Volume Lviii

With this number the Argus k1gins its fifty-eighth volume. Forflftyicvcii cars it has chroniclcd the local occuri'ences of AVaslitenaw county and its remarks to make on all important natioiüil and state mattere. Itis a matter for self-congratulation ljy the paper tliat never before has it niuiibered so man y readers as it has now on Uie opening of its fifty-eighth volume. It believes also that it neve stood higher in the estimation of it readers than it does to-day. The hare work necessary to give it its standing can only be appréciated by those who are familiar with the inside minutia1 i of newspaper making. Competition il I these later days is flerce and rigorous ■ That the old Argus comes through the loonflict the newspaper par excellence Hol' the county is oHly because no pain Bhave been spared In give its readers al ■the news as they wish to see it, in ; Pivadable ('m rn, and with such fullness I of detail as was obtainable. It has I been kept a clean family paper, eschew I ing the sensational articles vvhich give I oiily a short-lived popularity and do Community more hariu than good. The Argus has worked for Washte I naw county and for Ann Arbor foi I ïnany long years. It is prepared to fcroniinue such work. It has watched Itlie gniwfli of Ann Arbor from smal Pfoeginnings. It was here before the I Unive.vsity was established. Itspresses printtd the announcement of the sale of lots by the land company which donated the campus to the University. J&or many years it was a leading paper 'jMï the state, in the days wlien it was Bossible to publish a state paper outside n Detroit. With the revolution in Hewspapers which the cycle of time BVrought, the Argus gave up all claim ■ o being a state paper, and contented ■tself witli the more modest, but none Rhe less important, mission of being ■ hc representative county paper of ■VVashtenaw, and it is now striving to fcve this county one of the best county fcapers in Michigan. Fifty-seven years have seen Michi' gan grow from a territory into a state. The Argus was here when Michigan was yet a territory. It lived in the 1 days of democratie supremacy in ths young state, when such young men as fiovernor Felch then was. were at the democratie helm in Michigan. It has ahvays been a stront; and consistent anvoeate of democratie principies. When it was started tliat sturdy oíd democrat, Andrevv Jackson, was president of the United States. Stevens T. Mason, the boy governor of Michigan, was then acting governor of the territory of Michigan. Tliose were favorable days for the establishment of a democratie paper in Washtenaw. The Argua, in the fifty-seven years of its existence, lias seen many papers established in Ann Arbor which have gone through various vicissitudes only to wend their way to where the woodbine twineth. The Argus itself has, at times, had very hard sledding, and its life has been endangered. But its vigor suffleed to pull it through, and it makes its flfty-eighth bow to its readers in prime health. The year 1892 is to witness one of the hottest political contests of the generation. The Argus will do its full share of political work duiïug the year. But if-wl strive not to lower its dignity in thi! pblitical fight, not to deceive its ïêadem, and not to descend to personal innuenOoes which lili too many party papers luring the heat of a political canipaigi'. The Argus will discuss at length all the great principies at stake in the coming campaign, and will keep its readers posted on the issues of the campaign. Au etfort will be made to greatly enlarge our corps of correspomlents". and to cover the whole county more thoroughly than has been done"in the past. Ihe Argus has been in the habit of ,fulflllingitspromises, anditnow promhses a better paper for 1892 than has jbeen given in the past. It requests its readers to aid it by securing their friends as subscribers.