Towards the end of 1855 Syme returned to Melbourne and became a road contractor. Syme's brother, Ebenezer, was editing the The Age newspaper and when it was threatened with failure bought it for £2000 in June 1856. David Syme, who had saved some money while on the diggings joined his brother as partner in The Age on 27 September 1856. The paper struggled on for 18 months, when finding it could not support the two proprietors David obtained other employment. Ebenezer retired in 1859 and David Syme, with some reluctance, returned to the business. On 13 March 1860 Ebenezer died, and finding it was difficult to sell The Age Syme decided to abandon his contracting and carry on the paper.
The task of running the newspaper was a difficult one, and only the fact that the proprietor was willing to work 15 hours a day made success possible. The original policies of The Age included manhood suffrage, the opening of the lands for selection by the people, no compensation for the squatters, and compulsory, free and secular education. When protection was added to the program great opposition was raised. Opponents felt that these policies would greatly harm the colony. The opposition to The Age was carried even to the extent of boycotting its advertising. Various abortive amending land acts became law between 1860 and 1869, but in the latter year an act was passed which embodied most of the principles for which Syme had fought. A tremendous flow of population came into Victoria between 1850 and 1860 due to the Victorian gold rush and towards the end of the decade there was some unemployment.
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