Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News THURSDAY, ARPIL, 1,1909 TEMPUS FUGIT.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVII, Issue 4393, 1 April 1909, Page 2

Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News

THURSDAY, ARPIL, 1,1909 TEMPUS FUGIT.

This above all—to thine own self be true , And %t must follow as the night the day Thou canst not then be false to any man Shakespeare.

Never was a truer word spoken : Time does indeed fly ! Incredible as it may appear to our large circle of subscribers and friends, It is just one year to-day since we purchased and took over from the former proprietor, Mr J. 0. Allen, the control of The Te Aroha and Ohinemuri News. For ourselves, we have been so busily occupied with the activities involved in the pursuance of our ideal of buildiug up the News in to “ an efficient, progressive and readable paper,” that were it not our principle ever to keep our business well in mind we also should be surprised to find ourselves upon the threshold of our second year.

The programme to which we pledged ourselves has been no small one, but the ideal of progressive ness, fair play to all, and offence to none, have afforded the stimulus which was requisite to enable us to make our paper both “ bright and readable” the only true way in which it could be expected to find a welcome in the homes of our subscribers, or be offered to business men as “ an efficient advertising medium.” We claim that we have been progressive, “judiciously ventilating” the requirements of Te Aroha, as we promised to do, and at the same time advertising her claims to be regarded as a resort of importance and of pronounced attractiveness. We have advocated our need of a better Railway Station and Post Office. We have also advocated the requirements of the Domain, and have been instrumental in securing the outlay of capital in extending the plans for its increased accommodation to holiday-makers ; and we -have vigorously opposed the grasping spirit which proposed to impose a charge upon the free waters of healing which .a merciful Providence has placed in our midst as a beneficent boon to the sick. In matters of borough sanitation we have especially interested ourselves. Realizing the tremendous consequence of this question to a health resort such as Te Aroha, we have made it our business personally to interview leading authorities on this most important matter, and have exerted our influence to bring matters affecting the sanitation and general condition of our town up to her requirements as one of the most important of the Dominion’s health and tourist resorts, and we are gratified to note the advance which has been achieved. We have now a new and commodious Railway Station ; the Domain is becoming daily more of a credit to the town, while the sanitation is being substantially improved. With to the industrial interests of our town and district, we have repeatedly pointed out the fact that these are of paramount importance. We have endeavoured to set forth the tremendous value of the work being done by those who are employed in producing our staple commodities. We have ventilated the needs and prospects of the farming and mining indus tries, have pointed out the necessity for railway extension, and the desirability of an extension of the telephone service to the back blocks. And at the same timejwe have sought to foster the interests and further the development of the commercial element in our town, advocating the policy of keeping the capital brought hither by. the visiting public in the town, by a wise and just policy of local dealing on the part of accommodation house keepers. We have pointed out the quality of the goods stocked by our storekeepers, and urged upon'the consumer from the surrounding district the principle of spending his gains where he makes them. And, with an apology for the personal reference, we have backed up this advocacy by refraining from the solicitation of advertisements which

would come into commercial conflict, with local advertisers In social matters we have ever advocated the sanctity of the family, the responsibility of parents towards their children, the cultivation of a healthful mind and body, and we have sought to foment that spirit of amity between the religious bodies in our midst which is such a plea ant feature of Te Aroha In further emphasis of our policy of “ fair play to all and offence to none,” while at Election time we warmly advocated those principles which, in the pursuance of our highest national ideals we had espoused, we kept our columns open to correspondents representing all shades of opinion, believing that free discussion is the only way in which the public can get itself convincingly informed on any subject* And our entire fairness will be well remembered by those who read the correspondence which appeared in our columns at the time of the election, correspondence which brought both sides of a controversy before the public in the warmest spirit of personal enthusiasm, a feature of newspaper life which no self-respecting journal would pretend to disillow. Our policy of progressiveness has necessarily brought us to a coign of vantage whichi forbade us concerning ourselves with matters exclusively local, or even Dominion. We have sought to touch a very wide horizon, and where national or imperial interests have, in our advocacy of them, brought us into conflict with men of a different point of view, we have nevertheless maintained our ground, voicing the public need, remembering that there are times when “ vox populi, vox dei.” We ihave concerned ourselves not only with the superficial aspect ol present cay questions, but have sought to reach below the surface In the great problem of capital and labour we have sought to point out that not so much in adjusting differences, as in consolidating interests lies the real solution of the trouble. We hive pointed out the folly of allowing rival powers tc outdistance the Empire in the matter of fleet building, while al the same time insisting upon the desirability of avoiding war. We have advocated the adoption of a more maternal attitude on the pari of the Motherland toward he]

children overseas. We have provided our subscribers with a leading

article issue by issue, and our articles have been the result of study and of personal interview, days sometimes being spent ere the requisite material could be obtained. We have not failed at times to lay

under tribute the best journalistic

ability in the Dominion. Warmly thanking our supporters for their valuable patronage, which has enabled us to achieve even more than we anticipated, we again com-

mend to them “ The Te Aroha and

Ohinemuri News,” and ask their continued courtesy throughout the new year; for we start out upon our second year with renewed vigour, resolved to make our paper the organ for the promotion of the best interests of the district, in fact

the newspaper and advertising medium par excellence.