THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES Thursday, June 13, 1946. A GREAT EDITOR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26177, 13 June 1946, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES Thursday, June 13, 1946. A GREAT EDITOR

Less than three months ago Sir James Hutchison performed his last tasks for this newspaper. He did not, in the common phrase, sever his connection with it; such a severance, as his colleagues here warmly realised, could come only with death. None thought that it would strike so soon; but we can add that all who knew him in his work here feel that it struck mercifully and with classic symbolism. He died while his mind was still keen and his interest in this office and in affairs remained brightly intense. The tragedy that so often and, as it seems, so cruelly, overtakes many men who have lived active, useful lives is that they decline in old age slowly into physical and mental desuetude. He was spared such an inappropriate end. He lived long enough to fulfil a career in his chosen work, and not so long as to lose pride and interest in those things that were important to him. Of the nature of the service which he gave to this newspaper and to the city of Dunedin it is almost superfluous to speak here, so soon after the value of his work has been assessed, inwardly by those who knew him best, and publicly by many who were familiar with it, on the occasion of his retirement. It can be said, however, that the lofty opinion of his abilities and their application to the interests of the community which has long been held by his admiring colleagues was strikingly endorsed in the messages and tributes that came to him and to this office when he vacated the editorial chair. These, coming from national and civic leaders, from newspapermen throughout New Zealand and elsewhere, and from very many plain people who knew him only through the columns of this newspaper, have confirmed the judgment of those who worked with him that they sat under a great editor. It is a term that is not to be used carelessly. A combination of impersonal honesty, of keen capacity to evaluate issues, of courage, foresight,. and writing skill, is required of the man who could hope to claim the proudest title in journalism. And in the case of Sir James Hutchison the term fits so well as to be acknowledged by friend and adversary alike. It is good to know that he could realise, ere he died, how high in the public regard his life work, was held. With the feelings of regret that are here recorded at his passing, there is satisfaction in having been associated with him in a task performed with dignity and distinction. It remains for the Daily Times to express to Lady Hutchison and the members of the family sympathy in their loss.