THE PACIFIC CABLE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 934, 29 September 1910, Page 6

THE PACIFIC CABLE.

PROPOSED DEVIATION EXPLAINED. ESTIMATED SAVING OF .£6OOO XEAELT. , ' Interesting' statements were made in Parliament yesterday in regard to the proposed deviation of the Pacific cable. ■ Speaking in. the Legislative Council in the afternoon, Dr. Findlay said that the work of laying an additional cable between. New Zealand and Australia on .behalf; of the' Pacific Cable Board,: from Doubtless Bay to Sydney, direct,, was regarded as /urgently !-necessary, in view of the delays caused to .cable messages through their having to be sent by way of Norfolk Island. The handling at Southport, in. Queensland, also caused • further-delay before New Zealand' messages could reach such centres as-Sydney and Melbourne. ..The. matter had been under discussion, between the partners of the Pacific cable for some time; It .was 'at-first thought that the cost of. the cable by tho' proposed Doubtless Bay-Australia route could-'not be defrayed; ■ out of tlie renewal fund, which amounted on March 31, 1909, to .£192,595, and on March 31, 1910, .would probably , have' reached C U229,595.;.' It- had, however,; since been decided: that if the partners agreed, a direct cablemight be laid. There/was liodoubt that thd new. cable was, urgently required if. the Pacific Cable Board, was to increase -or ; even • retain its. present business. There had been considerable loss of. traffic during the last year or more, which 'might be put, down primarily : to. delays which/frequently. :gave ■ considerable trouble'' and' .anxiety : on the long stretch ,of land line between • Southport and Sydney. Advantages of tho Deviation. ■It' might: be mentioned thafr the. Gov-' ern£rienthad been urging. tile construction of.a-nowi cable to.provide.increased traffic -facilities between',. New- .• Zealand - and. Australia. In addition.- to-.: other matters,, the laying down of a new cable would enable a, great, reduction to : be made ..in working expense#, by "practically. cutting out: the staffs at' Southport and, Norfolk Island. All intercolonialtraffic . from Australia ;sent via Pacific would ' come direct from-Sydney to Doubtless Bdy,- as 'well ; : as 'all /similar intercolonial traffic. marked :by- the/'same..route,', instead; of as now: being, sent to Southport for .onward transmission. by : cable. ; , Tlie great imwhich had; been made■'.in (the recent form of cable relay, would enable Doubtless ; Bay ; to work-;direct to Suva, through-.a' cable relay- at' Norfolk Island! -Southport: 'would ;.be. kept chiefly , as- a training, establishment, and not .used, at' all. as a transmitting station, except for Queensland's traffic, and unless an interruptionV;"should. occur on • the;'cable tween : New: Zealand .and Norfolk. The-saving in cost of establishment that would result .was estimated at .S6OGO per annum. : V.'.'--r V ; / ; ;- Cosi of tho Proposal. . Tho cost of laying the.-proposed .cable would not,;it is estimated, .exceed .£155,000, and the board would thus secure a .route alternative;;, t0..; the piwent :one, which; cost.. £196,721. v Had,- tho;' board. . decided to lay a second, cable -by "the' -.-present -r.oute, no resolution would have - been necessary,■: but -it was provided at the time the first cable was laid ' that ;, no deviation ..'could, '.be .'made ;.without : the. consent of /Parliamerit. :, By . following : a more direct , route 'between New. Zealand and Australia,' not only would greater 6peed ih : ; working: :be.secured,:;but better, value forthe . money;: which:, was now being set'.- aside "year by year as'-' a' :re-; , newal fund . would; be "obtained;''' A;' direct cable' to . Australia. nVould alsocomplete the 'triangle.: between Norfolk Island, New' Zealand,-and tho Commonwealth, and in effect ; duplicate ; the . lines.' . The advantage' of- this was obvious. . . A copy of ,Parliamentary Paper'.M showed- : that New' Zealand's proportion of tho deficienoy. for the year ended March 31, 1909, was ,£6765 ss.' Gd., and for tho year ended March; 31;. 1910, iNew Zealand's proportion of the' deficiency , estimated- .at-i£8617.'. The new cable would .causey no',increase in. this Government's; liability. ;.The Gov-. er'nm'ent , 'was.v:bein'g.,asked : to : j treat-:'the matter as urgent, as a full meeting ofthe Pacific -Cable Board was : being held ■immediately, to consider" the. question. As New;; Zealand...was'; primarily, concerned/'it'was'necossafy,.that; approval bo given. -Canada and " Australiay had already consented to the proposal.' . Result of the Cable, Monopoly. ; ; In tho course of. a brief discussion, the ; Hori.'T.'.paul vsaid' hev feltf.that the whole question of cable services would, .very shortly; liavei to.',be, reviewed.,,'.'He did not think, that there ;was/much question that the Pacific cable was being boycotted by the other companies'. As a result,'of,: the cable nioiiopoly, ;'the people were givena . false V; idea .of . what ' was done, in,'lmperial..matters,:, and -matters, of ' Empire. -."AVe':got "..tainted . 'cable ; news, in .this country, and it' was of ;great .importance: .that we: should.-not'., get f it. The whole question of .cables should be considered 'hv tho Government. .. The Hon. George Jones (Otago), while agreeing with -,a good ;deal of what had ; been: said,pointed-out that it -was-im--possible to get perfection with the cable dependent; on'.human. beings. VThe-;New ; Zealand -newspaper proprietors' were not yet ablej to afford:a service of/their own.; Tho motion was carried. DISCUSSION IN THE HOUSE. WILL "WIRELESS" SUPERSEDE : , CABLES? thV sitting , ;of the ' House .last. night, * the: Prime'" Minister , (Sir Ojosegh: Ward) •' moved■ a ■; resolution' 1 : similar . in, "effect, to had been, passed by the-'Legislative .Council..; His remarks were in"a similar strain'to ,those;of Dr. Fiudlay in; -the Upper.: House.,.: . , Mr. .Massey-said that he had hoped, in:; view,-/of:. the'' advancement; of - wireless telegraphy, '• thatthe:. laying of cables) .would -soon' become.-a : thing ,'of ; the: past. Ho :;was ~ surprised|to ;,hear- that, the , cost of, the new; deviation was to:,be met out' df ,the-sinking funds. J • Mr. Fisher (Wellington Central) thought that steps should" be taken to see-that there was an improved press .service between' New 1 Zealand, and the-Home Country and' New' Zealand : and; Australia,V'andyvice" versa. ;v ; He" contrasted; the. -small [■ space, given-in the case of--; an'.-.-Imperialistic question with the ..large '■ messages ;\which were; sent: out. to. the-Dominion-with-refer-ence.; to.; the. Crippen ' 'case,. 1 the... JeffriesJohnson light, etc;"''•.' -~ ;■ ■■ • Sir. Buchanan. (Wairarapa) considered that. the , public wassatisfied with -the quantity, of the';press..' cables, but .; selection' of- the news was indifferent.;.... Mr. . Jennings . : (Taumarunui) 'arguedthat the-Press Association .monopoly .-was detrimentally affecting newspaper enter--prise, especially . in -the more - sparselysettled districts.; . . ' ; Mr. Herries (Tauranga) -thought that l the- treaties'should., be;.so amended. sis to enable; a reduction in cable rates to be scoured. ' 1 Mr. T. E. Taylor (Christhcurch North), was of opinion that the' Commerce Committee should inquire , into the alleged monopoly in regard' to, press".cable'; nows in this' country. He 'went ; on- to-say that it would be. better.; to ..subsidise' a. good cable . service than to subsidise a poor mail service. The House should bo told whether there was any immediate chance of a penny-a-word; cable . charge being' established.. ...':' j. •'■ •- Independent Cable to Australia . ( ■ ■■:'. Impossible. The Premier (in reply) •• said that the cost' of the : new cable, would not como out of the sinking funds of the board, but out of: its . renewal- account. . The contribution: made by New Zealand annually had never, exceeded the original esti- . mate—in' fact, it'was diminishing.'' Now: that Australia and New Zealand were partners in the Pacific dable it would be impossible for .them, to.; establish an. independent cable between these two countries. The embargo in the way of international' treaties against •,the reduction of rates should . b© removed in tho caso of the State-owned cables to tho colonics. If this were done it would lead to the adoption of a very cheap , rate. The present' cable across .the Pacific could, stand a sixpenny rate for domestic cables. - Ho would like to see a penny-a-word charge ultimately adopted. • Mr. Buchanan:'Would not. additional cables be required? Sir Joseph (continuing) said that that was the case. It had to be remembered that, at-present the cables were not in use for half the'time. If the cable rates were reduced an increase in. revenue.

