Pen and Ink Portraits.

Observer, Volume 1, Issue 17, 8 January 1881, Page 160

Pen and Ink Portraits.

No. 12.— Mr.E. T. Gillon, Manager of the Press Association. The Pen and Ink Portraits have hitherto been confined to local subjects. It has been thought desirable, however, to vary the biographies, and to impart to them somewhat of a colonial interest, by giving etchings of the chief incidents and characteristics in the lives of men of colonial reputation, and the first of these is Mr. Edward Thomas Gillon, the manager of the New Zealand Press Association. In selecting Mr. Gillon to occupy the first column, I do not mean, however, to imply that he stands foremost among men of colonial reputation. The fact is, that the Editer has suggested to me that I should give pen and ink portraits of some of the leading journalists of New Zealand, and I have taken Mr. Gillon because he occupies perhaps the most important position on the press of the colony, having, as manager of the Press Association, to superintend the entire business of selecting and disseminating the telegraphic information supplied to the newspapers. The task is one which demands for its satisfactory performance the highest qualities and training m the profession, long experience, nice judgment, delicate tact, keen enterprise, untiring vigilance and industry, and command of temper. There is no position on the press of New Zealand that involves so much responsibility, or that is so trying. Reflect that a serious blunder in any important commercial cable message might disorganise the markets of the whole colony, and bring financial ruin upon many firms who rely on this source for their quotations. Reflect also that an unscrupulous person wielding this enormous power might be tempted to manipulate the markets by the mere alteration of a figure or two, and thus reap a fortune in a single day. That such a thing is possible has been proved repeatedly in the frauds perpetrated by great financial and railway rings in America, and everyone remembers how even the London Times commercial column was made the medium of gigantic frauds by Mr. Sampson and Baron Grant. It is only doing bare justice to Mr. Gillon to say that not a shadow of suspicion has ever been cast upon his integrity and impartiality in the dissemination of news. That mistakes will sometimes occur is inevitable under the circumstances, inasmuch as cable messages from America and London are transmitted from station to station over many thousands of miles of wire and by operators of various languages and nationalities. The only wonder, indeed, is that they are so fenerally accurate. It would be easy to shew y a comparison of the singular blunders that occur during the transmission of messages along short circuits of the New Zealand land lines how great is the liability to error. Mr. Gillon's position is extremely trying because of the geographical, social, and commercial dissimilarities, and the varying interests of the newspapers. It may be .said with truth that the journals of each provincial district have their peculiar and distinctive requirements, and these differences often exist amongst newspapers published within a comparatively short distance of each other. Moreover, press telegraphy in New Zealand has been developed to a greater state of perfection, and a larger amount of telegraphic news is transmitted to the news- . papers of this colony, than in any other country in the world, in proportion to population. It would be easy to prove this from official statistics did the space at my disposal admit. The admirable manner in which, the work is performed on the whole is highly creditable to the enterprise of the newspaper proprietors as well as to Mr. Gillon's skill, judgment and energy. Mr. Gillon is a Manxman by birth and parentage. His father was a small landowner in the Isle of Man, and discharged some important public offices under the peculiar constitution of that island. The family emigrated to Otago in the early days of that Province, when Mr. Gillon was a mere boy, and was engaged for some years in pastoral pursuits. Young E. T. Gillon was an expert stockman and agriculturalist. He was enured to hardship and endurance by long toilsome journeys over rough country, almost destitute of roads or tracks, in driving herds of cattle to the various up-country markets, which became" an important business on the- discovery of the gold diggings, where also Mr. Gillon spent some time, tempting the fickle smiles of Dame Fortune with only indifferent success. He had received the elements of a good sound English education at home and at the High School of Otago, and being naturally of studious habits, he took advantage of every opportunity of cultivating a knowledge of literature, science, and art. I believe for some short time he filled the position of a schoolmaster. While yet a mere lad, he became a contributor to the Dunedin press, and Mr., now Sir Julius Yogel, having discerned evidences of literary ability and taste in some of the young man's letters, offered him a position on the staff of the Otago Daily Times, which was gladly accepted. Mr. Gillon continued on the paper for some years as a reporter, Avith Yogel as his chief, and Mr. Bell, now proprietor of the Dunedin Evening Star, as sub-editor. W. H. Harrison, and Alexander Reid, both leading journalists in their day, but who have long since joined the majority, were also on the literary staff of the Otago Daily Times. Having acquired some experience in the profession, Mr. Gillon secured the editorship of a provincial journal, which he conducted with ability and enterprise until a change in the proprietary. He then removed to Wellington, and secured an appointment as Clerk of Private Bills at a moderate salary, augmenting his income by acting as Wellington correspondent to the Otago Daily Times, which had been transferred to a company, and by contributing to the Wellington press. Unfortunately, he fell under the displeasure of Mr. now Sir William Fox, then Premier of New Zealand, and resigned the appointment. Mr. Gillon had somehow contrived to secure an accurate forecaste of the Budget, which, he published in the Otago Daily Times before its delivery in the General Assembly, and as the Financial Statement was not altogether creditable to the administrative ability of the Treasurer, while its publication

