WIRELESS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1062, 27 February 1911, Page 2

WIRELESS.

STATEMENT BY THE MARCONI REPRESENTATIVE,

QUESTION OF-PATENT RIGHTS. - POINTS FOR CONSIDERATION, On Thursday last tho Frimo Minister made, a statement regarding'the-Govern-ment's action in respect to tho acceptance of- a tender for the, erection .of- a syste'm of wireless stations in New Zealand. In tho courso of tho statement Sir' Joseph Ward is reported tqhavo said:— - "I ,am now in a position to announce that tho tender of tho Australasian Wireless Company, Limited, has been accepted, y»ud tho amount .of tho .'accepted tender for tho two high-power stations, and for the five low-power stations is .£23,730. There- wero two other tenders. These were tho Lepell.and"the Mnrconi Companies. The Government' resolved>.to accept the tender, of the 'Australasian Wireless Company",, as being, from tho standpoint of tho Dominion, tho most satisfactory one in every way. Tho Government fully considered,tho offer of the Jlarconi Company,.which,, for, the,, same number of stations, was- approximately .£30,000 higher than that of the Australasian Wireless Company.- This difference in price made the Marconi offer prohibitive. Before coming to a,decision acloso investigation ,of the. morits.of tho TelcfurJien system, -which'isnised by.'tho" Australasian Wireless. Company,, was mode by our own engineer, and the opinion of our consulting engineers in London was also obtainedj and-,upon their reports the Government .was satisfied, that the Telefunken system;.was better suited to our requirements than tho Marconi system, to 6ay nothing of the enormously lower price. Also, apart from-the report of our engineers, wo called for and obtained a guarantee.-from' tho company thnt equally good results would be , secured." .A Reply. ; ■■■, .-■-: In reply to these Statements', Mr; J. W. O. Hamilton;, manager and ropre-' sontativo in the Pacific for the' British Marconi Company, supplies,us with the' following explanation aud comment:— "I am very reluctant to comment on any statements which your worthy Prime Minister may think fit to make with regard to tho Government's" ' decision in accepting tho tender fof tho'installation of a foreign wireless system' in New -Zealand. It is not tho desire of my directors to criticise the action of any ■ British Government, but there ajipcars'to- be some misunderstanding' on, certain important points in tho comparison made between tho Marconi Companj''s tender and that of the Telcfunken Company's agents if tho information, reported in your columns is correct. As the issues at stake are of vital importance to my company, I think it is my duty to make some explanation in fairness to our shareholders, who have put not only' an unlimited quota of.the British 'pluck,' but many hundreds of thousands of -British sovereigns, into developing and establishing the most marvellous'invention of tho age, and one that has proved to be of the greatest national importance, and to the benefit of mankind. " The Patent Rights. ■"It is therefore only natural that wo should feci disappointed-to find that our great invention is not sufficiently appreciated in-Now Zealand to warrant, the Government affording sonio encouragetneht.and protection for our patent rights. Such a courso if, taken by. tho .Government compels the' Marconi Company at whatever cost to take immediate iction in the New Zealand Courts to - repeat "what has just been decided-in its favour in the English High Court- of . Chancery,- and also in the United States' Court.-' It does not seem * ritlit that, a British-company that has dono so much in 'developing nn invention of greatest'importance" to (JO Empire's interests should he placed in such a position under tho. circumstances. Our patent rights have been accepted as valid and paid for:by the.lmneriil Government, nnd tho system has f>een adopted for the Empire's naval.-military, post offioe, and.light-shin services, also for the Pacific'^and 6thcr,"British islands in different parts of Hid world. "Tho Marconi system is installed oh all the Australian mail steamers and warships, nnd is about,to bo installed on three of the principal Australian., companies' coastal steamers. We have already arranged to equip the Shaw.Savill Companv'i, and White Star steamers immediately on the erectipn of .land,stations in New Zealand, and a recommendation has gone forward' to, London to have the New Zealand. v Shipoihj . Company's, passenger steamers' sinnlarly'. equipped!".'

