"OUR OWN" CORRESPONDENTS.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 56, 24 April 1878, Page 2

"OUR OWN" CORRESPONDENTS.

V ;4WitK. thejgrbwjth/ of {newspaper fiter- v attire, and the consequent desire on the ; part of the prbpnetor^s^ofejoSirAals^q obtain .the ,wjiaest and latest intelligence, a kind o£ nondescript or hybrid animal has been tacked on to the tails of the* , Fourth Estate, known, by the name of " Our Own," which is^c|the profession neither fish, fowl, nor good^red herring. The^e gentry crop "up li2e mushrooms m every oqnoeiyabiis place ; an d as, m rabst iristailcesylthwy- perform their duties^ frefej -gratis^ and for nothing, thjefr o)dly honorapum; being a free paper and the; "honor of the thing," in' country towns their^name is legion. Of equrse we; jmust^>nxpbe supposed! tb refer to! the "'Special Correspondent," who: is selected on account, of his especial adaptability .for the office, ajid -who- receive^ -liberal 1 : recompVnse m Ht.urnfor his^services-vi 'For such a duty, none but gentlemen of known ability, {/and perfect rfeUajbyifcyfare chosen, their, identity is generally knownijojid as th] 4y '. have • a- f prof essiohal reputation to sustain, their contributions are guarantees of originality, « theltenls .• of intelligence, well chosen, and .the, statements made' founded- on;;faot.;".,ppi.?tiie. other hand, : the yolunteer who is ejiten away withthe .cacaeiJiies scrihencHMnA who .strings his ;Vu,bibish together,; fjory quesbipn^ble compensation- of seeing it iii J jfrint,; pads, his production with plagiarism's, and unblushingly levies, black ..mail .upon . the unfortunate columns .oi the', local journal,, from whence f a.cts'are extracted, mtltilatedand dished lip 'secbhd-han'd' for" the delecta tion of readers at a distance. Palmerston is. no exceptibri* to the rule, a'ndjcan' boast oi itiie^possession of the choicest specimen . of tixQ^genas* Eoiled m the attempt to shoot his twaddle, into our "columns^ t\ie person afludeti-te has bjossbmed forth «is the fulUblown " Own "; of the " Wanganui Hera.ld," a,nd while filjjhihgvr w>lMeiaye from coiu;mnSi loses ;no,appqrtuntity of having a ;petty fling ;. at the; pj^pen whichwould have none ■ b^ him. 'Not long since,; , we : published a 'destiriptive article^ on the Native. Lands Court, and some week? after its ; publication with astonishment saw.- it reproduced m sub-stAn^.e.s.'from.Jthe':;-p/i^!!i«^'J:-,pen-:"of'.ith«-: 'Herald's"'; ".o<w." The p!irasi>ology" and sonstru,c!;ion wer&i mutilated ant) d^storted^ bq,S itenj.affeer iteii foUoWed .

one another m succession to the end. Some might think it merely acoinoi. dence, and not suspect the industrious scribe had drawn his inspiration from out; columns, but unhappily for him a 2fijmesis was on his track. Our article wasjwritten on the eveof publication, and haying been informed by one of theChiefs that the festivities would wind up with a ball, we concluded as if that event had taken place, only to find when it was too late that such was not the case.^ JSo.wey.er, ."jQur „Qwn," writing four days after the. Carnival was- over,- strange tb'say, fell info the same error,~and-informed the Wanganni pepple that the ' ball, which we were privately informed • would, but did not,, take phicel wound up the cotfcern. Suspicious-minded persons would :draw. •conclusions fromy the above no$ t qu'tft coinph'mentory to the honor of ther scribe, but we will disri^iss himiwiths the hint "it is not wise to look a gift, horse m the iriouth," arid that mr sneering at the- source :from whence he draws his inspiration, 'lie is likely to kill the bird with, the golden egg. As the labors •' of'sitch persons are gratuitous* it • cannb'fc be" espectled ;ii ieven if were- they "posessed of it— that originality should .^be a necessary commodity; and consequently our 'columns ar| quite open Jor^the extraction of news ; but"- we. certainly objeot to every -scribbling nonentity furnishing to papera at<a; distance ■ as original, ar-tiolef which entail ;tro,uble, m ithey collection of iv" .formatipn, and labor m dressing *»p for publicatiori. We now consign "OurOwn" tohis fittingobJiYiqn,from'Whence» if he be wise,, he.wUi.b'e;.careft^n6t to/y again_emerge, arid ii -we i have'fo revert toil him once ; mpre, he will have but himself to " thank. ' Shbula " we, however, he.compelled^ to do so, wq Momise him it :wili be'iri 'such' a manner ,he 'nor the, public^hiill ! be %n^|- the* s%i(tes;t;.^is;coMQ^pj^oa ?: to j^Lq. W "What'^e mean.' ' ' ' ' : ' ' '.