FIFTY YEARS OF ACHIEVEMENT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15301, 15 November 1911, Page 17

FIFTY YEARS OF ACHIEVEMENT

In a young oountry throbbing with vitality, energy, and hope, the story of the past, paradoxical as it may seem, rises dim ae a dream. It is too near to be "seen; too close to be realised. Eyes are bent forward rather than backward; efforts are directed to Ujo tasks of the moment, the plans of the future, and not to a retrospect of tho past. in attitude such as this is perfectly intelligible. ' Appreciation of the historic is sot an acute 6ense with tho people of a young country. Thero may be those who, contemplating the superlative confidence of youth that surrounds them, hanker after a glimpse of some crumbling ivy -covered castle wall that withstood the shock of battle in centuries gone by or stood a silent witness of some of those epoch-marking events that are the landmarks of the history of their race, but they, must seek these Ehrines afar. Veneration is not the strong point of youth in any case, but ono of the products of maturity. In New Zealand •wo may "be as yet too close to our genesis to realise all its significance, and may find tie newness of tilings a stumbling block to a clear appreciation of the significance of the atmosphere of the but Time and Patience will provide the remedy. Oertainly there are occasions when tho mind may advantageously be abstracted from contemplation of the turmoil of the Present and the hopes of tile Future and concentrated seriously in judicial retrospect. Perhaps wo need not ccave much toleration in suggesting that on occasion of such a kind presents itself in tho celebration of the Jubilee of tho Otago Daily Times, for in a peculiar fashion the interests of a community are bound up and reflected in tho columns of its local press. It may gratify national pride to be told that mankind is indebted to the wisdom of Queen Elizabeth and tbe prudence of Burleigh for the first newspaper, but New Zealand can lay no claim to the possession of patriarchal newspapers covered with the dust of ocnluritfl. Thero is something uncommonly interesting in tho tolo of "how tho chaeto geniiß of Addison banished " tho painful topic of politics" from his elegant pages, and first established tho distinct line of demarcation between newspapers and periodical literature, but when the New Zealand press was cradled its career was already mapped out by precedent. The independent dignity of Literature may - totter or stand secure, but tho daily press has its now hereditary task to occupy it and cannot afford 'to be greatly perturbed .on that score. If it succeed in being the chronicle and brief abstract of.the time, perhaps in a less dramatic but more lasting measure than the players whom Hamlet admonishes, it has achieved something useful, and if it can make reasonable claim to havo helped tho public in any way that is educational and for its betterment, it has at least attempted to realise what it should consider to be its high destiny. "Tho press,'* said Cardinal Gibbons in \ New' York recently, " is undoubtedly a colossal

I engine of either truth or error," and tho discriminating prelate did not forget to remind his hearers that, as it is tho duty of the press to be the agent of good and not of evil, so it is the duty of.tho pcoplo to support those newspapers that are conspicuous by their healthy tone and that do everything in their power to lessen tho evil , resulting from those that have an influence for bad. Of the manner in which tho Otaqo Daily Times has during tho past fifty years borno itself in relation to such a standard the public must be tho judge. It would be disappointing to leam that that judgment was mainly complimentary to its good intentions, but serious apprehension on that score fails to assert itself. From the somewhat musty files of tho early sixties to tboao of tho piesent year is a rather long journey, and he who would, contemplate the history of tho community through the mirror oi the pages of this journal must needs havo leisure and diligence. To say that the task would not amply repay him would be to reflect on tho community itself. Tile story will not be entirely one of sucoaa, for success is ofitimes built most securely upon failure, but assuredly it mil contain much evidence of earnest effort and of progress, and, above all, perhaps, it will remain a record of imperishable human interest to the people of Otago as generation succeeds generation. As in no unimportant sense its very refler, the lifo of this journal has been fcr so long bo indissolubly connected with tho lifo of the provincial district of Otago that it may very reasonably hope to cscapo any charge of egotism in assuming that the public will bo genuinely interested in the celebration of tho fiftieth anniversary of its establishment. For SO years the Otaco Daily Times has been Tegularly published in Dunedin. The first daily newspaper established in New Zealand, it has for 50 years been its endeayour to serve faithfully the public and its province. In theso days, wc trust, its reputation stands clean in the public minjl and gives it a position of which the community as a whole,' as well as thopo responsible for tho conduct of the journal, may reasonably be proud. In tho first number of the Otaco Daily Times, published on 15t.1i November, 1861—a replica of which issue proves a most interesting supplement to this record—there appeared these sentences outlining tho aspirations of the new-born journal 1

From this day wo aspire 10 bo tlio historical mirror of all thnt occurs in Otago—of all that in any way affects its history. ... In ourselves wo are tho symbol of tho progress of Otaco. No one, a few months back, would have thought of establishing a daily paper in Duncdin—tho first daily paper in New Zealand! Tho pa.it and (lie present our readers htivo before them—tho future rests with themselves. ]f thoy will wisely avail themselves of tho resources which a bounteous Providence has jilncod at their command; if they avoid aliko tho dancers of cxccmsivo doubtfulness and of reckless confidenco"; if thoy will add to discriminating judgment tho auxiliaries of energy, perscvcranee, jand industry, thcro is no limit to tho success which may crown their carcer. If they complain that hi our remarks

THE STORY OF THE PAPER.

wo havo mentioned facts with which they woro previously oojjnisant, we may plead that, besides their appropriateness to an oponing number," tlioy may servo thopurpaso oi a rroord when tho prosent Dumxlin may not bo recognisable in tho largo city it will become. The early pioneers of Otago-may yearn hence turn to theso pages and recall with mingled fcolinp of thankfulness and triumph tho humblo times and tho hard efforts of their earliest associations with tho preat colony, and they may dwell with laudable pride on tho success cf the plaeo whoso first settlement they assisted. Exactly 50 years ago were thoso words written. Aijd on this day a judgment may be formed respecting tho measure of tho fulfilment on tho part of both paper and provincial district of tho predictions that were then made. Evidence that may contribute to the formation of that judgment we propose to eupply in tho accompanying columns. And, bearing in mind tho thought expressed in tho first, number, that performance speaks louder than profession, wo need do nothing but present a plain and straightforward recital of fact. On tho facts the paper stands; on the facts tho provincial district stands. Each presents a record, which is eloquent in its simplicity nnd powerj each has attained, in commendable measure, to the status forecasted; and each still has stretching before it a vista of progress and advance— a long avenue which is resplendent with the luminous ideals of social and political worth standing brilliantly forth at its head. So far on the path we havo come. Let the past provide tho stimulus for tho future. Let tho future beckon us on as it did our forbears. Fifty years arc but a hand's space of time. The destiny of Otago nnd of the Otago Daily Times is not yet worked out. As the provincial district advances io will the journal. And it will ever be, as it has always been, the duty and interest of the journal to serve, tlie..provincial district.