The Lyttelton Times.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XII, Issue 708, 20 August 1859, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times.

S durday, August 20. Some people have a remarkable skill in creating1 to themselves enemies. , Every transaction of their- lives involves hostility to their neighbours;' without 'which result .they are scarcely satisfied';with themselves^ A few who tire borawith 'this Ishmaelite propensity may,'..by self-control, overcome it; -but:in others it is so fostered and nourished by circumstances as to develop into a perfect talent for offensi veness. The propensity, may be either with or withput a spirit of rnali»%nitv; in many ca=es it, is merely a turn of 'the mind—a sort of natural gift, cultivated without, .bein£* understood—-a trait of character which .-leavens with animosity all their actions. In some cases also the hostile attitude is assumed intentionally, and as a matter of calculation, as likely to be useful in the transaction of business. But whatever may.be its origin, the character to which .we refer..succeeds.in creating- enemies ; in being disliked and.shunned, .rather,., than esteemed' and admired ; though weak" ones may profess a pleasure in cringing*-and grovelling before him. HeisseL dom truly coura»;eousy and should not be confounded with the chai'actei1 pf energy and decision. He is clever only, in discovering the weak points of his fellows, skilled only 'in. exposing and taking advantage of them, or in inventing for them sins of which they are guiltless. In the days of boyhood this character is a bully;; among tnen of the world, he is the professed duellist; among politician?, he is ..-i Theisites ; when lie edits a newspaper, it is a New Yor k' Rowdy Journal/ an * Eatanswiil Gazette,',-or-.a ' Wellington Independent.-; ... : . -• : '■■• ... D

The, ( Independent' presents several marked feature? of the class. We have at present no : personal rnmo of quarrel with it. We ore not forced into communication with it,, and could oven dll'nrd to ignore it were it to attack us.' It. is therefore w ii,!i no desire to provoke a quarrel \vi fh our contemporary that we point to ]!■<? style of writing1 as degrading to any journal, and protect once more against the introduction into this col on v of a style of j.mrrtalif.m which fidopts oiTetisi/eness 'as its lead'n^- chfinicte.rist.c.

The ' Independent' has always been given to picking sinnll qu .vvoh. Its" rule of conducting political wui-fiivft throughout the late times of agitation in Wellington lias been to write the. name of an indivitluul at the head

of an article in ' leader' type, and to abuse him to thfi end of the column. It seldom '.lrlihvßsr'd itself to support the views or the men of j tb own side, but was eager to denounce th 3 opposition individually. Its only argument was that ad hominrm. Its only use to its own party was as a nuisance to the others, and it faithfully fufilled the duties required of \i No man was safe from its aspersions on private character. Glancing over the files of that time, we should judge that every sin»l,. individual in the reform party —from the Speaker to the Messenger of the Council—l,., s had a separate ' leading- article' in the 1 Independent/ written exclusively to vilify him. It is more than probable also tbat members of the Government, party w WI . stopped from desertion by a wholesome dread of exposing themselves, their relatives, and their ancestors, to defamation by the • Jndr--pendent.' But.the supply of matter from this source was not inexhaustible ; it cmc to an end at last; perhaps the practice was found to do more harm than good, and was stopped • perhaps provincial politics began to setiij down in spite of all efforts to stir up strife. The l Independent's' services .were no longer required—its occupation was gone. "We suppose that it must have become * quite blue-mouldy for want of a h'ght,' for we now find it l trailing ' its coat' befoie the press of-New Zealand, tramping on the toes, of a round dozen contemporaries, in the endeavour to get up a congenial quarrel. A late number contains its account of the newspupers now published in the colony, in which exercise it finds but little occasion for eulogy, but indulges itself, more mo, in depreciatory remarks, liberally applied all round. This impolite proceeding is at the same time very .impolitic, and can be accounted for only on the theory noted above-r-thar, when a man acquires a solitary talent for offensiveness, lie indulges it constantly, recklessly, without regard even'to his own interest, and for the very sake of being offensive. ' There is a story that a Highland gamekepper, being asked why one of the tenners was so much. less playful than the rest, replied—" Oh, Sir !< life 's fou V- sairiousness till him ; he just never can get enengh o1 I fechting." The ' Independent' makes the grave terrier's object in life the business of its existence also." ■ , -

