How to Run a Paper.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XIV, Issue 2917, 8 March 1893, Page 2

How to Run a Paper.

" 3ivis " in the " Otago Daily Times " says f—Not yet having enjoyed the pleasure of reading the " Pahiatua Star," I am unable to estimate the degree of (success with which "our contemporary" pursued the thorny path of joarnalis>m That the path was not a proti'able one under ordinary circumstances may be inferred from the circumstance th&t ont of the staff started special settlement associationb for the express purpobe of obtaining the prin tins: and advertising. It h very Had to hear that the sacred cause of settlement has been prostituted bo the mere welfare of a newspaper.

Imperial Caesar, dead and turned to clay, Might stop a hole to keep the wind away ; O, that that earth, which kept the world in awe, Should patch a wall, to expel the winter's flaw! Among the editorial duties al*o, it seems, was to vary the pleasing and seductive occupation of starting special settlement associations by milking the cow before going, to the office. The editor, indeed, appears to have been invaluable for every purpose but editing the paper, for trie defendant averrwd that a riotous profusion of contributions was admitted to the sacred columns of his journal. Concert givers sent in their own notices, much against their will, no doubt, for there is nothing your real amateur dislikes so much a» the mention of his performance in complimentary terms. The knowledge of this law of nature wometimes leads me to suspect that the promoters of the Saturday night concerts surreptitiously supply the reporters with notes, for never a report appears without some disparaging reference to somebody. Racing secretaries wrote the reports of their meetings, with glowing narratives of their own capabilities. An architect wrote a description of the town, eulogising his own buildings, and so on. Pahiatua and its vicinity must have been a veritable Arcadia for a time. It is a well-known fact that everybody knows how a paper should be conducted better than the editor. Here then at last is a prescription for making a journal popular. Throw it open to all who have a horn co blow, which, dear reader, is nearly every-1 body, and you make so many friends per day, the number being only limited by the extent of the columns, and the exigencies of advertisers. So many a day is bo many a week, and so many a week is ao mmy a year—just like Captain Bobadil'a method of defeating »n army — aud presently you have the whole district at your feet. You have here a sure method of forming a large Mutual Admiration Society, of which you are the adorfld central figure. I should not guarantee the permanence of such a society, but how ■^ioctsanb it would be while it lasted.