The following is THE HINDU editorial on its Golden Jubilee. “Honest and fearless criticism of men and measures, untainted by personalities and directed solely by consideration of the common weal, will, in the future as in the past, be our constant aim. And it shall be our endeavour to fight with all the strength and skill that may be vouchsafed to us for the freedom of the Motherland, to uphold all causes that are deserving of support and to contribute all that we can to that fullness of life of which a great nation is born.”
OCTOBER 8, 1928
The Golden Jubilee
SUNDAY THE 7TH OCTOBER 1928 WAS A PROUD DAY FOR THE HINDU and all who are associated, in however, humble a capacity, with its conduct. It brought to them an overwhelming realisation of the unique place this journal occupies in the esteem and affection of our countrymen. The hearty manner in which the general public and leaders of all shades of political opinion cooperated in the Jubilee celebrations both in the City and all over the Presidency gave the occasion the character of a national festival. It was an exceptionally brilliant gathering that responded to the invitation of the proprietors to attend the reception given by them at THE HINDU office; for this signal mark of courtesy we should like to express our warmest acknowledgments to the distinguished guests. Nor are we less sensible of the supreme honour done to THE HINDU, its early founders and great architects, by the public of Madras at the meeting in Gokhale Hall where, in the presence of a vast, enthusiastic, cultured and democratic audience, an address was presented to the proprietors, editor and staff of this paper and speeches were made by eminent leaders eulogising in over generous terms such services to the cause of the nation, as in the face of odds, we have been enabled to do by the unwavering sympathy and support of our countrymen. Profoundly conscious as we are of our onerous responsibilities as the inheritors of a great tradition and looking as we do for daily inspiration and guidance to the fragrant memory of the great men who so largely made THE HINDU what it is, the heartfelt tributes paid to the two stars of the first magnitude in the Indian journalistic firmament – the late Messrs. G. Subramania Aiyar and S. Kasturiranga Iyengar – the eminently fitting way in which the public of Madras have decided to perpetuate their memory, are doubly precious to us. Those great men are the beacon-lights who shine far into the future with their radiant message of hope and faith; we into whose hands their sacred charge has passed are but humble feeders of the flame. We are too painfully aware of our own limitations to appropriate as our due all the kind and good things that our friends and well wishers have been saying of us. We realise that it is not so much THE HINDU with all its weaknesses and imperfections that they have been so wholeheartedly praising, as the ideal which THE HINDU has ever set up before itself and earnestly endeavoured to live up to amidst all the storm and stress of circumstance. Perfection is not the portion of our mortal estate, but the joy of the ideal lies in the knowledge that its pursuit is unending and constitutes its own greatest reward. Without exposing ourselves to the charge of immodesty we may be permitted to say that it is in this spirit of high endeavour that the present conductors of THE HINDU have always been trying and will always continue to do their duty by the public. Honest and fearless criticism of men and measures, untainted by personalities and directed solely by consideration of the common weal will, in the future as in the past, be our constant aim. And it shall be our endeavour to fight with all the strength and skill that may be vouchsafed to us for the freedom of the Motherland, to uphold all causes that are deserving of support and to contribute all that we can to that fullness of life of which a great nation is born. We are acutely conscious of the immensity of our task but the thought while it chastens, need not deflect us from the goal, sustained as we are by the knowledge that the country expects THE HINDU to do its duty and is prepared to back it nobly in the strenuous days ahead.
Reference:
The First 100
A Selection of Editorials, 1878-1978, THE HINDU, VOLUME I