The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. MONDAY, AUGUST 11, 1879.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1032, 11 August 1879, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. MONDAY, AUGUST 11, 1879.

Tecr frog saw a cow, and, admiring' its size and admirable proportions, it attempted to ape them. It blew itself out. and daring the operation it burst. An otd fable runs somewhat thtt3. Now for the application. The Otago Daily Times, Lyttelton Times, and New Zealand Herald made arrangements —now known a3 the special wire—whereby they thought they woutd receive their telegrams with less delay, and secure other important benefits for themselves and the public. The Canterbury Press and the Dunedin Morning Herald, by the exercise of that perspicuous capacity which ever and am-n bursts out in the discovery by them of some vile wrong which has either been done to 1 themselves or their friends, immediately saw that there was corruption in the transaction. Like the maniac who tabors under the hallucination that he is being pursued by demons thirsting for his life, the Press thought it saw the Lyttelton Times proprietor retiring from his newspaper business and living , in competency upon the additional profits that accrued from the possession of the " special wire whilst, from being the leader of the forces against the Government, the Press itself sank into the humiliating position for a season of being used for little else, than parcel-wrapping purposes, and at last departed this life. The Herald sympathised, and there sprang into existence another special wire at the instance of these two papers. We remember reading the anathemas of the Press and Herald which followed the granting of the first special wire. They, of course, cared little about themselves: what seemed to rankle in their minds was the loss to the revenue that such an arrangement would entail. One would have thought that, having held such views to-day, they would not to-morrow have done the very thing they had reprobated in others. But we learn that consistency is not guaranteed by the Press and Herald. They only guarantee that they will blacken their white sheets with something to read for a penny. e think, therefore, that such tergiversation was quite pardonable in the case of these two papers. e have already said that a second special wire was granted to the. Press and Herald. But these two papers j little knew the magnitude of the responsibility they were taking upon themselves. The Lyttelton Times, Otago Daily Times, and New Zealand Herald could themselves afford to pay for the privilege that they had obtained, but, in order to reduce ! its espensiveness to themselves they secured the co-operation of nearly all the 'newspapers throughout the Colony. This is how it comes about, a3 ; pointed out by Mr. George 31 Lean, that one paper pays so much less than another. The fact is, what is food to one man is poison to another, and the Press, liavitvr grown sick, lias sought to be relieved of its obligations with regard to the special wire which it and the HcnJd clamored for, in order that they might not bo bested by their contemporaries. We do not exactly agree with the special

■wire system, after experience of its working ; but 'whatever was done by the Government was done fairly. The idea of securing a special wire did not strike the Prc33 and Herald till it had been imparted by other:;, and when they applied for the same privilege as that granted to the originators, it was granted. The only advantage that the originators po3ses3ed over their jealous brethren is. they were, of course, first in the field, and divided the expense with other newspapers until it was individually inconsiderable. Tilis the others were debarred from doing, because there were 110 papers in the Colony that would associate withtheininsuchainatter. If the Press and Herald find that the sweet looking lolly coveted turns out to be a nasty bitter tlviriir. it id little use now their making wry faces over it. We would strongly recommend the Press and the Herald nor to abandon their special wire. It may cost them a thousand or so a year : but it is a grand thing—it is indeed.