The, l Lyttelton Times' esqapes with as small a share of the spattering-^as any journal, and we therefore feel at greater liberty to protest against the abandonment of those principles of journalism which have been adopted in that ' country where ' newspapers have attained their highest stuiding. We object strongly to the true freedom of the press being supplanted in this country by tbe degenerate and noxious license which has made a portion of the American press" the worst assailants of individual freedom. The journal which adopts the Yankee style must have but a low sense' of its' position and duties; there are, we hope, higher objects of literary enterprise, even in this land of small things, than the blackening of a neighbour's fame; nor do we think that this community is one

where any man can attain to lame simply by reason of a talent for defamation. We acknowledge that the , Yankee style lias temptations for a journalist. It is so easy to acquire; in fact it requires no little self-coin* inand always to abstain from.it. Once given way to, the stream of abuse is one which will flow abundantly with the slightest exertion of intellect j' it is the most natural omening of poor human nature. Besides, journalism of this kin I is full of small successes which gratify the writer. The power of the press is continually being asserted; objects of its displeasure are repeatedly subject to public disgrace • and so incessant occasions are found for noisy triumph. No woiider the unscrupulous journalist abandons his better judgment, and consents to prostitute for small gratifications, instead of reserving for honorable use,, the power which belongs to his position. While discussing ■ ths - demerits of its fellows, the l Independent' takes occasion to glorify itself. Like ladies of a certain age, it dwells upon, the times gone by. There is a tradition still handed down in" its office that the ( Indeppndent' once fought gloriously for New Zealand freedom. It is even hinted that its keen argument and heartstirring appeals influenced the British cabinet. ' Our m;>morv does not reach to these heroic times; but, if the legend be true, it affords but another instance of the mutability of all earthly things. The once glorious " ' Independent' is now become a' very common-place character. It* appparance, we fear,"would be against it even in less critical quarters than the British metropolis. What once claimed attention from the British Court might now offend the eyes, of attendants on a British tap. Of all colonial journals, within our knowledge—and none 'of, us have much to boast of—the

>' Independent' of Wellington would be perhaps the. last, chosen by die rest for its perso'rial appearance to represent them in the ■toother Oht qwntuni mutatus tibilloi '■ . '-,:! ;-..■-■ .-■ '.'.■.'; -' /.

: The 'Independent's' style and language must also, we.'think,-have altered since those boasted days, if there be truth in the tradition. It has lately denied that v?e ever express any opinions,' and therefore we ni.iV not. be supposed capable, of judging the opinions of others. The comparison is, however, suggestive, though we! did not at fai'st understand the -'assertion'!' We looked through our files, and .thought that on most subjects: which at any time interested the people of this; province, who,are' our readers, we had expressed our sentiments freely, and labored to explain and- convince according1 to our notions'-of right*.and .-.wrong. We fancy, e-ven now, that sonic in this province ore ready to accuse us rather of forwardness and 'dogmatism in expressing- opinions .than- of "the opposite 'faults': That these topics ha"c often been such;commonplace '.matters as roads, "railways, telegraphs, . banks, statistics, and progress ..gene'rally,:- may offend our neighbours, but • they contrive to ■■interest ourselves. As t0 topics which concern the colony generally, we did suppose tliat \ye were as reafly os t"1)' of our contemporaries to give them duo consideration ; in fact, if the accusation had not

leeii Jirst brought against us, wt\ should have been inclined to assert that our neighbours' were more backward than ourselves in discussing subjects beyond their own boundaries. But the assertion becomes intelligible' when it is compared with the 'Independent^', practice. We have " tio opinions" because we don't print, leading' articles to'show tlirit n certain adverse baker is a 1001, nnd another to prove that a butcher of opposite views is a lenave. We ibn't invent, and print in leadin«type, calumnies against v liberal M.P.C.'s nurse's ni husband ; and 'berefore we can liave no v opinions" upon political questions. When learned judges and eminent bi-bops act contrary to our views, we don't treat thos-e gentlemen in the same way as is shown to be proper for the butcherj baker, 'and councillor's relative; and therefore we are an "emasculated press." And when we disagree with our contemporary we do nofc fill "our most conspicuous columns with a pretty narrative of the supposed editor's convivialities nt home. This the ' Independent' does, and they that do otherwise have no "opinions."* There is a reason why we consent to remain under the stigma conveyed against us, and why we actually bone that all our contemporaries—even the 'Independent'—will be as little ' earnest* and 'manly' as ourselves. We don't happen to have among us a collection of such fools and knaves as to require constant and public castigation fit our hands. We don't happen, among our public men, to have such iniquitous characters as to demand weekly outpourings of public indignation. We don't •wish to attract any such gentlemen among1 us, and we don't desire, if there be now any such quiescent among us, to develop them jnto prominent public characters. We don't think that ' lending articling' such gentlemen, if they become prominent—which God forbid ! —would be the way to rid the community of them. And, finally, we think the public of this province does not find any gratification in that style of journalism. If it be the case that there are prominent public characters in Wellington, who require the bitter denunciations of the press; and if it bo the case that the community of that province not only tolerate but enjoy the style of writing; win-, then, we admit that the ' Independent' is excellently suited to its position; but for goodness sake let it not move from its congenial company. In a friendly way,, we advise the leaders of the ' Independent' school of politicians to have done with, a policy which irritates their opponents, and can never win tbetn a friend.