Ultimately the editor was informed that "as he had been five times prosecuted for libel he was not entitled to any consideration, and that the Colonial Secretary would receive no further communication." And here practically ended the strife that had so long been carried on in the Colony. The Colonial Service was placed upon a better basis, and the Press had little call to use violently abusive language, though criticism continued to be free. During Sir H. Robinson's six years of office (he departed in March, 1865), the tone of life in the Colony was greatly elevated, and harmony was produced. The Press was conducted on better lines, and Mr. Murrow lived to carry on his work until 1884. A set of regulations adopted by Sir H. Robinson regarding civil servants and the Press are worthy of mention here. They were to the effect that whilst there was no objection to public servants furnishing newspapers with articles signed with their names on subjects of general interest, they were not at liberty to write on questions that could properly be called political, nor to furnish any articles whatever to newspapers which commented on the measures of the Government, and habitually exceeded the bonds of fair and temperate discussion. These regulations have been maintained to this day, though of recent years the necessity for them has entirely disappeared. In April, 1867, China Punch, a fortnightly illustrated paper, was published by the China Mail, and conducted by Mr. W. N. Middleton and others. On May 28, 1868, it ceased publication temporarily, but in November, 1872, the previous proprietors were induced to revive the production. Local topics and men were dealt with in a humorous and effective manner, to the intense amusement of the public. This journal, run on lines somewhat similar to its London prototype, only lasted whilst Mr. Middleton was in the Colony. When he left (November, 1876) Punch subsided, and since that time no paper of the kind has managed to rival its humorous and its witty caricatures and cartoons. On November 1, 1869, H. C. P. Glasson published an advertising sheet called the Daily Advertiser, which, after two or three years, developed into a newspaper, but did not last long. Then came the Hongkong Times, which also quickly languished, and left no serious footprints in local history to mark its existence. In the seventies the field was left to the China Mail, published in the evening, and the Daily Press, issued in the morning, and whilst they strove to fulfil the mission of the Press, nothing startling occurred to mar the even tenor of their ways until towards the end of 1870, when the Daily Press incidentally accused Mr. C. C. Smith, the Registrar-General, of having ill-advisedly interfered in certain judicial proceedings in the Police Court, and, being sued for libel, was mulcted in the sum of $250 damages and costs. In 1872, too, the Daily Press was once more in court for publishing a letter by Mr. Welsh, a merchant, who had been fined by the judge for, as a juryman, "paying insufficient attention to the case," but having apologised, the publisher, Mr. Bell, was excused. Mr. Welsh, it may be mentioned, was sent to gaol for fourteen days for contempt.
Either late in the sixties or early in the seventies Mr. George Murray Bain (who may be now regarded as the doyen of journalists in the East, having joined the China Mail in 1864 as sub-editor and reporter), took over the editorial work on the China Mail, and in 1872 became proprietor. His journal was conducted on most conservative lines and with studious regard for fair play, and the esteem with which he was regarded increased with the years. In 1877 he commenced the fight of his life, for then there arrived in the Colony as Governor Mr. (later Sir) John Pope-Hennessy, and against his policy the China Mail launched itself vigorously. Prison discipline and flogging were the subjects upon which the Governor first trespassed with unappreciated results. Flogging was abolished and crime increased remarkably, the Governor endeavouring to cure crime by reclaiming the criminals. Naturally this failed in such a place as Hongkong, and the public and Press were up in arms. On October 7, 1878, a public meeting was held to draw attention to the existing state of insecurity of life and property, and the policy of the Governor was severely criticised. In a despatch to the Secretary of State, Sir John acknowledged the increase of crime, but added, "it cannot be attributed to me, for it commenced before I arrived." So eager were the community for an explanation of the proceedings going on under the Governor's direction within the gaol walls that the China Mail was determined to find out for them, and managed, unbeknown to the authorities, to procure a berth in the gaol as turnkey for Mr. W. Arthur Quinton, who, in November, 1907, died in Yokohama. Mr. Quinton remained at his post long enough to become thoroughly familiar with the prison details, and then wrote a series of articles for the China Mail, which made for subsequent reforms, and also incidentally caused the departure from the Colony of Mr. Quinton—and, later, the Governor.
