The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, AUGUST 29, 1901. THE PRESS OF THE COLONY. No. I.

Gisborne Times, Volume VI, Issue 199, 29 August 1901, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, AUGUST 29, 1901. THE PRESS OF THE COLONY. No. I.

The influence of the Press in all civilised countries is a great and a growing one. It is strongly felt, and on the whole for good, in this colony; a few words on the subject will therefore hardly be considered out of place. It will be of gome interest to' note that the first printing press set up in New Zealand was introduced by the Wesleyan Missionaries, about 1832. > In 1835 Mr (afterwards the Reverend) Wm. Goieneo set up the second printing press, and also contributed largely to the work of translating the Bible into Maori and publishing it. The Rev. Wm. Colenso died at Napier as recently as 1899. In 1837 the New Zealand Testament in Maori wa3 printed at Pahia by the C.M.S. Missionaries. As to the Press as usually understood, the first newspaper in New

'Zealand was published at Welling:o i i in April, ISlu. Irs fiwsr title was The New Zealand Gazette, but this was shortly changed to The New Zealand Gazette and Britannia Spectator, Britannia being the name first selected for the New Zealand Company’s township at Port Nicholson. Both the site selected and the name were very soon abandoned for the present site and name of Wellington, the name of the ,paper being similarly changed. This paper was published weekly until December, 1842. when it was published twice a week. Eventually it passed into the hands of Messrs Stokes Brothers, who renamed it the Spectator and Cook’s Strait Guardian. /' In December, 1812, The Colonist and Port Nicholson Advocate was started as an opposition paper. On the loth June. 1810, was published at Kororareka. then the “ Seat of Government ” for the colony, the first number of "The Now Zealand Advertiser and Bay of Islands Gazette. This paper was issued weekly, single copies Is, and annual subscription -10 s. The first advertisement in it is a notification that all communications from the Government inserted in the Advertiser were to be deemed official, from which it would seem that, in addition to the 'ordinary functions of a newspaper, it served temporarily as the Government Gazette for the colony. On Ist July, 18-11, the first number of the Now Zealand Gazette was published at Auckland, which had been proclaimed the seat of Government in the preceding ’February. In IS 12 tho following newspapers were in publication in New Zealand : The Wellington Gazetto and Britannia Spectator, April, IS Id : Tho Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, 12th March, IS-12 ;• The Colonist and Port Nicholson Advocate, December, 1842 /The Bay of Islands Observer, 1542,* The Now Zealand Herald and Auckland Gazetto, 1812 The Auckland Times, 18-12; Tho Auckland Chronicle, v In 1813 the Southern Cross (Auckland) was published, and in the same year the Nelson Examiner was started. Tire New Zealand Gazette and Cook’s Strait Guardian was published in Wellington in the “ Forties,” apparently following the Wellington Gazette and Britannia Spectator. It was characterised by the Oppositioa paper as “ The Creature of the New Zealand Company.”/0a 2nd April, LBl4, tho Wellington Independent was started by James Muir, Thomas Wilmor McKenzie, Vincent, and Follingharn. The two latter soou dropped out of the venture, Mr Muir died in tho sixties, aud Mr McKenzie still survives, enjoying well-earned rest and retirement. The Independent was first issued as a bi-weekly paper, at an annual subscription of 10s. Tho printing press used for this paper had previously served for the Sydney Morning Herald./’On 13th December, 1818, H. B. Graham published tho first number of tho Otago Nows. This paper was issued fortnightly at Gd per copy. It only reached its 13th number, when on 9th June, IS 19, it was enlarged aud appeared as a weekly paper, under the motto “ There’s pippins and cheese to come.” It died on the production of its 91st issue, never having had any great claim to literary merit, and on 21st December, ISSO, its plant and goodwill passed into the hands of a"company. On Bth February, 1851, its successor appeared as a fortnightly , paper under the name of The Otago Witness, Mr Cutten being the editor. On 30th August of the same year it came out as a weekly -paper, price Gd (the population of the whole district being then only 7-15). This paper, which still exists, as tho weekly issue of the Otago Daily Times and Witness, claims to be the oldest paper published in the colony. The first number of The Otago Daily Times, a paper which may be placed in the front rank of tho New Zealand Press, appeared on the loth November, 1861. It appeared as a penny daily on the Ist February, 1881.. The Colonist was published in Dunedin, on the 2Gth December, 1850, existing until 1864, when it merged in The Leader and Daily Telegraph. On 9th March, IS6I, The Southern News and Fovoaux Straits Herald was published at Invercargill, anticipating by a few days the separation of Southland Province from Otago. The scheme of the Canterbury Association included that “ necessary of life ” a newspaper, and on the 11th January, ISSI, the Lyttelton Times issued its first number, commencing as a weekly paper at Gd, James Edward Fitzgerald being its first editor. Its earliest issue con-

tained an interesting account of the voyages of the historical “ first four ships ” with the “ Pilgrims.” It is difficult to realise at this date from what small beginnings the present Lyttelton Times has sprung. Its first issue contained only 12 advertisements, but its second reached 20, while its third reached 30 advertisements, a fair indication both that the paper was appreciated, and of the vitality of the young settlement. This paper has steadily advanced, with the district, and passed through the stages of weekly, bi-weekly, triweekly to a daily publication. The Standard was published also in Christchurch, but the dates of its first and last issue we have not found. On

25th May, 1861, the Christchurch Press first came out, as a sixpenny weekly paper, until 2nd October, ISG2, when it was issued bi-weekly until 17th March, 18G3, since which date it has appeared as a daily morning paper, [ames Edward Fitzgerald (the first editor of the Lyttelton Times) being its first editor. It was launched to serve as a check on the large borrowing schemes to which Moorhouse and party were seeking to commit the settlement. Its career has been one of constant progress. In politics, without being purely partisan, it

leans towards the Conservative. Among its contributors, it can number many of the leading men of the settlement. It may be noted that its first issue announced the discovery of gold at Lindis, Otago. It was not until 4th August, 1852, that Taranaki could boast of any newspaper. On that date, the Taranaki Herald was issued at New Plymouth. No more convincing proof could well be adduced of the paralysing effect of the Native troubles on this district, “ The Garden of New Zealand,” than that it should exist so long without a newspaper. For ten years, the settlers were not

only' unrepresented among the press of the colony', but complained that the colonial press misrepresented them. The Grey Kiver Argus was first pub-

lished on 27th November, 1865. The first newspaper published in Hawke’s Bay' 'was the Hawke’s Bay Herald and Ahuriri Advocate, Ahuriri being the name of the port. This paper

came out on 21th .September, 1857, and is still in existence as a high-class daily morning paper. In 1851, the New

Zealander was published iu Auckland,