THE MONTREAL "WITNESS."
[To TEE EDITOR OF TER " SPECTATOR.1 SIR ,—You will like to hear of a newspaper which was saved by its readers because they had faith in its editor. Two years ago the Montreal Witness announced that its financial affairs were coming to a crisis. Within a few months, with no appeal beyond a bare statement of the facts, with no offer of premiums or commissions, the subscription list was increased by seventy per cent.; and it is steadily rising. In March 1911, when the appeal was made, the combined circulation of the daily and weekly editions was 30,000 copies. Within a year it had increased to 51,000 copies. The Witness was saved; and now with a strengthened staff, increased equipment, and enlarged premises, the future of the publication is assured.
The editor who performed so remarkable a feat is Mr. John R. Dongall, son of John Dougall who founded the paper in
1846. Since 1870 he has been editor and sole proprietor. In the early years the Witness was a paying venture. It was the only evening Liberal paper; but about fifteen years ago a rival was brought into the field, with ample aid from friends of the Government which bad just come into power. For five yearr previous to 1911 the annual deficit was about fifty thousand dollars, which was provided out of private means which Mr. Dougall had acquired either by inheritance or success in other ventures. But this expression of confidence on the part of his readers has induced him to invest an additional hundred and fifty thousand dollars in the publication during the present year, and a hundred thousand dollars if need be for several years to come. Though Mr. Dougall is upwards of seventy years of age he works in his office from half-past seven in the morning until six at night; and is yet, as he has always been, the most powerful journalistic writer in Canada, absolutely independent of any party or government, and enunciating the principles of Liberalism merely because he believes in them.
The Witness is an asset to the Empire, and this ready response on the part of its readers is proof of a sound intelligence amongst the people. When Mr. Edward Porritt came to Canada to make a study of its political and social opinion, he chose the Witness as his best adviser ; and although be was personally unknown to the editor or to a single member of the staff, be dedicated his book to the Witness without even asking permission, as a tribute of admiration for its long and consistent maintenance of the best traditions of English journalism, and of its brave struggle for good govern- ment against forces which at times seemed to have overwhelmed its contemporaries. English readers who wish to inform themselves of the progress of events and development of opinion in Canada at this most critical moment would do wel' to supplement their reading of contrived cablegrams by reference to the outspoken editorials in the Montreal Witness. To admire and recommend the Witness does not imply a servitude to all, or any, of its doctrines; but in all its beliefs it is sincere, even to its own hurt. It is this quality which appeals to its readers.—I am, Sir, &c., [Probably we are among those who could not endorse many of the Witness's views, but we greatly admire an independent newspaper, and rejoice to think that its readers have stood by it so loyally. The fact is, the public does not want a servile newspaper. They may be temporarily annoyed at views which are contrary to their own, but if they recognize that the views expressed are honest they end by bless.ng instead of cursing. That, at any rate, is our experience. The Spectator, we fear, treads on many toes every week, but our readers do not therefore treat us as unworthy of support. Some of them, indeed, show their mixed feeling of resentment and sympathy with a charming sense of humour. A year or two ago "a constant reader" confessed that at one time be differed so profoundly from the Spectator on certain subjects that he had felt constrained to cease being a subscriber. "But," he added, "ever since I have regularly bought the paper at the station."—En. Spectator.]
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