Tho National Aspect. . ■ "I believe it has-been stated that.-the Marconi Company; has, endeavoured to tako advantage .o£.-tlio sentiment -of- a loyal British community to obtain its unreasonable price; for establishing its sjfstora in New Zealand, but this is not' borno out by the fact if comparison is made on equal lines.' The difference in tho prices quoted for tho Marconi and Telcfunken: systems might apnear startling at first glance, if viewed solely from a monetary standpoint. Comparison has been made .on installations required to establish continuous day and night communication 'between Australia and New Zealand, and if the .figures stated . are .tho.position; is'. as follows:— . ' ' '- "Tho Marooni Company offers to instil a British-manufactured, thoroughly efficient wireless plant of 200 horse-power, which, from.tho .practical expsrienco .of •the Marconi Company's engineers, can •bo., safely -guaranteed 4o maintain tho communication required continuously. Tho Telcfunken Company offers for tho same purposo a 70 h.ri. German-manufac-tured wireless plant,- practically of only ane-third of tho power of the plant olr fered by tho, Marconi Company. In viow of tho fact that the Marconi Company offers an' installation •..practically three times the power -,of' that offered by the Telefunken Company, it could not be reasonably Expected:that tho prices quoted would bo the same, but in proportion to tho size and power of '• tho plant recom-mended-for this particuUJr^.worlf,-

'~ | The Day .Span, !j,; "■•'", /'l.may say that the plnhtwe offered was recommended by our engineers from many years' practical experience. Our price also includes royalties for our special apparatus, which has been protected by letters patent in all the civilised countries of tho world: - From the Marconi's Company's unique experienco in longdistanco wireless comjnunication it is, ue claim, impossible to"-maintain 'continuous day and night communication over such a great distanco as .1250 miles' unless ample power and aerial capacity is installed. Intermittent communication can bo cstabliilied at night time with remarkably small power,,.ai}o\ it .is of this kind of work one readsjeo-'iunchin the papers. I'might say nlso.tiriUhoThiimble opinion of the Marconi engineers;' who have de.voted many years'.'to developing wireless, that (ho installatjon.'_of. .'4, comparatively low plant, which involves experinientihg; with new and undeveloped features, &•' establish continuous Communication over 1250 miles, is attempting the impossible.Without any bravado I can assert that IJio Marconi Company is tho only bne in the world which has established and. maintained daily communication throughout twenty-four hours between two placed 1250 miles apart, nnd we find it necessary, nnd maintain that it is necessary, to navo tho power which wo hnvo specified to behind tho aerials. That wo aro attempting to trado on Imperialistic sentiment is entirely contrary to fact, as evidenced by tlie experience of'other .'countries where we. hnvo" established our svs(em. I might say also that tho prices we have quoted for the New Zealand installations" arc lower than thoso quoted for any similar Mnrconi work in otherparts of tho w0r1d.,.,; . ,;,.

.The Marconi System! '"''/''. •'■'■ "I notice that it has been stated that (he Marconi system is considered a 9 much a'foreign invention-'(is-(ho Tolefunken. The name Marconi'may "be Italian, but tho fact cannot bo got over that Mr,; Marconi resides- in England, is (he son ofan Englishwoman, and his wife belongs' to a distinguished Irish family. The Marconi systom has..been entirely developed in England and established by British capital and enterprise through, out the world. Its patent rights have bten recognised and .paid for by,.the Imperial Government,' and the system has been adopted for the Empire's naval,

military, post office, and light-ship services, also for the Pacific nnd other British island installations in different parts of the world. The Indian, Canadian, and South African Governments have adopted it, and it is installed in over 500 .passenger steamers, including the fleets of thirty-two British shipping companies. Tho Tolofuiiken system has been developed by German engineers and German capital, and it has been adopted nnd subsidised by tho German Government. -I do not think, therefore, that any comparison can be drawn on account of foreign clement between the British Marconi system and tho German Telefunkcn system. "As the Marconi Company's name has .been freely mentioned in tho correspondence I have no hesitation in saying that I have discussed the.subject with many of my friends in New Zealand, arid it has been received with so much sympathy that I am not surprised that some of my friends have had their patriotic spirit so aroused as to givo publicity to their feelings in tho -matter. I may also say that I have never mentioned it to anyone but who has expressed surprise that the installation of the German National system should be entertained by tho Government. I should like to say. too, on behalf, of ray company, that the kindly courtesy extended to their representatives by the Government's officer throughout the long negotiations in affording them every opportunity, for discussing the matters is fully appreciated." - :