it was not competitive and had closed by April 1865. In January 1863 the ODT halved its price to threepence (3d). In 1864 the ODT was successfully sued by the New Zealand Banking Corporation for libel after it had claimed that it was not a legally constituted joint stock bank. The bank was awarded £500 in damages which highlighted to Cutten, a man of a contented disposition, that as well as the pressures of producing a daily edition there was also sufficient financial risks. This was enough to induce him to sell his share in the newspaper to Vogel in November 1864. Vogel took on Farjeon as his junior partner in what became J. Vogel & Co. By early 1865 the business was struggling financially. With Vogel beginning his political career, the partners sold a majority shareholding in the business in March 1865 to a number of prominent Dunedin citizens on the condition that they were kept on as manager and editor respectively. The new owners formed a public company in 1860, the Otago Daily Times and Witness Newspapers Co. Ltd which was funded by issuing £6,000 worth of debentures at 10% offering interest. Vogel, John Bathgate, F.C. Simmons and James Rattray as directors. Farjeon retired as business manager in December 1867, and Campbell was appointed in his place. Ousting of Vogel The end of the gold rush lead to Dunedin enduring a major economic downturn from 1868 to 1869. As Vogel became more and more involved in the politics. The other more commercially minded directors who were by now Rattray and W.D. Murison with Bathgate now the company secretary, aware of the need for the newspaper to earn sufficient income pay the interest on the debentures came to believe that Vogel's use of the newspaper to advocate on behalf of his political beliefs, was impacting on the business. Murison and Bathgate also had political interests which may have entered into the decision to dispense with Vogel's services in April 1868. The rest of the entire editorial staff were also soon let go. At an extraordinary general meeting of the company in July of that year Vogel made an unsuccessful attempt at retaining his position by offering to lease the company. His offer was rejected by 96 to nil. Using the offices of the Evening Star Vogel in partnership with others launched the New Zealand Sun on 16 November 1868