We are prepared to give the advantages of a gratuitous advertisement to the fact that our contemporary, the Evening News,, proposes to isstie a morning .edition jmder the name of the Morning News. That. Auckland is capable of supporting five daily journals is an idea which we think few entertain, and the intention of the new morning •' aspirant to literary position is, of course, to build up that position on the ruins, of one or another or both, of the existing morning journals. Eor ourselves, .we " "are wholly indifferent,, and it is,' therefore, that in the discharge of our duty to the public we direct attention to this new.enterprise. After the miserable failures that have attended all previoussimilar;,:efforts,.:he is a bold man that conceived. the idea of another i attempt. Three morning papers will not exist in Auckland, and the weakest must go to the wall. That is as certainas any future thing can be declared tp be: Sustained''by promises 6f support,, the Free Press existed for 34 days.i The .Daily. News for 35 days; the Morning Advertiser JNo. 1 existed spmejtwo months, and No. 2, with the N'eit)B,qf'(7ie{X>ai/7 about thesatnetinie. At least from ther&st to.the last of these i three papers, including the intervals, five' months had not elapsed. These aU lived by faith', arid died not having received' the promises. Each tone commenced, its career,with declarations of deeds to be accomplished^ such as no other journal.had achieved ; e^ch one received the^ utmost' assurances of support, and died'from the same complaint—a tightness of the chest—caused by the "unremitting" attention of its friends. Another attempt is now about to be made ; that itwill.'Tesiilt'in k similar catastrophe islas sure as that it will make its appearance. Th'at'the conductor of the News knows what he is about, we.do not doubt ; though w6i do not think _ that he should imperil the interests' of thej helpless in: a'chimericar attempt' of the kind. There are others, perhaps, connected with the movement who know nothing of journalism or its expenses, but they will have'that1 pleasant experience in a. brief space. .', Admitting that three mprning,papers will.not exist in Auckland, the continuance of the Morning .News must -therefore depend on the disappearance from journalism of either/ the: ; Herald or the Cross. -Is' there anyone inAucklalid th^t thinks ,th&t such an' event '■'will occur, or that wealth will be poured forth sufficient to ; sustain > the' new venture'till'it^has dislodged its long-established rivals ; or that either will b^ ; allowed,to sink for, lack of cap^al at its'back? This is plain speakiu'g,' and a little impertinent,, nevertheless true. But with this aspect of the question the.' public has
not to do. The object of the newspaper is purely political. We do not say that this is a fault, but we meution it because the intention expressed is wholly contrary. The prospectus says " it will be wholly unconnected with any sect or political party." What is the purpose of this dishonest statement ? Would it not be better to express what every one knows, and to say in a manly way that it is to be started solely with the motive of opposing the present Ministry. Every one knows this, and there is no disgrace in it ; but why attempt to sail under false colours? What kind of honest speaking are we to expect in the future when its first utterance is a blatant falsehood. "No sect or political party" indeed ! Is it because it is ashamed of its party ? Or is it because the people of Auckland like the' San Francisco mail service so well that they would not like to see it crushed ? Is it because the people | hold so strongly with the wisdom of [ obtaining a loan, and with the duty of moulding our fiscal policy so as to en- | courage local industry and give employment to all, that the A.dnllamites I are afraid to admit their principles? Shame upon such want of manliness ! Every one knows that the new paper is solely promised support because it is to be the organ in Auckland of the Cave of Adullam ; and yet it tries to sneak into the place with a falsehood for its credentials. It will scarcely be contended that
there is an absence of facilities in Auckland for business advertising. This is an aspect in which the new venture provokes enquiry. Does an
increase in the number of local journals increase the facilities for advertising ? A moment's enquiry shows that any increase to the number beyond
one solitary local journal diminishes the power of an advertisement. The establishment of a second journal diminishes the number of persons who are likely to see an advertisement in the original journal, in the proportion to the number of subscribers; so, that in order to make his notice meet the eyes of as many readers as it did wheu there was a single journal, a business man must advertise in both, And so with a third, and a fourth, and a fifth. In the increase of local/journals there is a diminution in the value of any single advertisement, and business people are compelled to advertise in all the local papers to reach the eyes of all the local readers. This must be patent to tho meanest capacity, and the support of a new journal is an additional tax, to no commercial profit, imposed on the advertising public. "We do not say that there may not be advantages to more than compensate for this pecuniary sacrifice, but' in this respect we have been only viewing the matter as a commercial one. Thus have we summed up the case of the new speculation. That tc will fail, there is no doubt. It will make « vigorous spurt aFTlrst, as all new things do, but in a few weeks it will sink into the dismal melancholy howl against progress, that has so characterised the Evening Neius; and as the money market becomes tighter and tighter, it will howl more and more dismally, till at last it croakß. And then shall we be called on to record another blighted bud of literary promise, and to inscribe over the early grave of our defunct contemporary the affecting legend, E.I.P. , .
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Auckland Star, Volume II, Issue 459, 30 June 1871, Page 2
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1,028Untitled Auckland Star, Volume II, Issue 459, 30 June 1871, Page 2
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