The Pacific Monthly/Volume 10/Prominent Newspapers of the Pacific Coast, Part 3

Prominent Newspapers of the Pacific Coast

III. The Vancouver Province

By J. B. Kerr

THE PROVINCE is the youngest amongst the important daily newspapers of British Columbia. It is, at the same time, the largest, the most enterprising, and possesses much the largest circulation. Its success is attributable to the same causes to which the great newspapers of the East owe that which they have achieved; and while the sphere of The Province, as compared with that of the great dailies of the East, is necessarily circumscribed, it can truthfully be said that within its own boundaries it possesses as much influence, enjoys as much confidence and satisfies as fully the needs of its constituents as do the widely circulated journals of the great centers of population.

Before everything, The Province is a news carrier. It seeks to be, and as far as possible is, an impartial chronicler of the daily occurrences of importance throughout the world. Every department of the paper is

to obtaining a daily news service, and obtaining that service promptly and fully; and in this effort no money is spared and no labor is regarded as too great.

In addition to the confidence which The Province enjoys in its capacity as a publisher of the news of the day, it possesses to a very great extent the trust and consideration of the people as a counsellor in matters affecting the welfare of the country at large, and especially of the Pacific Provinces. It has no selfish interests to serve and is, therefore, at all times and under all circumstances, able to discuss frankly and freely all questions of public importance. While it is in alliance with the Liberal party of the Dominion and lends its support to the Liberal administration, it does so in the full conviction that the principles of that party are in the best interests of the country, and that the government at present in power is not only the best which could be chosen from our parliamentary representation, but in point of ability, honesty and progressiveness is equal, if not superior, to any which Canada has yet possessed. Its political connection, however, does not prevent it from criticising party mistakes or government measures, and it holds itself free at all times to assume an absolutely independent attitude. The Province, too, like all other progressive newspapers of today, takes a keen interest in matters outside the domain of politics, and seeks to perform its share in promoting the general culture and moral welfare of the people.

The Daily Province sprang from the weekly paper, The Province, which was established in Victoria, B. C, March 3d, 1894, under the editorship of Mr. A. H. Schaife. It obtained its financial backing from Mr. Hewitt Bostock, a wealthy young Englishman, who had come to British Columbia a short time previously, and who, having political aspirations, regarded a newspaper ally as an important factor in advancing his ambition. The paper was modeled on the lines of Labouchere's Truth, and resembled it largely in appearance. Mr. Schaife, as a newspaper writer, and Mr. Bostock, with a political future in view, both felt the need of some publication free from financial stress in which independent and outspoken reviews of men and things could he printed. But it proved a heavy burden, Mr. Bostock being called upon to contribute to the extent of $10,000 a year towards its run-

ning expenses, and this independent of an unusually heavy investment for type, printing machinery and presses, which it was deemed advisable to make in order that the paper might be properly produced.

This was the condition of affairs, the steady drain on Mr. Bostock's pocketbook to the tune of $10,000 a year continuing, until, in the spring of 1897, a young Canadian journalist, W. C. Nichol, was attracted to the West by the gold fever which, during that period, raged aH over Eastern Canada. Mr. Schaife was on the point of leaving for England, and Mr. Bostock was desirous of seeing if a trained newspaper man . could not stop the continuous drain on his resources which the publication of the paper entailed, and transform it into a financial success. After some negotiations, an understanding was arrived at, and on the 1st of October, 1897, Mr. Nichol assumed editorial charge of The Province. He soon satisfied himself, however, that it was impossible to make such a publication a financial success in such a field, and, accordingly, he made arrangements to change it from a weekly into a daily paper, with its office of publication in Vancouver instead of in Victoria. On the 26th of March, 1898, the first number of the daily paper was issued from The Province building, on Hastings street, where it has continued to be published since that time. From the day of its publication it proved a success. Its circulation went up by leaps and bounds. The Province press could not print the paper fast enough; after a few months it was found necessary to put a fast web press in, but in a year or two its capacity also was found to be too small. The result was that a modern two-deck web press was installed, capable of printing anything from one page to 16 pages in a single book, at the rate of 20,000 complete papers an hour, cut. pasted and folded.

All this was not accomplished without a liberal expenditure of money and brains. Nothing was left undone to provide the readers of The Province with all that the wide world of news offered which was bright, attractive and interesting. City news-gathering was revolutionized, and the modern method of giving bald statements of fact some measure of literary finish was adopted. The regular A. P. dispatches were supplemented by special wires from all quarters, and it was not long before the paper had succeeded in organizing the most efficient news service of the Canadian Pacific Coast.

This invincible, unvaried spirit of enterprise has been one of the most important factors in making The Province so successful. It has one of the most complete and up-to-date plants on the Coast, and no expense has been spared in equipping the establishment with modern machinery and whatever would conduce to the successful operation of the business.

Some years ago Mr. Bostock sold his remaining interest in the business to Mr. Nichol. Of late Mr. Nichol has done little actual writing for the paper himself, devoting his energies almost entirely to the general management of the business, which has grown to be the largest publishing business in the Canadian West, with the solitary exception of the Free Press, of Winnipeg. In bringing his newspaper up to its present standard, Mr. Nichol's methods have been those of a sound businessman. In a long experience as a newspaper owner and editor he had realized the fact that the success of a daily paper depends upon its excellence and reliability, and that in the long run these qualities must win. To make The Province, then, the most complete from the standpoint of its news service, the most reliable and the most readable, was the aim with which he set out, and which he has ever since kept steadily in view. He had been a constant reader and ardent admirer of the New York Sun during its palmy days, when Charles A. Dana was at its head, and when the most brilliant writers of the United States were on its staff. During his career as a newspaper editor Mr. Nichol has invariably followed the practice of

A BATTERY OF LINOTYPE MACHINES.

W. C. NICHOL.

Mr. Dana of developing: as far as possible in his newspapers the personality of the writers on his staff. This course he has pursued since the establishment of The Daily Province, and the result is he has surrounded himself with the best newspaper men in British Columbia, who, appreciating to the full the system he has inaugurated, display a loyalty to the interests of the paper which could not be secured for a mere monetary consideration. It is not alone in the completeness of its news service, both local and telegraphic, that The Province excels, but in the literary workmanship which is apparent in its columns. The writers of The Province, in addition to relating occurrences in readable form, pay especial attention to reliability of detail.

But it is not only in these respects that The Province has secured its extensive popularity. It has always maintained a keen interest in current literature and in educational and religious movements. It has always been on the side of the wage-earner and been solicitous for the advancement of his material prosperity and happiness wherever that could be secured by peaceful means and regard to the general well-being of society at large.