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______ Although the writer believed that he had not been put in his position by accident, but had been guided by the Lord to come into contact with DE VOLKSVRIEND, yet he did not feel as completely at home in the editor's "sanctum" as would have been desirable. In The Netherlands he had worked in the field of evangelism among adults and youth. He would have liked (to follow the inclination of his heart) to have used this paper for evangelism. But the cost for additional space for religious matters, besides the ordinary news, was too prohibitive. Therefore, in the summer of 1884, he handed over the job to Mr. A. J. Betten, well-known in the history of the settlement and of the county. He was a man of sound judgment, a former partner and often the right hand man of Mr. Hospers (especially when concerned about settler's interests) and a man of decided principles in the political as well as Christian sphere.What the writer of this paper was not able to do, Mr. Betten accomplished: the augmentation of more room for religious articles. DE VOLKSVRIEND was enlarged from a seven-column folio to a six-column quarto, and instead of the former four, she numbered now 8 pages. Therefore it became possible to discuss more extensively civic as well as religious matters, and more room could be given to editorials and letters to the editor. The paper did not only become more useful, but also indispensable for our people. The writer of this stayed on to help Mr. Betten with the lay-out, and rejoiced that the paper not only increased in size and contents, but that she began to share financially in the general prosperity of our people. The population Increased and with that her subscribers; trade Increased tenfold and competition forced advertizing in all fields, so that the Income could only improve. In former years DE VOLKSVRIEND had done her part to encourage immigration to these parts, and to encourage industry, and now she began to harvest the fruits. ______ |