Comment: Auckland's Review of City Affairs
In 1950s Auckland, a group of concerned citizens decided a periodical to keep tabs on the city leadership was needed. Thus was born Comment, published by Hobson Publications. The editorial
board included managing editor Charles Fisher but besides Comment itself, the only other publication from the company appears to be a Hamilton yearbook published in 1955.
From the first August 1955 issue to its last just
15 months later, Comment set out to be an “independent link between the whole
council, its Administration and its Ratepayers.” Funded by local businessmen and advertising, 27,000
households were to receive a free copy. A deal was made that Council pay distribution
costs and in return have the use of ten of the 20 pages.
It was an interesting time for the council. One-term
mayor John Luxford was at the helm and facing a host of issues from inner city slum housing, construction of the harbour
bridge, the debacle over sewerage schemes, and the constant transport concerns.
There is some fascinating content on Auckland’s
recent history in its pages. Dove Meyer Robinson, then chair of the Auckland
Metropolitan Drainage board, wrote extensively on
the new Mangere sewerage works, calling it “the world’s greatest drainage
scheme” and outlining why work had been abandoned on the Browns Island scheme
in favour of Mangere. Rapid rail was, as now, an issue, with Councillor Curran writing,
“Auckland must in the near future
include a rapid transit underground system in its transport plans.” Councillor Hunter commented on the state of the civic workplace: "The Town
Hall itself is crammed from top to bottom even to the point of having some of
its staff accommodate on the roof of the Town Hall Building.” Work, at that
time, had already begun on the new civic
administration block in Grey's Ave. And Comment’s editor
frequently got stuck into council. In one issue he called the current set up “a
three cornered hat from which little proceeds but hot air, which is usually the
way with the eternal triangle.”
Yet only a few months into its publication, trouble was brewing with the editor admitting it was impossible to
publish critical comment on the city; “Both readers and advertisers have been
quick to perceive this weakness.” The
distribution deal with the Council was scrapped and a new scheme put in place.
The first 15,000 people to sign up for Comment
got it free; after that, it was a paid subscription.
The scrapping of the deal turned into a stoush that went nationwide in
January '56 when NZ Truth published Comment's claims of mayoral interference, and included a rebuttal from Luxford. The mayor claimed council had terminated the agreement, not the publishers, and there had been no interference with editorial he was aware of. The editors shot back, claiming that Luxford had called a writer “to his parlour and left no doubt that it
would be wise to slash the article if we wanted the council to continue paying
the penny postage.” Even more, he claimed that before the publication had launched, “a handful of small time would-be
dictators are furiously at work to destroy it. The latest effort of these
back-room boys is to bring pressure to bear on some of our leading advertisers who
have made Comment possible. Nevertheless, they leave us undaunted.”
Yet in November 1956, the last issue of Comment was published and in its pages there is nothing to indicate its demise. There were the standard 24 pages, the usual council round up, plenty of advertising, and an editorial criticising planners over a scheme to include car parks in every new building. And with that, Comment, Auckland’s Review of City Affairs, ceased to exist.
Author: Joanne Graves, Central Auckland Research Centre
Interesting account of a short-lived publication - I like the quotes you've chosen - particularly the one about the rooftop office space! - Zoë.
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