The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1871-01-21
a Promising journal.

The Gazette of Wednesday last makes its
seventh annual bow to the public in a very
smoothly written leader, in which it comfortably
fatters itself that it can say, without any very
ostentatious pretensions to perfection, that. it
presents to its readers 50 the promise of a useful
ness and reliability not to be found in any other
journal published in this Kingdom" The SEN
tence reads well enough, but the meaning is
slightly tangled to our dull comprehension.
Which, among the many journals published in
this Kingdom, has made a promise to be so very
useful and reliable? But then, again, perhaps it
means that none of those journals have ever
made the promise In that case the Gazette gets
the start, so far as promising goes. 1t is to be
hoped that these promises are not like pie-crust,
made to be broken, and that the organs am
bition to make itself the most reliable "a good
word and bears repetitiOn) of any paper pub
lished here, will be amply satisfied. We did not
like to mention it before, but have all along
thought that there was some little margin for
improvement in our contemporary as to that one
point-reliability. L h.fus
Journalism, ,. says the Gazette, 8" in a COM
munity like this, is no easy task" We heartily
endorse that proposition. 1t is a hard task to
make bricks without straw, or to Fill up a column
with sensational items in a community which has
no murders or frightful accidents to be served up
in .a reliable (again) and detailed account
And what a pathetic picture is here drawn o.
the dreadfully involved condition Of chronic an
tagonism into which this community has got:
f's0n nearly every question Of Importance which
arises, nearly every man differs from his ~neighbor
and the %neighbor differs from every one else and OF
course they all unite in differing with the views as
expressed by the journalist, who would have the
right to be inconsolable if it were not for, the fact
that he is no more alone in his views than any one
else"
1t is consoling to think that the journalist is
not himself inconsolable in view of this dismal
state of disagreement, but we confess that we
cannot see how he can help being s' alone in his
views when everybody unites in differing with
him.
Further along, the writer deprecates the making
of too many promises, because few are carried
out except the honest ones-and we may add,
not always those-and then again promises that
the Gazette will continue to be the most RELIABLE
paper published in the country, and goes on with
a string of promises, which, if fully carried out,
ought to bring it up to that standard which it
modestly disclaimed making any pretensions to
in the start-perfection in journalism.
As we said before, the article is very pleasantly
and smoothly worded, and perhaps, to use it's
own words in another connection, in the reading
of it 50 the public is very properly lulled and as
sured By a feeling of security which is felt in
almost no other spot on this EARTH
For ourselves, We care not to be lavish of
promises, for fear of accidents-ugly blunders in
figures for instance, which might detract from
our reliability" But We are firmly of the
opinion-and we say it boldly, without fear of
the possible consequence of being called upon to
make good our boast-that, were we provided
with a fat subsidy, to draw on quarterly, and a
handsome concrete Office in which to write edito-
rails, we might possibly produce almost as "re-
liable" leaders as the one in the last Gazette.
In conclusion, we suggest that the name be
changed, and that henceforth the organ be
known as-THE RELIABLE.