took the wind out of his sails, the Government became suddenly impressed with the idea that Mr. Gillon's position as a journalist, was incompatible with the discharge of an important office of public trust. The logical course would have been to have increased his salary sufficiently to provide an income which would render him independent of outside employment, but he had incurred the suspicion of the Premier, and Sir William Fox was never the sort of man to tolerate anyone avlio crossed his inclinations or his interests. Having given up licking private enactments into shape, Mr. Gillon became the sub-editor of the Wellington Evening Fost, with Mr. Frank Gilford— one of the most talented and promising journalists the colony has ever possessed, and whose death was a loss to the profession — as chief. Under their joint editorship, the Post speedily obtained a position of literary excellence and influence which, in my humble opinion, it has never continued to occupy under any subsequent management, notwithstanding its largely increased size and circulation. Mr. Gillon was also the special^ Parliamentary correspondent of the Daily Southern, Cross, and retained his old connection with the Otago Daily Times. When the New Zealand Hansard was established, Mr. Gillon was offered and acceped the position of a reporter, but mere mechanical note-taking was distasteful to a man of his literary tastes and he soon relinquished the position and resumed his old billet on the Post. Besides his regular contributions to the press, Mr. Gillon has rendered valuable services to the stage, having written and dramatised several pieces, which were successfully represented, and still find a place among the play books. It is owing to this fact, and the interest he has always taken in the welfare of the stage, that Mr. Gillon now fulfils the duties of New Zealand agent for the Dramatic Authors' Society, in which capacity he succeded in inducing Parliament to pass a Copyright Act in New Zealand, and he has since been engaged in a determined and vigorous endeavour to protect, the rights of dramatic authors from infringement. Mr. Gillon was, for a short time, editor of the Wellington Independent. He has twice contested the seat in the General Assembly for a country constituency against Mr. Brandon, and suffered defeat, but he secured election to the Wellington Provincial Council shortly before the Abolition of Provincial Institutions. His first connection with systematic press telegraphy was in Greville's Telegram Company, as was named the first permanent organisation for supplying the press of the colony, formed by Mr. C. O. Montrose. In this office, Mr. Gillon took charge of the Parliamentary telegraphy. Having honourably severed his connection with that Agency, Mr. Gillon was appointed to the management of an opposition organisation formed by Sir Julius Vogcl, who desired to bring the whole press of the colony under his influence for political purposes, but failed to induce the manager and part proprietor of Greville's Agency to become a party to the scheme. The two rival agencies contended for five months, at the end of which Sir Julius Vogel's Association was run off. Mr. Montrose had obtained the support of a firm of capitalists, and, being provided with the sinews of war, he compelled Vogel's Agency to surrender at discretion in three months, taking over its assets and liabilities. Mr. Gillon again assumed the editorial control of the Evening Post, and became a general contributor to other newspapers, until the formation of the existing Press Association, when he was appointed its manager, in which position he has since continued. Greville's Agency — the name of which had been changed to " Tlie Press Agency," and which had passed into the possession of Messrs. Holt and McCarthy — succumbed to the force of circumstances after a prolonged struggle, and its interests were absorbed by the Press Association, which is now the only press telegraphic organisation in the colony, with the exception of a branch of Reuter's Company, which confines its operations entirely to cable news. Mr. Gillon is a man of untiring "industry. His power of work is enormous, but' the cares and toils of an arduous literary career have already begun to tell upon his constitution, albeit prepared for endurance by the out-door occupations of his youth. His ability, tact and skill are shewn by his management of the important interests committed to his charge, and, so far as I am aware, his impartiality has never been seriously called into question, His only fault is an irritability of temper, which is more or less common to all literary men, and is excusable in one who is burdened with the multitudinous details of a press telegraphic system, though it may somewhat militate ajgainst a man's popularity in social circles. Mr. Gillon, however, is extremely popular amongst his fellow press men, and by the younger members of the profession is regarded with much respect and esteem. His opinions, as one of the oldest journalists in the colony, are often of value also to the older journalists. He was unanimously elected chairman of the press gallery in the House of Representatives, and was presented with a haudsome address and valuable testimonial for his impartial discharge of the duties pertaining to that honorary position, as well as the assiduous attention he had devoted to securing the comfort and convenience of the occupants of the gallery. Mr. Gillon is also a distinguished officer in the Masonic craft, and is universally respected by all classes in Wellington.