declined to accede to, and the result was that the "ODT employees started an opposition paper, the Morning Herald which was launched in December 1877 aggressively priced at one penny, as against threepence being charged for the ODT. The men had many sympathisers and the former directors of the Times Company and their friends gave the new venture all the help they possibly could. The rival soon had a circulation of compatible with that of the ODT. In 1878 out of a combined population of 32,792 for the city and suburbs the average daily circulation of the ODT (which varied between 2,500 and 4,000) was about the same as the 10.7% of the Daily Morning Herald (approximately 3,000), well short of the 22.3% of afternoon Evening Star, the 17.8% of the Evening Tribune while the weekly Otago Witness was 20% and another weekly, the Penny Post was 6.1%. The Saturday Advertiser is believed to have reached around 20% of the total population. Sold back into public ownership The loss of circulation and thus revenue to the Morning Herald, coupled with the collapse in 1878 of the City of Glasgow Bank leading to a withdrawal of British funds which impacted on Otago runholders and weakened a struggling economy had a serious financial impact on the business. Reed and Fenwick had also assumed a considerable debt to buy their rival. In desperation Fenwick urged Reed to take the prudent course and protect themselves to the floating of the business as a public company. A prospectus was issued in April 1878 with William H. Reynolds, H. S. Chapman, Sir John L. C. Richardson, Robert Stout, Robert Campbell, Thomas Hocken, George Fenwick, James Marshall, Walter Guthrie, Bendix Hallenstein, Henry F. Hardy, John Reid, and Richard H. Leary listed as among the provisional directors, of a company to be known as the Otago Daily Times and Witness Newspapers Company, Ltd. The capital was £40,000 in 4,000 shares of £10 each, of which £7.10s was to be called up. The flotation of the company was successful, and at a meeting of shareholders held on 10 June 1878. William H. Reynolds, Thomas Hocken, Richard H. Leary, Walter Guthrie, James Smith, and George Fenwick were elected directors. Reynolds was appointed chairman and Fenwick was made managing director. Reed remained editor of the ODT but departed in 1878 to become New Zealand's immigration agent in Ireland. Fenwick believed that