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Evening Star, Issue 3736, 12 February 1875, Page 2

Journalism has various phases of fashion, according to the morals or training of those engaged in it. Some journalists are green enough to ape the genteel, like one of our Dunedin morning contemporaries, who thinks it very uucautious to a public body to publish a letter which they refuse to receive, although the public have a clear right to know whether or not they were justified in refusing. Others make no pretensions to such literary dandyism, but like bushrangers, appropriate the property of others, and adorn their jour nals with pirated literature. We do not deny that it is flattering to have articles transferred to contemporary columns, even if adopted as their own, just as it might be gratifying to a man whose handywork looked well, to see it setting off some handsome bushranger. As he looked upon the ornament and saw the dash the fellow cut, he might say to himself “It|looks well on the scoundrel : it is a pity he has not the grace to say where he got it.” Just in the same way, we may say, the leading columns of some,of our contemporaries look well, when they republish, nearly verbatim , the leading matter of the Evening Star ; but it is a pity they have not the grace to say where they get it. For instance, the‘South Canterbury Times’ would have looked more honest, and the matter would have had equal influence, had those portions of its leader of February 6th, filched from the Evening Star, been acknowledged, instead of having been inserted as original matter. We have no objection to quotations from this journal. Its articles are written on public grounds, in the hope that when the ideas enunciated are sound they may be spi'ead widely; but as we are always glad to publish the names of the journals from which we quote, and never knowingly omit to do so, we claim equal courtesy on the part of our contemporaries. That we do not always receive it, is evident from the following, clipped from the the ‘ South Canterbury Times * of February 6. It will be seen that while the portion in italics is quoted verbatim , barring printers’ errors and a line here and there omitted, the other is a variation from the text, involving similar ideas—a sort of plagiarism nearly as culpable as verbal theft.

Evening Star, Feb- ‘ South Canterbury ruary 1. 'limes,’ February 6. From time to time Whilst stub a a feeling of uneasiness pleasing state of manifests itself among affairs is going on at moneyed men respect ■ Home, let us for a ing the future of the moment turn to our Colony. It is not own Colony. Here based on any sound we find Jrom time deductions from pass- to time that a feeling ing events, but as- of uneasiness mani sumes sovipivhat of Jests itself amongst the form of commev- monied men at varicial hypochondriasis, ous thpes as to the which rorhodes evil, future prosperity of no one knows why , the Colony ifihy Talk to some of the this is we do not know, afflicted ones, they tell but it assumes a char - you our prosperity is acter of commercial ephemeral, that it will hypochondriasis, and be followed by a com• which forebodes evil, mercial panic, and but no one can tell that the present value why it does so They qf property cannot be even go so far as to maintained. They let us know that our even : go far as infix prosperi yis ephemethe periqd when ppis ral, and like the teleterrible event is to take jb rated I}r, Cumming, place, and withhold- who predicted thstime ness greater than that when the wofld- was (o of Dr Cumming when have conge to an end, \ he predicted the end they fix the date' of of the world, they fix this commercial dethe date at two years pression and panic at hence. The doctor two years •hence had, as he thought, These miserable the sure word of pro- croakers, however, phecy tp guide him, have done neither and has mistake was harm nor good in reft misreading. ,Qur gatd to the commerminor prophets trust bial prosperity of the to their own inspira- (Jplony,' arid we quote tion and the dismal the application? of forebodings of their capitalists in Eng- \ fellow-croakers. We land for passages to ! do not imagine that the shores of Mew any of these unful- Zealand as an instance filled prophecies do thereof, if we look m»ch in the way of for a moment at the checking progress, general appearance of but' they fhe the commercial horiabsence .pf'lthoylepga top, prior to disasof those circumstances ’’trots occurwhich usually pre- ring, .we note that cede and. produce coming .eyedtji east commercial panics, their shadows befpre' These are war, defi- them. At the predent harvest and sent time there is high price of food at nothing occurring in Home, the with- the Colony or at drawal of necessary Home, to denote that capital from in pier- a change in our proscial pursuits th<i pgrity will sooner or investment of it fh take place, the form of fixed Food noz vising, capital, and gigantic there is no war; either financial operations going on or in proscausing a temporary pect; in fa#t, the pro- : withdrawal of bullion sent aspect of things from the Bank of foretells a long conJpngland. tinuance of peace and plenty. Long may New he allowed, through the careful guidaD.ee ,gf the powers that be, to share in the universal p/ogppiity that the world now enjoys.