New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4886, 18 November 1876, Page 2

New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18.

Some short time since we departedfrom our usual custom, and under somewhat peculiar circumstances addressed our readers ’on what was purely a business matter as connected with journalism. We offered some remarks in reference to a circular which had fallen into our hands, proposing to establish a new Press Agency, and we objected to the proposal, because, in our opinion, its carrying out would involve a sacrifice of good faith and honorable conduct. It seems that our, remarks have not been taken by the Otago Guardian in the kindly spirit in which they were offered, though in no way did we connect our Dunedin contemporary with the scheme, except in so far as it was named as one of the journals which would initiate the proposed new arrangements, and as the distributing 1 medium for cable news. But the Otago Guardian at once impugns our good faith in the matter and is good enough to’ say that the remarks of the New Zealand Times are written of course in the interests of the present Press Agency, and are intended to set, if possible, all the journals by one another’s ears. The Guardian also asserts that the New Zealand Times gets all its interprovincial telegrams from the Press Agency “ free gratis for nothing,” and that this has influenced us in condemning the new proposals. Now, in reference to these accusations, we have simply to say that they, .are both untrue; that we have" not written in the interests of the' Press Agency, but in the interests of common justice, fair play, and the honorable con-, duct of business; and that, as a matter of fact, the newspapers of Wellington both morning and evening are,, we believe, the highest paying constituents the Press Agency have. The Guardian, in writing as it has done, simply measures the corn of others by the bushel it possesses itself, and we have no doubt would be prepared to stoop to the meannesses of which it professes to believe us guilty ;, for in the very matter under notice it is not above being grossly deceptive. Of the proposals for a new Agency it says;—“We are interested in observing that the Otago Guardian is to be the distributing medium for cablegrams. It was the first time we had heard of this, but we cannot help admitting the suitableness of the selection.’’ Now, when we mention that the circular proposing the new arrangement for Press telegrams was signed by Messrs.' Heed and Fenwick, . proprietors of the Otago Guardian , and when we also notice that Mr. Reed has been solicitous in requesting answers to it, we need scarcely say that the above apparently innocent para 1 graph in our contemporary is in reality about as calm a piece of impudent deception as we have ever seen. The fact is, the whole proposal seems to have emanated from the Guardian, and upon its duplicity in writing about the matter now we could say much more, but will not do so, because, as we learn, the whole affair has fallen through, and the Guardian is now fearful of some consequence or another, suspecting other people of being as revengeful as itself, and therefore, like the little boy at school who has thrown the stone which has not broken the window, is the first to exclaim, in ah oblivion of grammar, “Please sir, it wasn’t me.” . ..