would follow, similar to what was the case in regard to penny postage. Wireless telegraphy required to'be the coadjutor of the ordinary cable. He did not believe thatf_ the wireless message would oust the ordinary cable message for many years. The great difficulty was, the uncertainty that the messages would not be intercepted. That there would be a wireless service. between/ Australia and New Zealand before many / years he firmly believed. Under the scheme each country would do its own part'of the; undertaking. Object of the "Wireless" Scheme in New Zealand. ' . There should bei before long, as up-to-date a system of, wireless in New.Zealand as in any part of the world. •; It , would be- a uniform system, and the/ object would not be to" compete with the'.existing systems. Under the scheme a person, who could uso an ; . / instrument; ~ might "wireless" from the backblocks ] or the islands adjacent to New Zealand.- The; Press Association ,in.'Australia Had''.;®!-, doubtedly/grown into' ,a .monopoly. /. In New Zealand we were - in / a similiar, position. ' He -was not blaming the newspapers, /because he recognised that up till now they could not do otherwise. ' Tho New Zealand. Service .was,: subsidiary /. to the 'Australian, 'service./ New Zealand suffered, owing'//to : , the'fact/ that the: big service, was 'more, suitable for' . Australia. ; The gentleman who represented tho Australian .service- at Home was very/fair. His. position - was: doubtless:/ a .very difficult. . one.: The New Zealand, newspapers; should be/able to get their own. independent service.'; As soon'as the.preserit contract between/ the' New; Zealand, and the Australian' services was .completed,: a/; new arrangement, -under; whicli New Zealand would : fare-better,/ should be /-./.entered into. There, must/be an improvement,in regard . to : the New Zealand - service to enable all papers ; to: get. the .news at' a reason'able'rate./ He regTetted exceedingly: that so/few- messages were, transmittedfrom New . Zealand- to Australia, for. they were always very much appreciated./ ' ; 1 The motion was then agreed to. ;.