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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4983, 13 March 1877, Page 2

Mu. William Thomas Locke Thayers addressed a meeting of the Wellington city electors last night. No report of that meeting will be found in the New Zealand Times, for reasons which we shall shortly - state. This journal, at no inconsiderable expense, affords the public reports of meetings, called frequently in the interest of individuals, with a completeness and accuracy which has found frequent and willing testimony. It is occasionally the case, however, that gentlemen interested in having public meetings reported do not apparently consider the New Zealand Times of. much importance as a medium for announcing the holding, of such meetings, whilst at the same time they attach very great weight to having full reports, of the same in our columns. Now, a newspaper.is essentially a business speculation, and as Such' the state of things ' we have indicated is ! quitei contradictory. -In the expression of ; 6pihibn the editor of, a newspaper is in no waj influenced ,by these matters, but when it conies to the question ! pf merely recording certain occurrences, it is plain that a gentleman who does not deem a paper a valuable mode of announcing his to the public, cannot wonder.if. an editor does not consider that gentleman’s speech of sufficient value to be' Worth the large expense involved in publishing a verbatim report of it. This is precisely the state of matters With regard, to Mr. Tratees. He is one of some half‘dozen in the community who endeavor to avail themselves ,of our best roportorial resources without u in the smallest degree assisting us to preserve the efficiency of such resources. It is plain that .we, in justice to ourselves, must enter an. efficient protest against this kind of thing. We must drjtw the Jine acimewhere. Mr. Dickens’s barber, influenced by becoming business considerations, drew the line at coalheavers; we draw it at W. T. L. Travers. , We have received . no advertisment _. fr;om that gentleman, intimating , .his intention to hold a meeting, whilst, as a matter of fact, he has been, advertising the same ; meeting, for days previously elsewhere. That' being so, he must be content <td get ■his reporting done .where he> considered he would best get his announcements placed before his constituency, and in order to assist him in this respect he can obtain at his earliest convenience a verbatim report of his meeting from our shorthand reporters. But we do not intend to publish that re-

port. To do so would involve a certain expense, which we do not feel justified in incurring for the sake of a constituent of such decidedly limited views as to the value of the New Zealand Times as is Mr. Travers. In making this announcement, we do so with the full consciousness that we shall be misrepresented and misconstrued by those whose interests it is for the most unworthy purposes to misrepresent and misconstrue us. But for this we do not care. It will, we have not the smallest doubt, be asserted that because we are opposed to Mr. Travers’ candidature, therefore we decline publishing a report of meeting. Fortunately we have a plain and tangible answer to such an assertion. Wo furnished a full and accurate report of Mr. Travers’ first meeting. We furnished that report for reasons exactly opposite to those which prevent our furnishing a report for Mr. Travers now, and we believe that the experience of Parliamentary sessions, and of public meetings in Wellington, is strong evidence that, however much a public man may be treated with hostility in the leading columns of the New Zealand Times, in those devoted to reports he receives the same treatment extended to those whose opinions are in accord with our own. In other words, in reporting we recognise neither friend nor foe, but give each man ample opportunity for placing his opinions before the people without comment and without prejudice. Indeed it is satisfactory to know that the highest encomiums passed upon our reports of parliamentary proceedings and public meetings have‘come from, those to whom we have been, are, and are likely to be most decidedly and politically opposed. We feel quite confident, therefore, that in taking the course we are at present pursuing in reference to Mr. Travers, the justice of our motives will not be misapprehended by those to whom we are indebted for support—the public of Wellington.