still known by its old name. At the outset we must therefore point out the consequence. It is that as wo ware not responsible for the past opinions of the paper, we cannot be held to be bound bv these opinions in the future. Our position allows us the privilege of wiping the slate clean before making a fresh start. We respect our predecessors in the guidance of this journal, Indeed, we are sensible, as every thoughtful reader of its columns must be, that from first to last—a period of some thirty years more or less—there has been a great deal that was good. We only wish to point out that while not debarred from following up such of the lines formerly advocated as we please, we are not necessarily bound to follow any of them. We a-k our readers , (who, we trust, will be numerous) to judge their new friend not by the old face on which his name is inscribed, but by the new face on which his opinions are set out from day to day. That new face we purpose to make like unto all human faces which reflect the moods of the heart within. Whatever men sav, do, think, that we shall deem it our du*y to treat of. Nothing human shall we regard as above or beneath us. In the great mass of flotsam and jetsam cast up daily by the tide of human events on the shore where the journalist plies hip busy trade there are many things—things that. move us to laughter and to tears ; that kindle u=> to enthusiasm and chill us into contempt, repel us to scorn, excite our pity, and carry us up to the height of edmira'on. These things all belong broadly to humanity, and broadly must they all be treated. We propose so to treat them in their varied d-uart-ments. in politics we shall g' vr ' allegiance r o no party, SoeiaPy, w shall not be moved by undue c nsideration for any class, or by unfounded tenderness for anv interest, No man's religion ahull b-' a drawback in our eyes except the religion of the Pharisee who stands up to thank (led publi. lv that he is not as ocher men ar, and towards him we ‘■had develop ilie privy if making him W sh to ni-.ecd quickly ir-nii Him high l, »e . We shait no; Iv", ill propecourtesy, to any individual, any more than we shall truckle to any majority. All human things we shall treat broadly, with our best regard for truth and justice, for the weil-being of mankind and the good government of the country. We "shall, in the course of the years that are before us, have to support

political parties, individuals, public bodies, organisations of men of one kind and another. We ask it to be distinctly understood that such support as we shall give them does not commit us to a defence of everything they may do. The right of inde pendent criticism we propose to retain always. In dealing with all questions we shall use every lawful weapon in the arsenal of rhetoric,and we hope to feel every emotion that warms the heart of the writer, or lightens his spirit, that gives weight to his hand or restrains it—every emotion except, we trust, the emotion of fear ; not that fear of error which is the basis of the honest man’s sense ot responsibility, but the feeling to be found nowhere but in the hearts of cowards.

“ Under which king ?” the politician perhaps may ask. We think it not too likely, for every politician knows that there are no parties, and no kings therefore ruling them. The ranks in the two sides in the House of Representatives, if there can even be said to be two sides, present a motley array of jarring principles. In a newspaper there are other things besides principles and opinions. There is what we may call.the larger side of journalism : the side on which lies the chronicle of faetp. Our aim is to present this eyc-ry week with completeness, with variety, and above all things with promptitude. The true journalist has a horror of trenching in his news columns on the sacred department of history, which follows him with remorseless persistence at a steady distance ot twenty-four hours. No pains will be spared to present weekly a complete picture of the week s doings of the world, of the small world in which we revolve, and of the great world with which ours moves on. WA will do our duty in collecting, arranging, placing before the public in readable attractive form the news from China to Peru, and in commenting fearlessly on as much of the same as may be necessary. By sparing no pains we mean that we shall spare no expense. Arrangements have been made to give our readers more than they have been in the habit of receiving hitherto. Wellington is the geographical centre of New Zealand, the headquarters of Government, the chief city of a district whose remarkable potentialities men are now only be ginning to suspect. We purpose to give this great centre a weekly newspaper worthy of its destiny. To attempt so much" is our duty. To give us adequate support is to ensure our success : and that is perhaps the duty of the public. If the public does its duty as well as we propose to do ours, the mutual advantage will be considerable.