During Sir J. Pope-Hennessy's time the Hongkong Telegraph was founded (June 15, 1881), by Mr. Robert Frazer-Smith, who rapidly showed the community the metal of which he was made. He preached the gospel of anti-humbug in his columns most effectively. With scathing pen he pricked various bubbles, and made worthy and unworthy citizens alike tremble in their shoes. His work became reminiscent of the tirades that disfigured the Press in Sir John Bowring's time, though there was generally a spice of humour in them that did not appear in the articles of his predecessors. Early in his career Frazer-Smith fell foul of the law, and for libelling the German tragedian, Daniel Edward Bandmann, he was sent to gaol in July, 1882, for two months, being given the privileges of a first-class misdemeanant. As with Tarrant so with Frazer-Smith. He was received upon his release from gaol by a representative deputation and presented with an address and $1,000, as an expression of sympathy. Actively resuming the control of his paper, Mr. Smith's pen wrote personalities to the discomfort of many and the enjoyment of most. Early in 1883 he attacked the editor of the China Mail. Mr. Bulgin, and a libel case ensued, the complainant claiming $1,000. He was awarded $100 and costs. Forthwith the defendant returned to the baiting, and in November of the same year succeeded in obtaining his third writ from Mr. J. M. Price, the Surveyor-General. He won the case, but the sympathies were not with the virile editor on this occasion, for the Hon. F. B. Johnson and ninety-nine residents signed a letter offering to pay Mr. Price's costs of the proceedings in court, but the offer was courteously declined. Smith accused the Surveyor-General of being guilty of jobbery and corruption.
In 1885 and 1886 the newspapers had much of a public nature to busy themselves with, for the development of the Colony was proceeding apace, and files of the China Mail and Daily Press show a clear grasp of local conditions and a studiously courteous style of journalism. The Telegraph continued lo supply the spice to life, and Mr. Frazer-Smith, in February, 1890, once again crossed swords in court, the plaintiff this time being Mr. Oscar Grant, who recovered damages amounting to $251 on three counts, with the costs of the suit. The whole of the Press this year were in vigorous opposition—the Daily Press in particular—to the practice of appointing local barristers as acting magistrates with the privileges of continuing their private practices, and the scandals were somewhat suggestive of the days of Dr. Bridges, previously alluded to. Becoming tired of prosaic life, apparently, Mr. Frazer-Smith trespassed on thin ice with disastrous results towards the end of the year, and he and a reporter named Ward were convicted of criminally conspiring to bring a charge of rape against J. Minhinnett, a foreman of the Public Works Department. The jury recommended the defendants to mercy, and a sentence of six months' imprisonment in each case was passed, with damages to plaintiff of $3,000. Before the case was heard in 1891 Frazer-Smith went to Australia for a trip, and as he was on the vessel to leave he was arrested on a writ issued by Minhinnett. He was allowed to proceed later, and eventually sued Minhinnett for $1,000 damages for needless arrest, but he lost the case. In June, 1901, the Jockey Club held a meeting and struck Smith from the list of members. A public meeting on the Cricket Ground (not representative) passed a vote of confidence in the editor. He was not, however, cured of his taste for risky writing, and in 1892 Mr. John Mitchell, of Messrs. Butterfield & Swire, sued him for libel and obtained $250 damages. He continued for three more years, constantly being in conflict with leading citizens, and on February 9, 1895, died and was buried at Happy Valley.
In 1894 Mr. T. H. Reid became a partner in the China Mail, and also editor of the paper, and in 1900 the Hongkong Telegraph, after being run by Mr. Chesney Duncan, and later by Mr. J. J. Francis, Q.C., was formed into a limited company, the principal shareholders being Chinese residents who took over the business from Mr. Francis in order that they might have an organ in which to give expression to their views. With Mr. J. P. Braga, later on as manager, the paper has been conducted with becoming regard to the tenets of fair criticism, several gentlemen having occupied its editorial chair since its formation as a company. The three papers (China Mail, Daily Press, and Telegraph) were now with one accord moulded on high principles, and thoroughly living down the evil reputation newspapers gained, some not undeservingly, in former years. In November, 1903, the South China Morning Post joined the ranks as a morning paper, in opposition to the Daily Press, and made an endeavour to oust the older morning paper from the arena. It was founded as a public company in March, 1903, by Mr. A. Cunningham, a former editor of the Daily Press. The first editor, Mr. Douglas Story, remained but a short while, and before four years had passed the founder had severed his connection with it, the manager and editor now being Mr. G. T. Lloyd. In the China Mail office recent years worked changes. Mr. T. H. Reid departed in 1904, and was succeeded as managing-editor by Mr. W. H. Donald, whilst in 1906, the proprietor, Mr. G. Murray Bain,
