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OPINIONS OP THE PRESS.
mahtbokodoh and dtjnolly advertises,
9th January.
Our Melbourne correspondent writes : — Tho
principal topio of conversation continues to be —
The vordtet. Wherever two or three men meet
together they rarely separate without holding
an inquest on the award : and so far as inv
parsons! experience goes the opinion is unanimous
that The Age hs gained a viotory. This ia
proved, though not acknowledged, by the rancor
of the Speight party, marshalled as it is by the
Argus . Had not the verdict been accepted
. as a defeat, why the desire to renew the con
flict. ? Naturally, a man who submits a olaim for
£25,000 feels ratber sore when he is awarded
only tbe 2500th part of that sum. But what
then 1 His oase has had a fair hearing. It cer
tainly was not prejudiced bythe judge's summing
uj). His own oounicl could not bare put his
ease more favorably than the judge did in some
parts of tho eharge. That tho jury's verdict
did not come up to his expectations is quits
another thing. So far as it went it was in favor
of the defendant, and so far the country at
large has endorsed the finding. Certain finanoiers
will be disappointed too. Thoy have apent
their strength for naught. The cash is
gone and their protege is no better off,
whilst, collectively, they are £8000 to tho bad.
They will know how to make a better book next
tune — unless they are able to find comfort in an
analysia of the jury's voting, obligingly pub
lished by the Argus on Monday' morning. Put
into a nutshell, the plaintiff gained a majority
on three oonnta — that is, unfair comment — one
of whieii gave him his £100, and his frionds
one-eleventh of the £8000 they have spent. On
the other hand, tbe majority wae in favor of
defendant on five oounts ; and thero was a tie
on three counts.
(siieppabton advertiser, 10TH january.)
An opportunity' now presenta itself to show
appreciation for the noble work whioh Mr.
David Syme, of The Age, has done in the publio
.cause, and while the whole oountry is moved
with sympathy for the heavy loss which he has
incurred through the late abortive libol trial,
Siiepparton cannot afford to forgot what it
owes to his fearless outspokenness and power
ful advoeaey which led to tho breaking
down of the barriers that prevented
the residents frSm beooming, as they now
nre, prosperous settlers of the lendB of the dis
trict. Not only was he the ohicf fsotor in
unlocking the lands of the colony against tho
powerful and bitter obstruction of the squattcis
and monopolists, backed up by the Argus, but
his watchful eye has been ever alort to perceive
the machinations of the onemies of the people's
interests, and his pen swift and potent to thwart
their insidious attempts to conserve to them
selves whatever good things the State could
afford. The Gillies Administration, with
its notorious ootopus railway poiioy, is ex-
poscdpiahd its unblushing supporters frightened
and abashed by tbe voiee of tho oountry at the
huge sosndal tbey were assisting to perpetrate.
This railway bill would have oostthe eolony
even millions of borrowed money. Who saved
us from this extravagance ? Tha maladministra
tion of the departments of the publio were
corrected by the same forco, and for the searoh
light of truth thrown upon the way in whioh
our railways were mismanaged the benefactor of
the colony is mulct -in £30,000 costs. Tbe
independenee of every honest and out
apoken journal ia imperillad, and if the
press ia not permitted to expose
abuses in .high placeB without the
. risk of a speculative aotion by some of tho
i' parties interested being brought against it, it
will have lost -muoh of its usefulness end
influence. In this respeot the community owes
a duty to The Age for confronting the risk,
wliieh is not to allow the proprietor to sustain
the whole burdsn of the costs of his late trial.
A publio meeting will be held in tho Mcohanios'
, Iestitute to-morrow evening, at 8 o'olook, when
aveiyone who can- admire and respeot tho
attitude of $b sufferer as a publio journalist
should indioate his feelings tjy giving his sym
pathy and his support tp those who are invest
ing themselves in the movement.
. ararat advertiser.
r This journal, a. Conservative free trade
organ, aaya " Whatever may bo the opinion
. beld nspeoting the libel, there can be no doubt
of thepublio good which baa roaultcd from tbe
journal's endeavor to set the affairs of the
Railway department on a good footing."
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