THE Otago Witness. DUNEDIN, SATURDAY, JULY 12, 1862.

Otago Witness, Issue 554, 12 July 1862, Page 4

THE Otago Witness. DUNEDIN, SATURDAY, JULY 12, 1862.

We have at all <in-.es an objection to drag our own affairs before the public, but there are occasions when whit to us is a matter of business may be to the public also a matter of very serious importance, and on such occasions wt feel compelled to break through a rule to which, un .•-!• or "mary circumstances, we should adhere. Such an occasion now presents itself, and we therefore make no apology for departing from our established practice ; the more espeeialty as it is a case v, hich com-: ns not only ourselves, but the Press <rf the Province generally. The Press and the Provincial Executive are at variance upon a subject which, ahhou^h to the Frjss a matter of pounds, shilshillingt. and pence, i* to the general public a matter of even greater consequence. The case stands thus : The Provincial Executive have proj.ccd to withdraw the utual Government advertisements iivin the newspapers, and to publit.li them only in the Provincial Government Gazette ; but, lest they should be absolutely lost in that interesting periodical, a gazette — which has so aptly been designated elsewhere as '"the tomb of Government notices,"' — it is proposed to publish in certain issues of the newpapers an abstract of or index to the Gin eminent Gazette. Moreover ii is proposed to insert in the newspapers an advertisement notifying the fact that the Government notices will in future be published in the Gizette only, and soliciting the general public to become subi seribers to that periodical. It was the sending of tins advertisement to the daily papers which was the first o\ert notification to the proprietors of the intention of the Govern- j meat, and as might naturally be expected they at once made a decided stand against what they considered not only an interference with their own interest ■!, but a positive sacrifice of the public weal, to a mistaken "penny wise" idea of economy, or to the less worthy motives of political enmii\ and personal pique. A meeting of the proprietors of the different newspapers published in Otago was at once convened, and it was decided to definitely refuse to in&eit as an advertisement the notice of the intention of the Government. It was further resolved to decline to receive the proposed abstract no tices of the Gazette advertisements, except at a largely increased rate of payusnt. In an article from the Daily Times, which we reprint elsewhere, the Government notices and the reply of the newspaper proprietors will be fonnd quoted at length.

In coming to the decision to resist the Executive in this matter, the newspaper proprietors were influenced by several considerations. In the first place, as business men, they held that if the Government wished -to enter into competition with them in business, and to push the circulation of the Gazette at their expense, they had a perfect right to refuse to allow their columns to be made the medium for advertising this strange opponent. In the next place, they were satisfied that the Government was decidedly in the wrong in the course it was adopting, and they resolved not to be made the tools for the perpetration of what, whether intententionally or otherwise, must be a public wrong. This may seem strong language, but a moment's reflection will show that it is warranted by the circumstances of the case. To make this clear, it is only necessary to remember that the Executive are not dealing with their own affairs and their own funds, but aie acting as stewards for I the people of the Province, and are bound to administer them to the best advantage. If the case were otKrwise, and they were acting on their own account, they might of course do as foolishly as they pleaded. This is a free country, and an Englishman has a right to do as hj likes with his own. But, if he is acting for other j, and is in a situation of trust, the case is different ; and there are very ugly names which are sometimes applied to th.ise who wilfully misapply and mismanage what is committed to their care. What, wt should like to know, woild be said |of a confidential steward who, having

to call for tenders for the erection of a house for his employer, should, instead of publicly advertising, only let a few persons into the secret, and thus by narrowing the competition increase the chances of the contract being given to one of his friends ? Yet that is very much like what is proposed to be done by the Executive. They propose in calling for tenders for public works to do so only in the Gazette, a periodical issued by themselves and which not being in any sense a newspaper is seen only by those who make it their especial business to refer to it. To the general public the very existence of such a periodical is hardly known. What more easy than for some member of the Executive to give the hint to a friend of his that such a public work, somewhere in the country, was about to be undertaken, and that the Gazette notice would appear in a day or two ? The notice appears, the friend tenders, and as hardly anybody else had observed it, he has scarcely any competition, and his tender very possibly gets accepted ; whereas most probably some person actually resident in the district Avhere the I work has to be carried out might have been glad, had he known in time, to have undertaken the work for twothirds of the amount. It is, of course, possible that the work may at last have to be done by him as sub-contractor, but the difference between what he gets and what the first contractor charges is so much positive loss to the country. We do not say that the Executive have been actuated by the desire to " work the oracle" in the way indicated, but it must be clear that by the course they propose to pursue they would lay themse'ves open, to the imputation. One thing is certain, that by advertising the Government notices in the Gazette only the competition for Government work must necessarily be narrowed to the comparatively small number of persons who make it their business to look after the Government contracts, and who for that purpose, would become subscribers to the Gazette. It is easy to see what facilities for combinations would be afforded by such a state of things, and how much the public interest would be likely to suffer. But there is another consideration of some importance, and that is that the Government is by law required to advertise mnny things in newbpapsrs, and it will hardly be pretended that the Government Gazette conies within that designation. Indeed lest there shall be any doubt upon the subject, it is usual, in Acts and Ordinances, to direct that the public notices required by such Acts, shall be published in the Government Gazette ; and, in the newspapers. Thus, it will be seen, that the newspaper proprietors

were, in the course they took, not merely jus- ! tified on public grounds, but absolutely standing upou their undoubted rights. It is needles for us to point out the undignified | position taken by the Government in this matter. Whether justly or not, they have laid themselves open to the charge of seeking to revenge themselves ibr i political opposition by attacking the purses of j their opponents, and in their anxiety to injure the newspapers, sacrificing public interests ; they have, moreover, placed themselves in the i false position of being liable to the suspicion of a desire to carry on public business in an underhand manner, instead of courting that publicity which,like the blessed light of duy,is the safeguard of the honest and upright man ; and, what perhaps they will feel most acutely, they have taken a step in a direction in which I they cannot proceed ; for ad long as the law directs that they must advertise in the Government Gazette and in the newspapers ; any J action they may take without such previous j advertisement will be illegal, and at their own I peril.