JOURNALISTIC AMENITIES.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4127, 12 June 1874, Page 3

JOURNALISTIC AMENITIES.

Some amusement and some sorrow must be caused by tbe perusal of articles which occasionally appear in country contemporaries, written with the meanest object and in the meanest spirit. A favorite field for this description of literature was the Province of Marlborough, but, since the institution of the Times in Blenheim, a change seems to have come o’er the spirit of the local Press. The evil spirit has still, however, to be eradicated in Southland and Coromandel, as will be seen from the extracts which we append ; CIVILITIES IN SOUTHLAND. When the Western Star (says that paper), first rose on the journalistic horizon, the Invercargill newspapers, with that charity so peculiar and foresight so characteristic of them, predicted that it was only a meteor. When they found out that it was a fixed star, and that its beams irradiated all Southland—when they found that the number of its subscribers was surpassing that of theirs—they began to feel alarmed, and adopted tactics towards us which no other newspaper would have done. Embedded in Invercargill till their intellects petrified, those sprightly specimens of fossil journalism imagined that the acme of newspaper excellence is wasted when the Eatanswill editors are excelled in their own particular line. Afraid to speak their sentiments, they have querulously grumbled at our success, and, under the guise of correspondents’ letters basely insinuated what they dare not state openly. We do not intend to gratify their petty malice by entering into a controversy with them—we won’t, iu fact, advertise gratis those journalistic Kip Van Winkles in our 'widely-circulated columns. We will content ourselves by relating a little story. A year or two ago, a wellknown Southland legislator, during the session of the General Assembly, was sitting at the fire of tbe reading-room of the House, “ thinking upon naething, like mony mighty men.” AVliile engaged in tins quiet amusement, another legislator, whose name is famous in Hew Zealand and Australia, and Britain for that matter, came in to look for something to read. Espying upon the table a copy of the Southland News, he took it up, and, glancing at it, said—- “ Look here, if I were a Southland man, I would not allow this rag to appear on the table ; I would throw it into the fire whenever it arrived, so that no one should see it. I would he ashamed to acknowledge that I came from a place where such a thing is published.” COURTESIES AT COHO3IANDEL. The Coromandel Mail says ;—Not satisfied until casting abuse and slander around the district where they live, the. creatures of the jYcics make use of their position as correspondents to a Thames paper to vent their little spleen and gratify their small animosities. Because Captain Hargreaves, or his employers, have properly refused to recognise the News as an advertising medium, every device of minds trained to the business has been used to injure the captain iu the eyes of his employers and the public. Hence we find in tbe Thames Star of Thursday last, a telegram supplied by its Coromandel correspondent (the genius of the Nmes) to the following effect : “ If you succeed iu getting the Hauraki, with Mi-. Hargreaves as master, you will get one of the most impertinent and uncivil masters in the Province.” Every'one hero knows that the statement referred to is a lie, and that Captain Hargreaves has done all that could be done with the means at his disposal to minister to the convenience of the people at Coromandel. The author of the telegram too, knows, that he might bo made amenable to the laws of this country, that there is, iu fact, good ground, for an action for libel, civil or criminal, in the slander ; but be rests secure in tbe consciousness that be is not worth powder and shot, that a bill of sale covers the plant of the News, and that he may slander and libel without fear of ■consequence. We are in a position to stat e authoritativetely that the Hauraki as soon as ready, will be placed in tbe trade for which she was built, and she will, we believe, under the command of Captain Hargreaves, be fully equal to the business requirements of Coromandel. On the same matter, the Thames Advertiser writes;—We learn from a private letter from Coromandel that no action will be preferred against the proprietors of the Thames Star by Captain Hargreaves, in reference to a grossly libellous telegram published by them from a correspondent at Coromandel. It appears that the caluminator (a Mr. King, of Relieving Officer notoriety) has confessed to the authorship. Our correspondent adds that nearly the whole of Coromandel will assist in prosecuting the News proprietors, of whom King is one, for publishing similar untruths. A libellous article appears iu the News this morning, characterising Captain Hargreaves as a common thief. Great indignation is felt, and a testimonial is being got up by the passengers. People are thoroughly sick of the scurrility of the News, and its best friends are disgusted. It would appear that the rival journals of Coromandel do not confine themselves to a paper warfare alone, or at least a co-proprietor of the Mail is so disgusted with the scurrility of the News, that he (to use his own words) “ endeavored to get a siajt at King and Von Stunner [the proprietor and editor] the other day, but the cowards were not on. W and myself wore standing on the veyandah when the two wretches passed, and made some very nasty remarks, King at the same time putting his lingers to his nose, and Von following his example. X got rather warm, and offered to polish the pallet them off at once if they would come into the middle of the road. I felt I could have knocked a dozen such cowards over.”