The Invercargill Times FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1863.

Southland Times, Volume 2, Issue 89, 11 September 1863, Page 2

The Invercargill Times FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1863.

Ten months ago, when the first number of this paper was published, Invercargill was little more than a. village and not a very lively one either. A dense forest covered a considerable portion of the " Township," and the few shops or stores which supplied the wants of the inhabitants were all to be found in a three minutes' w*lk along- Tay-street. The Province had scarcely begun to creep towards the important position which it has since assumed, and though many foresaw that its natural advantages mirtt eventually bring it into prominent notice and favor, amougst the settlements of New Zealand, he would have been considered a dreamer, who reckoned upon a progress as rapid as has taken place

since the opening of the diggings in the Lake district. Southland has been huri ied along by the force of cir.cum-. stances in, a^way which"' 1 triust have acted * curiously on the nerves of a steady going people, who had never witnessed the effect that gold discoveries of any magnitude invariably have in bringing together a large population; and paving the way to the permanent prosperity of a country. Our youthful settlement can now boast of well filled stores without number ; of hotels second only to those to be found in Dunedin; of harbors, which, if not all they might be, are ten times better than what they used to be; of a Chamber of Commerce ; of an Acclimatisation Society ; and lastly, of a Town Board, which has promised to give our citizens the pleasure of being able to walk the Streets without going above ancle deep in mud. And that mud itself must be taken as a sign of progress and vitality, for had the traffic not been so enormous, i the streets would never have been re- ! duced to the condition which we are sorry to say they at present are in. With all these facts before us, it be- j comes plain that there must be more j " news" to be told than was the case in j . those days when the appearance j of a fresh face in the. Town was a rather rare occurrence, and the arrival of a cutter at the jetty created & sensation amongst the business men of Tay-street. If there are more people and more business, there is a larger field for the journalist. "Wheu we firstmustered up courage to enter the field in opposition to, or rather in competition with, the Southland News, we said that our hopes of success were based more on what the Province was likely to become, than on what it was at the time. Verily, it was a hazardous experiment — net oa account of the affectionate regard with which the inhabitants were accustomed to view the literary efforts of our contemporary, but because the population of the Province seemed too small to support two newspapers. That time is passed ; not only will Southland support two bi-weekly papers, but the day has come when each of those two newspapers may ventute to make its appearance three times a-week. For our selves, we intend to come out as a tri« weekly. The, new order of things, so far as we are coucerned, will date from Monday, the 28th instant. It is not our purpose to raise the price of Subscription, but the great extra expeuse which will be entailed, will necessitate a somewhat higher rate of charge for Advertising. We feel confident that the public, which has hitherto so very cordially given us the light of its countenance, will not desert us, when making a fresh effort to meet the requirements of the Province.