GOVERNMENT ADVERTISING.

Globe, Volume IX, Issue 1342, 3 June 1878, Page 3

GOVERNMENT ADVERTISING.

Conpewiug the distribution of Government patronage in the shape of advertisements, the " New Zealand Times " of a recent date had the following article : —■ An announcement was, iis we have already pointed out, made so:-e wima '' gince, avcarontly with authority, that it was the intentjoh of fch'e present Government to print and publish daily an oJlieial bulletin. In it w.'i-c to bo shown to all the people of New Zealand, not only the aspirations of Ministers to promote the greatest good of the greatest number, as these might be poured into the e;\r of Her Majesty's representative in t;:e Executive Council Charabe?, or rscoi'dod in minutes upqn thii pileo of papers every/morning siibruiW.cd for cdnti leivtion, —but also how that hand'of nolitL'al [ artizans or conspirators, popularly fupposed to constitute the Civil fcvrvico, discharged their duty oi "■ how not to do it," to the embarrassment of tho Codlins, who iivc the >'true friends," and the exaltation of the Shorts, who arc the natural enemies of the sovereign people. In the absence of a guide which would be so entirely reliable we have necessarily considerable difficulty in arriving at an understanding of tho discriminating principle.

upon which the favours of those in power are now, in the shape of Government advertisements, showered abundantly upon particular organs of public opinion in the ranks o the Colonial Press, whilst other organs are left unrefreshed by so much as the dew of official patronage and profit. It may bo that amongst the doctrinaires of the Cabinet there is a majority who have faith in that theory of evolution which has been comically defined as the "survival of the stupidest'," and, like conscientious men, take care thai their actions shall always be in the direction of their principles ; or, not having such a faith, can it be that Ministers have taken for their guidance that gospel of impro} riety selfishness embodied in the old Irish proverb, which says " that the priest always christens his own child first " ? "If it were to rain mitres," said Sterne long ago, with a consciousness of his own unworthiness, " not one of them would fit my head ;" it is with a similar feeling of hopelessness, arising out of a sense of our individual demerits, and on behalf entirely of our brethren of the Press, that we now take up this question. Under preceding Governments two modes of distributing favors in the shape of official advertisements were established and maintained, each for a certain space of time. The first was the giving Government advertisements equally to all the public journals which had at'a'nel any standing in the colony, without reference to political opinion or to party. The second was, after inviting public tenders for the work of advertising, to use those journals which, by the comparative lowness of their ra*es, and the great extent of their circulation, afforded, in the interests of the public, the most economical and best advertising medium. Neither of these courses appears to bo now taken. With the present Q-overnment advertising, like kissing, goes by favour ; as it is asserted that the people are now all on one side, those journals only which adopt the "flat-fish" view in politics are regarded as being fitting organs of communication with the masses. Heretofore, we have not ourselves had any reason to complain ; official bones, and crumbs from the table of our masters, have been, perhaps contemptuously, thrown to us with tolerable regularity. But of late, one of those birds of ill omen which are being constantly sent forth of the Ministerial ark, not however to seek the olive branch, warned us that we had better " look out." Upon doing as directed we discoveroi that several advertisements regarding contracts for public works in this province had been withheld from us. In consequence, a gentleman from our office waited upon the Under-Secretary for Public Works yesterday, humbly to request that the Government would graciously permit us still to share in some of their small mercies. He was informed by Mr Knowles that he " could not have anything unless it was ordered, you know, and that the works in question were already sufficiently advertised."

As wo have still a few subscribers, and as we think it our duty to them to take care that they shall not suffer from want of information on matters which have always a general, and may have on occasions particular interest for them, wo have devoted a column of our space to their use, and in it to-day, under the head of "adveitisements gratis," will be found the public notifications to which we refer. In doing so we venture to express a hope that we are not infringing copyright or unduly limiting the prerogative right of Ministers to help their friends; we are making an unselfish effort to help our own friends and subscribers. We are also probably raising a question which, on the part of the Press and of the public, will receive attention and obtain a satisfactory solution.