EMPIRE NEWS

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 145, 23 June 1930, Page 9

EMPIRE NEWS

PRESS CONFERENCE

IMPOETANT MOTIONS

CHEAPER COMMUNICATION

United Pre»> Auoeiatlon-Bj Electric Tele ' ■ graph—Copyright . EDINBUBGH, 21st June. Sitting on desks in the great M'Ewan j Hall at Edinburgh University, wherel tho students recently concluded their, examination, the delegates attendingl the Empire Press Conference, discussed Empire communications. "No' smoking, please!" ran a notice behind the president (Major Astor, M.P.), but.somo delegates found pipes ,an aid to thought. • The following motions were submitted:— (1) That the conference approves the principle of a mutual co-operative inter- ■ change of cable news between the component parts of the Empire. (2) That the conference, while appre- ■ dating the value of aircraft and longdistance telephony in the development of Imperial communication, ' believes that the greatest force for diffusing the knowledge on which: unity- is .based is wireless telegraphy, and urges the Government to establish throughout the Empire a deferred newspaper rato of Id per word.1 (3) That in order permanently to reserve for the Empire full advantage of tho wireless telephone at the lowest .cost, control bo retained by the Government. Mr. Norman Smith (Canada), in moving tho first. motion, suggested a central bureau exchanging news the Empire between the affiliated associations of the various Dominions. The discussion was adjourned. MINIMUM PEESS BATES. Sir Hugh Denison (Australia) moved the motion affirming the desirability of reducing Press rates to tho lowest possible point; of introducing a deferred Press'rate on all routes, and of securing tne abolition of terminal charges mado by Governments on messages which. ■ they did not handle. Sir Hugh Denison said that Sir Basil Blackett had referred,to a surplus productive capacity in tho communications. They could use all their capacity, for they could not interchange too much news. Why not use some of that cap-' acity in carrying special deferred Press messages, thus doubling the Australian traffic? This was a strong argument for further reductions and facilities. The cable-wireless merger had resulted in a great decrease of the -.speed of transmission; the average timo had more than doubled. If the retention of the cables was necessary for Imperial strategic reasons, there should have been a Government subsidy instead of imposing tho burden on tho users of tho cables and wireless. Competition between the cables and the .wireless should have continued. They should press for deferred Press rates to all parts of tho Empire not exceeding a ponny^a word. Wireless messages to Australia cost the same as a message to India or Cyprus. Australia was tho only Government 'imposing landing charges for services not rendered. These were entered as general revenue. They had recently reduced tho charges from a penny to a half-penny, but the Government did not handle these messages. Sir Stanley Reed (India) ■ advocated giving the merger no peace till it secured a maximum deferred rate of a penny a word. '- . ' , The motion was carried unanimously, and is the first motion actually carried by ,the conference. Mr. M'Gowan (Trinidad) expressed the hope that he would get the support of the conference for cheaper rates to the West Indies, which would enable him to abandon his project of taking back a cage of carrier pigeons to carry inter-island news. Failing help, he had decided to try the pigeons. . The Hon. T. Fink (Australia) moved ■ the third motion. He said that if wireless telephony came into the hands of the merger the profits might be diverted to provide interest on capital invested in other means of communications instead of being used to improve the service and cheapen the rates. Telephony should be reserved for citizens of the Empire and the control retained by the State at least during a period 1 for observation. Mr. Brunsden Hotelier seconded the ■* motion. STATE CONTROL. Sir Robert Donald said that he was not opposed to State control, but he did opposo management by the Post Office. Tho American Telephone and Telegraph Corporation had its tentacles into Australia and' other parts of the Empire, and tho merger could not compete with it. It was perfectly hopeless for the Post Office to attempt to do so. When the corporation linked up with the radio company there would be a world-wide combination against the merger, and; incidentally, against British interests, ■ Further consideration of the motion was deferred. TERMINAL CHARGES. Sir Campbell, deputy-chairman of the Advisory Committee on International Communications, assured Sir Hugh Denison that if ■ he- attacked tho question of terminal charges, which were flourishing like tho green bay treo in Australia, he would havo behind him a moasure of unanimity ' which • would reverberate throughout the Empire. The committee .is dealing at present with arrangements for the joint working in Australia between amalgamated communications which would, result, among other things,'in the assimilation of cable -rates to the wireless level.