Oxford and Cust Observer. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. SATURDAY, August 17, 1889.

Oxford Observer, Volume I, Issue 1, 17 August 1889, Page 2

Oxford and Cust Observer. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. SATURDAY, August 17, 1889.

The appearance of a new journal is something like the advent of a new b»by. The authors of its being are divided between satisfaction and anxiety for its future ; so many have been born ; so many have turned out badly or died m early childhood. As for the neighbors, they take a merely complimentary notice of the young thing; and it is not until time has developed its character for good or ill, and madept a force and factor m the socia fabric, that the world at large takes any notice of it at all. And, therefore, it is not without modesty that we usher our new-born " Observer " into the glare of day. Not without modesty, but yet without undue mistrust ; for we are determined to do all we can to arouse an interest m our offspring, and to make it worthy of any kindness that may be bestowed upon it.

The name under which we have registered the bantling will set forth to our friends some of the hopes that we entertain for its future. It first sees tlie light, indeed, m Oxford, but it is not to live for Oxford alone — " The Oxford and Cust Observer " is designed to be a-;[weekly journal for the whole district. It will be printed and published m Oxford; it will be written for, and read, we trust, m all parts of the surrounding country. We are proud to believe it possible to con-

duct a journal like this on strictly local lines, and we make the attempt with stout hearts. Like our prototype, the babe, and like many another newspaper m real life, we are small at first, but we are much mistaken m our neighbors if they show themselves contemptuous of the day of small things. In point of fact, we are limited at present, partly by the want of certain type and material, which will arrive to our order by the next mail steamer from Home, and partly by our intention to omit from our columns all " dummy " advertisements. We aim at getting the greatest amount of reading matter of local and real interest into the smallest reasonable>space. It is better to be useful than showy ; it is better to be small and solvent than to be a big bankrupt. We hope, of course, to improve m all respects as time goes on ; and as to our size, it is

obvious that the more local contribubutions our friends will give us to feed on, the bigger we shall grow. We are, at all events, entirely m earnest m wishing to be the bona fide organ of public opinion m Northwest Canterbury, to be a journal for the people, written by men of the people. Our columns will always be open for the ventilation of local grievances, and the suggestion of local hopes. We elect to stand or fall with the district, sharing, no doubt, any reverses which may overtake it, and, we are bold to believe, admitted also to be partakers of its prosperity. Having expressed our aims and hopes thus far, we now take the liberty of calling attention to our sub-title. It will be seen that we appear not only as " The Oxford and Cust Observer," but as " The Canterbury Liberal," and here, too, the choice of name is indicative of our deliberate intention. Our political platform is constructed of such planks as these : — Enquiry into the relations between Labor and Oapital, with a view to their fairer adjustment ; Parliamentary reform, with special reference, among other things, to an Elective Upper House; improvement of the Land Laws, and of the incidence of taxation ; and New Zealand for New Zealanders. It will be admitted, therefore, that we are "liberal" m politics. But we are anxious to take this opportunity of making it clear that we shall honestly try to be liberal m a great many other things ; liberal, for instance, m politeness and fairness to friend and foe ; liberal m giving space for the discussion of all topics interesting to our readers, or calculated to advance their interests. Nothing is easier for a newspaper than to get into a groove of .bought, -end treat with perhaps unconscious roughness all persons who do not say " Shibboleth " c: aotly. But we shall try our best to be fair, to " make a dead set " at no one, never to say things that will give pain, never to be vulgar or personal, and never to impute motives. And so we start upon our journalistic life — not very big yet, but standing on tip-toe to see, if possible, something of our common future ; and, as we look ahead, we seem to see the shadows lifting on the horizon ; we see townships and hamlets round about us, busy and prospering ; we see the inevitable rivalries between men resolving themselves little by little into rivalries wholly generous ; we see our fellow-colonists united m their efforts after material, moral, and political progress ; we see them taking an intelligent interest m the larger questions which agitate the world, and contributing their share to the formation of a healthy public opinion ; and m all these matters allowing to " The Observer " a modest place as "guide, philosopher, and friend." Seeing these things "as m a glass, darkly," we will do our best to fashion them from fantasies into facts. And thus we greet our neighbors heartily ; " we call all men our friends m the great bond of human brotherhood. Every arrangement necessary for the production of this weekly journal has now been thought out and rendered possible. We pledge our

word that what we shall write m " The Observer " shall always be what our patrons will read, that -we shall try to give them common sense and honest and kindly criticism of men and things. If we must needs have a motto let it be the saying of a great journalist now passed away, " Fun is good, truth better, love best of all."

