Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/627

 ADELAIDE AND VICINITY 6oi "The Advertiser" 7-^ HE ADVERTISER was first published in Adelaick- on Monday, July 12. 1858, under the auspices of a com])any, the editor Ix;in^- the late Hon. J. H. Harrow, then a member of the House of Assembly. Hy the; articles of association Mr. Barrow was given absolute control over the editorial department, the prospectus Ijeing extremel)' explicit on this point. He was a man of rare ability, great breadth of view, and large e.xperience. Hie Advertiser, according to the desire of its founder, was to be " in harmony with the spirit of the age, of independent tone, of constitutional liberalism, of catholic sentiment, unfettered by party obligations, reflecting honestly the opinions of the majority, and at the same time giving free scope for the exposition of the views and wishes of the minority. The new papers — The Advertiser and its weekly companion, the Chronicle — will utter plain truths in plain language ; will call the s])ade a spade ; will enunciate a straightforward policy, whether popular or unpopular, but will at the same time afford an open column for respectful criticism and generous opposition." During the 16 )ears in which Mr. Barrow exercised his powers as managing editor the.se principles were kept steadily in view, and there has been no departure from them in the more prosperous days of the Province, and of the paper. It is mentioned in the initial issue as a co-incidence that this date — July 12, 1858 — was the fifteenth anniversary of the day on which was first published the earliest Melbourne daily paper, afterwards bought by, and incorporated with, the Argus. The introductory words of the first leader are as follow: — "After many unavoidable delays, much labor, and no small amount of anxiety, we are this day enabled to present our opening number to the public. So far as relates to popular sympathy and support we certainly have nothing to complain of" The second sentence has been perennially true of The Advertiser, and could be as accurately written to-day as on the occasion when it was first printed. In the beginning the paper consisted of four pages with seven wide columns on each, the price being <. per cop-. The printing press then in use was a small American machine capable of turning out 1,500 complete copies of The Advertiser in an hour, but this proved quite equal to the demand of the subscribers. Telegrams were unknown in tho.se early days, except so far as some of the more important inland towns were concerned, and it was not until a fortnight after the paper was started that through communication was established between Melbourne and Adelaide, the first messages exchanged being the usual complimentary greetings from Governor Sir Henry Barkly, of Victoria, and Governor Sir Richard MacDonnell, of South Australia. Though youthful compared with .some of its Australian contemporaries, the foundation of The Advertiser still ante-dates many events which now belong to ancient history. For instance, it is only 15 months younger than the establishment of Constitutional Government in South Australia, and the first lines of its second leader show that it preceded another great change — " The question of Government officers, other than responsible Ministers, holding seats in the Parliament of this Colony is one upon which N N