PATEA MAIL Established 1875. CIRCULATION nearly 600 COPIES. Average circulation last year, 510. Monday Evening, Oct. 9, 1882.

Patea Mail, 9 October 1882, Page 2

PATEA MAIL Established 1875. CIRCULATION nearly 600 COPIES. Average circulation last year, 510.

Monday Evening, Oct. 9, 1882.

Delivered on Mondav, Wednesday, and Friday Evenings by mounted messengers— at Hawera by 7-30 o’clock, at Normanby by 8-15, at Manaia and Waimate Plains by 8-30, and Southward at Waverlcy (for train) by 6 o’clock.

TO THE PUBLIC . It has become the fashion amongst newspapers of late years, when a change of proprietary lakes place, that the new management should give a statement of the manner in which if is proposed to continue the conduct of the journal concerned, To a certain extent we approve of the custom as affording an easy and effective means of introducing oneself to a new circle of readers. On the other hand we hold that the personality of a newspaper should be nil, that in fact the editor or his affairs ahould have no more prominence than Smith the draper, or Jones the butcher. ,Of course, in large towns, this idea is carried out without exception. A journal may change its management half-a-dozen times, and the public will know nofhing about it, and care less. The editor is a rara avis known-only to perhaps a small circle ot acquaintances—a veritable drop in the ocean of society. He exercises his judgment in the free-est sense, and dips his pen in the strongest of gall without fearing the consequences. Life is • too busy for much notice to be taken of his fulminations, and although a smart article will always attract attention and perhaps be the means of doing a certain amount of good, the reader seldom pauses to enquire into the identity of the writer. Here in. the country things are different. Everybody knows the editor, and he knows everybody. Hence when in the fulfilment of his duty he treads on somebody’s corns, the said somebody has no difficulty in deciding to whom be is indebted for the unfriendly pinch. The duty of journalism, therefore, naturally becomes more difficult in a small town than in a larger city, and calls for the exercise of a considerably greater amount of discrimination.

Having said so much by way of preliminary, we will now briefly state our intentions. In the first place onr policy will be to maintain the independence of the Mail to the last degree. To allow a newspaper to come under the influence, or control of any parly, political or otherwise, is to destroy a large, share ofj its power, with a corresponding curtailment of its utility. By maintaining its independence we mean that the columns of the Mail will be open to everybody alike, for the redress of wrongs, the ventilation of abuses, and the advocacy of matters calculated to advance the welfare of the town and district. This we hold to be the true aim of journalism. Personal spite and petty malice we dislike, and shall avoid ; and onr correspondents will do well to take the hint. In all other respects our columns will be freely open to discussion, and our pen available for such assistance as we may be able to afford to any worthy object. Mistakes we may make, and when we do we shall not be above admitting them ; but they will be errors of the head only, for our heart earnestly desires the progress of the district which is in future to be oiir home. Much, nay

almost all, of that progress lies in the bands of the townspeople and settlers. By acting in unison, many difficulties will be overcome and good accomplished; by pulling against each other, growth will be retarded,-and wealth and influence remain things of the future. There are many things that Patea stands urgently in need of, the attainment of which will depend upon the degree of unanimity developed amongst- its residents. We trust that it will often be our pleasure to record that in public matters our townspeople are working together with a spii'it'which will be a worthy example for other towns to emulate:

We shall on all occasions try to do our duty without fear or favor, and in return we shall expect something from the public. We shall expect a hearty and liberal support, both in a moral and commercial sense. We do not think it necessary to allude to the advantages offered to business people by the Mail; its extensive range of circulation throughout the County is pretty well known. The support we desire to ask has more (he element of futurity than the actual present. The town is growing fast and settlement is proceeding rapidly ; communication will shortly be rendered easier by the railway, and these facilities will, we hope, enable us to increase our issue. Improvements we are about to make immediately; these will come of themselves, and will no doubt be appreciated. But we rely on the public to enable us to solve the question of a daily issue. In conclusion, it but remains for us to add the hope that our relations may be of that friendly, and advantageous character which the great reputation of this splendid district and its people have led us to anticipate.-