"THE THUNDERER."

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9323, 25 August 1908, Page 2

"THE THUNDERER."

♦ . WHAT MADE " THE TIMES." " Mr Arthur Pearson is to have supremo control oi : ' The Times.' " Such was the confident announcement of January 7 last, and subsequently coniimied by Mr Pearson's own paper, the "Daily Express/ "on February ii>. Tho world was even told the amount of tho salary and tho term of Mr Pearson's engagement as managing director. Howas to receive £lO,UUU per . «nnuni (doublo that of the Prime Minister), and he was engaged for twenty years. But there were aoubters. Anio'iig tho earlier ones was Mr W. T. Stead, who possibly knows* aa much about the sscrete of modern journalism as anybody. Ho did nop think "The Times'- had been sold dutright, though ho accepted tho probability of Mr .Pearson's mauagemont. Rumours had' long been current that all was not well financially at Printing House Square. Tho coming of the halfpenny paper, tin* now methods introduced by tho Haarmeiworths and the Pearsons, the conservative attitude of "The Times" in relation to advertisements, and tho enormous expense of a literary and news staff 'that included some 400 regular contributors, were too heavy a handicap for the management. Various expedients were resorted to, which, while bringing in money, did not affect th© mam ieatures of the paper. Tlieso, however, proved insufficient, and tho fact that fresh capital was wanted was known to the inner circles. There was a, legend, based upo>n statements said to have been made by members of tho Walter family, that " The Times " was not for sale. As recently as 1904 the present head of the pap&r, Mr A. E. Walter, mad© public the following statement : — • "The control of 'The Times' line been in my hands for a good many years past ; it is there now. And there it "will remain until events over which mortals have no control shall place it in the hands of my successor. No outside influence of any kind, of any origin,, will ever be permitted to affect the character of the great institution which was founded by my great-grandfather 120 years ago, and which has never for a moment passed from the control of hifl lineal successors." . Im.ivord© made familiar by a onoe-well-known Dunedin citizen, "circumstances alter cases." and the candid friends of "Tho Thunderer" did not forget to ask, when the first- definite statement of its transfer to alien hands was announced, whether the financial results of past management were among thciso "events over which mortals have no control." Latest cable now. however, justifies and vindicates Mr Walter's 1904 statement. He is -still in control,' and his assistants are old and tried friends. Mr Moherly, Bell, who took charge after the * F*iv nellusm and Crime" fiasco; Mr Buckle, who in 1884 followed Mr Chenery as editor; Mr Chirol, who succeeded Sir D- M. Wallace as director of the foreign department ; and two old leading members of tho staff whose names are unknown to that public whose opinions on great questions they have largely lioJpod to mould— these remain. The "champion hustler" has failed of his ambition, though .'his rival. Lord Northeliffe, of the "Daily Mail," is said to have secured a monetary interest in the paper, which each of them was anxious ibo control. It is difficult for the average person who has not lived more than thirty or forty years in the world to appreciate the enormous influence once wielded Try " Tho Times." To-day there ar& half-a-dozen papers equally uj> to date in the matter of news, and much more readable from the standpoint of that derided but powerful individual, " the man in the street." The secret of the long period of almost unchallenged prestige enjoyed by "The Times" wns not so much- that its articles were ably written, or that it had a splendid staff as that it was the only live paper. It had no rivals. The few other dailies of small circulation did not attempt to challenge its supremacy. "The Times" was first in< the field with news of great events because no one until tho early seventies seriously entered into competition. And the fame .and authority it gained under Barnes and Delane have survived, though in. somewhat different and modified form, till this day. ' In ' tlio Victorian' era it wns its politics that told; now wo regard it more as a grant.. collector and publisher of world-wide information compiled by exports. Politically "The Times" has little influence. Its opinions are read and widely disseminated, but they do not make and unmake Ministries. Besides which it has ceased to be independent. It is strougly BaJfqurian and anti-Liberal. Ib was not always so. For years it was tlio leading Freetrade champion, and from its columns England learned that Sir Robert Peel lind abandoned Protection Mid would introduce Freetrade. That information was given Mr Delano, not by " Diana of the Crossw v ays," but by Lord Aberdeen, Peel'is Foreign Secretary. Grenville in his day referred in liis " Diary " -to the editor as " evidently a desperate Radical," and Lord Lyndhurst termed Barnes "the most powerful man in the country." Napoleon 111. was so annoyed at the persistence of the editorial slatings of the " usurper Bonaparte' that he actually took legal advice witii regard to suing "The Times" for libel in tlie English Courts ; and Guizot. when in office, having failed to mollify " The Thunderer," descended to the meanness of detaining in -Paris tho courier who was bearing: Indian, despatches to Printing House Square. But memories and services and ability are not sufficient in these days of universal brilliancy and hustle. The public on whom in tlie lastresort success or failure depends, knew not Joseph, or, if they did, preferred their news spiced and seasoned and brief. Hence the, recent changes in an institution which{ under its now directorate 1 , we hope will secure the prosperity it deserves, even though : it cannot I regain the influence it has lost. >