In our remarks above we have dealt for the most part with the political and literary prospects oi " The Observer." Now let us descend, if it be a descent m the opinion of business men, to the discussion of various details connected with our business management. Young Benjamin Franklin, who was undoubtedly a bold, bad boy, suggested to his father that he might say grace once for all over the barrel of pork when he stove m the head, and so save the time wasted m saying grace ove_* each meal as it appeared on the paternal table. On this admirable -principle we now make one wide and comprehensive apology to our readers for any mistakes of printing which may disfigure our earlier issues. It ia not easy to get into the full swing of firstclass newspaper printing m a moment of time, and we are not yet quite as well supplied m the matter of material as we shall soon be ; we throw, ourselves, thereioie, on the indulgence of our readers and correspondents alike, feeling sure that they will not institute too severe a comparison at fitst be^ tween "our own make" and "imported goods." We shall hail with pleasure any communications tliat our friends m, the district may be kind enough, to send us ; and we would direct attention to om* Editorial notice m another column, setting forth the usual conditions on which contributions will he accepted. Perhaps it may ba well to; mention that we have a live Editor on the premises. We shall alwaya be particularly glad to insert reports of the meetings of the various Orders and Societies m our midst, which deserve we think, more adequate notice of their doings thai, tliey are sometimes able to secure. One of our ohief objects shall be to offer really original notices of local events, not mere clippings trom the Christchurch papers, but, to secure this desirable end, we must to aome extent rely upon our friends m the district to forward prompt information on any matter of interest. As an additional inducement to bona fide subscribers, it is our intention to allow to every subscriber a space m our journal m which to advertise anything for sale or exchange, free of coat once a month, provided the advertisement does not exceed twenty-six words. This will m fact, amount to returning the subscription, when the value of the advertisement is considered. And, indeed, we suppose there is scarcely a farmer or tradesman who is not likely to have some produce, machinery, of article of some kind, which he would be glad to sell or exchange. From time to time, as new ideas occu/to usi or plans for popularising our jjaperand helping our neighbors, we snail proceed to act upon them. Experiencej-eaches something every day, even to newspaper people.

asked to clear out the drain at the side of the road fronting the school, as a lot of stagnant water lies there." Tlie Chairman was directed to write to the Board for new maps ; also to request the Eoad Board to clear out the drain alongside the road ; and to have tlie drain alongside tlie school cleared out. The Superintendent of the Sunday f School, Mr John Weld, waited on the Committee, and presented a petition praying the Committee to rescind their recent decision as to making a charge for the use of the school building for Sunday school purposes. Mr Weld stated that he considered the Committee had no right to make a charge, as reasons had been given for doing so, and the building was erected by the Hta-o for educational purposes, and the Sunday school was another means of education. He pointed out that the St. Andrew's Sunday school had the u.se of the public school for 15 years, and he saw no reason why any alteration should be made now. As to being unable to keep the children under control, they had a serious difficulty to contend with. He blamed the late schoolmaster for the want of discipline m the day school, which reflected on tiie Sunday school. He had already 1; .en able to see an improvement m the m-uaners of tho children, which he pu'u down to the better discipline of the new master. Mr Aldridge stated that he had fully cv.ipidei*ed this matter, and had heard :t discussed outside, all the arguments of the party opposed to the action of the Committee being, to his m;; d, :.n favor of them. He thought tliat tlio fact of the Church having the iijo oi die Sunday school free so long,, and never attempting to make good shy d-image done, or cleaning up any o'. *he dirt, was a good reason for milking an alteration m the arrangenifTi . One of their strong arguments ■was that the West Oxford school was let for biuiday school purposes, but he :.oim ' on inquiry that a minute was placed m their books to the effect that the noi sool building was not to be. let to any community who owned a building within reasonable distance of the M-'o-.'l; iij'd further, that those who La..- iii- ufce of the school had to clean it out and d*ist it before *ight o'clock on Monday morning. Mr Com v ns stated that he failed to see, and never could see, why the Cm iron should not have the use of the e_'"Ool. it was erected for educational ]u;po:s;.-s,.aud the Church only used it for that purpose. He admitted that damage was done and the school left very dirty, and that the children were not very well controlled. Mr Mitchell cited cases of damage and want of control of the children. Mr Parish stated that complaints had been made for years of the behavior o - the children. If the day scholars' books were left on the desks on Friday tliey were seldom to be found on Monday morning, and children's slates \tiiv frequently broken. T c Chairman stated that the St. Mary's Church Sunday sohool was at one time held m the day school, but they removed to the Church, so that ■ibsf had a precedent to go by. On the question being put to the voie, iv was decided to adhere to the resolution passed at the previous meeting. Owing to the receipts of the Comm'.steo not being sufficient to meet the c penditure, it was decided that offers b j invited ior the work done by Mrs Barrett and J. Pegg, to be carried out by one person, it being found that the Committee are paj dng more than other sciioois of a similar size are doing. The Chairman was directed to prepare a fresh schedule of duties, and submit it to the next meeting of the Committee. The meeting then adjourned.