Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/621

 The^^^'-^'^^ ADELAIDE AND VICINITY 595 of them ; but the poHcy proved to be the best in the lonir run, in th,it it forced the energies of the Province into legitimate grooves. The proprietors of the A'ci^is/er were not exempt from the turmoil and the suffering. Sarcastic and even bitter paragra])hs against the Governmc;nt were published, and the official advertisements, which, l)y long- standing arrangement, had appeared in the pa[)er, were withdrawn. Thereupon the titles "Gazette" and "Colonial" were dropped, and the name was shortened to the South Australian Register, under which denomination the paper was known until January I, 1 90 1, the date of the establishment oi the Commonwealth of Australia, when the simpler and shorter title of "'The Register" was adopted. During the fmancial collapse of 1841-2 Mr. Thomas suffered s<;erely. His journal had so denounced the action of the Government that he was even deposed from the office of Government Printer. He visited England, and appealed to the Imperial Government for redress, but in vain. The affiirs of the Register now became so entangled that the energetic and deserving proprietors endured the mortification ot seeing the paper pass out of their hands. In August, 1842, Mr. James Allen took over the plant and copyright. Mr. Allen, it is recorded, "had a great deal more of boldness and literary skill than (jf money, and bailiffs were in almost constant attendance at the office." Pearly in 1840 the Register was enlarged to eight pages, and in August of the same year it assumed the form of a broadsheet. Mr. Allen removed the offices from the west end of Hindley Street to the corner of King William and Rundle Streets—now the " Beehive Corner." In February, 1843, the Register began to come out twice a week ; and a year later an effort was made to publish it as a "daih," biit the venture was premature, and the paper resumed its original form and issue. These progressive and then retrogressive acts practically completed the ruin of Mr. Allen. And now another change took |)lace. In June, 1845, Mr. John Stephens, who had previously been associated with the editorial staff, became proprietor. Already the legitimate occupations of the colonists had begot a more healthy condition, and the Kapunda and the Burra Copper Mines were beginning to turn out wealth. From these developments a newspaper was bound to obtain some advantages. Mr. Ste])hens carried on the paper for several years. He was an able man, and had been closely connected, on other papers, with the journalistic development of the Pnnince. In 1843 he had established the Observer, and now ran that journal in connection with the Register. He was called a "literary Great-heart," because of his courage and the effective means he took to check abuses. His courage was so great and his pen so caustic that he was frequently assailed with libel actions, and Mr. (afterwards Sir) R. D. Hanson held a standing retainer from him. Mr. Stephens thus entered the slough of financial embarrassment, and on one occasion the Sheriff removed all the printing plant to an auction room. Mr. Stephens got permission to use his plant, and the " novel sight of an auction mart turned for the nonce into a printing office was presented, with the compositors working hard and probably incited to extra effort by the somewhat humorous side of the situation." P:ven this energy was insufficient, and an order prohibiting work was received. Air. (i. Dehane, a printer of standing and reputation, came to the rescue, and the Register was issued from his office. Despite all his troubles, Mr. Stephens managed, in 1850, to firmly establish the Reoister as a daily newspaper. He died, "a victim of worry," in November,