The Daily News. THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 1903. THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 186, 20 August 1903, Page 2

The Daily News. THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 1903. THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

W® are glad to sea that our local contemporary hi a had the grace to apologise for giving his readers so m agre a summary of the Financial S.atemant. While we quite agree with the opinion he quotes from the Lyifwlton Times that the printed Statement should be forwarded under eeal to the local poSv master to hand to the Press when the Colonial Treasurer commences' to deliver it, the reasons he gives for supporting that opinion do not apply to the evening papers. I Q their cas) they have the whole Statement in hand before they need to condense it and can deal with it as they please. It is t ha unfortunate morning papers which suffer, and we venture to say few people ere aware of the difficulties under wh'cb the summary cf tho Statement which they read at their breakfast table h<ws breo produced for their benoßt. The morning pipers do not get sufficient creoit for the way tbey catvr for the public because it is mainly upon their nocturnal labours that tha evening pipers depend. r /\ke our own ose. Che Daily News supplied its readers with a summary extending into ssven columns on the miming following the " delivery cf the Statement, and this was being read in New Plymouth by 5 a.m. and deliwred all along the line to Patea by the miil train. Now the Statement was handed to us in three ai b. and c. Shortly before 8 p.m. tight sheets of each section were delivered by telegrmh messenger-. No indication was given cf the leßgth of the whole Statement or the length of each section. At intervals of longer or shorter duration instalments of from 6 to 19 sheets of 1 each section were delivered. The most ordinary mind will at onco see that if all tnroo sections were put in hand, a and b sections must ba finished before they wcull read on to section c, or the statement would be ( disjointed. that owirg to no iuturmalion being ob'aimble as fo (he length of the sections and of the whole statement, the difficulty of c n Wat:op. ro fit! -0 prtr.-i-'vo con'irivity was very great. Aj a ..utter ofj racfc it was past midnight beforej the information wfts vouch-s-fr-d to us that the whole Statenuui contained ever 25,000 words, but we were still kept in ignorance of tho length of %ch section. Eventually, ics-.oad of socsioa a b ing made a eho. t OLe, i contained 128 sheets, the last ebeUs : of it no's reaching us until ;,fei ; 2 a.m. While section b eralaired 68 shcc-ts and s-cticn a 76 ' isheots, and were both fin r slv>d about 1 ; a.m. Further, at tniduight we w:r« t info: meJ that the m tsrnjer would ' oeasjo delivery unless i-pccialiy paid for 1 no doirg. For t veuing to complain of the difficulties of dealing with ".lie Financial Statement is, under the ( jircums'ances, absurd. Is is oidy fair < iere that a word of praise should >e given to the officers of the Tula- 1 ;ruph Department at New Piymou b. J 3our af:er hour they were engtged ro- v living the Statement;, and ny matter l icvv badly it was sent, or how tho wire:) c vere working, they had to make tho| c ■est of it, and, considering all tho ditii- If.

cu'ties, it wp.s really matvellous the ex-j ctllent copy they eupp'ied. Long arrays: of figures were sent through with almost j faultle-s sccuracy. The work thrown on tbe telegraph s'aff on such occasions • is enormous, as every word is sent through, and eaih sheet is numbered; for tho marring papers front and back, and the sictioa it belongs t", a> d everything that is po.-sibl •, wi hin the ' lirai's of the departmental regulations, is dona to help the pressmen. In spite of all this, wrestling wi h a Financial Statement, ta'-u'atmg tho masses of I figures, and giving an intelligent condensation wit-hiu the limis of time, space, and composing power, is no ■ picnia for the staff of a morning paper, ■ j which has, in addition, the ordinary work to keep going.