THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.

Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 2, Issue 95, 26 October 1868, Page 258

THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.

(Frond ’tiie/Wellington independent, Oct. 13.).

Publicity is one:of the;characteristics and guarantees of Anglican freedom. It is as essential to the healthy existence. and ; proper develop mentVpfiepresentauveinstitutions and parliamentary government as the air we breathe is to human life. ■ The public require accurate information relative to all public. affairs, 7 It is. most, necessary that they- should be made acquainted with the doings of Government, and the sayings and doings of their representatives. If the means of acquiring this information are withheld, if they are inadequate for that purpose, or if those employed are calculated to mislead, representative government is denuded ..of one of its principal merits and advantages, The Ministry of the day becomes indifferent to public opinion, and public opinion itself cannot be fully and healthily developed. The publication of “ Hansard ” is, to a certain extent, an obstruction to the conveyance of full and accurate information of the proceedings of Parliament, and it is at • the same time the means of misleading the public relative to those proceedings. The following quotation from the “Report on the Government Printing Office ” will prove the truth of what we have here asserted. “As a rule,” says Mr Didsbury, in effect, “ the amount of time absorbed by the Government compositors iu making members’ corrections in the reports in * Hansard, 5 after such reports ha\e been set up, is fully equal to' the cost of setting up the copy afresh.” This, statement' is one made on the best authority; it is one which the. public ought to be made acquainted with ; and it is one which ihe public journalist ought not to pass over in; silence. The time occupied by the Government printers in making members corrections in the reports of their speeches is, as a rule, equal to the time that would be occupied in setting up those speeches afresh. We have repeated the startling statement in other words in order to impress it more forcibly on the reader’s'mind and attention.

We have said, and we shall incideutly prove as we proceed, that the publication of the “ Hansard ” stands tu the way of the conveyance of. full and accurate information of the pro : ceedings of Parliament. .But let us dwell for a moment on the financial bearings of the question. We look in vain through the report for information regarding the amount which the printing of the Hansard costs the public. Let the amount be more or less, we are assured on the most competent authority that it is double what it would be if the members themselves wrote out their speeches for “ Hansard 5? instead of employing a cosily staff of reporters to render this service for them. It requires no effort for some honorable members to talk for an hour dr so; but it would require considerable effort • and several hours to write, out what they intended to say, and it is an effort, and requires an ameuht- of ability which* not one iu a dozen is capable of. If the speeches were Written for “Hansard ” by the members who made them,, they-would, consequently,- in most; cases, be shorn of one-half of their superfluous'dimension-, the public would not be put to a fourth of the expense in their publication, and; a large > quantity. of • good paper would be saved from the 'biitter.basket and cheesemongers. ; .-WWThe ; part of the question, important as that,is .In the present circumstances of, the Colony, is not, however, the principal one in oui: estimation. The Goydtnmeht Printer lias indirecitly, but no less.forcibly, placed it on\'recdrd,that.the s speecbes;:of members, Vss reported Wu : “;.HansardW■ are not those Which they in 'debate,' but speeches Wjuch^^by'^aid^^of the reporters, they .write . out afterwards. daUj, Jbutvrepprta^-iff;#hat/tl^yvWould;; shouldi/pE/migh^ : if. said iu it has, signally

failed in : on which alone f;;f its publica-tion - c»£'iie?jwstifiecL The || electoral body are misinformed as to_#| what par-iyj ticular questipn be- 'lf spe- | cially provided to convey thisinforina- | tion, and' morepver, ( costs the public several; thousand, pounds per 1 annum.,’ , • It ..wpuld..b,e J if members; make :| corrections in their speeches afteir they |J have been reported ahd v put in type, * and it would alsobave this advantage; % the public would ; then have. better §j means of ascertaining'what they, really A did say than-I hey have under the pre- 1 1 sent system.. It may! be contended {$ that the reports are inaccurate, that the reporters are not competent for - the task which they have undertaken, , and for which they are paid; but if ihat be the case,, it is'"a. good. = reason r why a Government Reporting ; Staff ought not to be employed, and a still stronger reason why the members ; ; should either write out their own speeches, or leave them to be re- / ported through the orduary channels. If there were no Government Printing Office, no Government Reporting Staff ; would be required; the one is the • legitimate offspring of the other. If the printing required by the Government were left to private enterprise, private enterprise would then produce 1 better and more accurate reports of J Parliamentaiy proceedings than are If obtained, and the country would not if only be spared the expense of a costly I; costly reporting staff, but also tlie cost H of twice setting in type the long-winded v speeches which, by a wide and wild 1 stretch of the imagination are now , supposed to have been made iu Parliament.

. We do not believe that the public have the slightest idea of the enormous cost of the Government Printing Office. The report does not . give any accurate information on this important point, but we think it may safely be put down at not less than Fifteen Thousand' Pounds per annum; “ The amounts for printing as stated in the report says Mr JDidsbury, *■ do not include any charge made for. corrections or altera.ti.uus were this charge added, the total amount would be .much greater than that stated. The esti-

mated value of printing done last year is put down at <£11,455 15s lOd, but the gross cost of this work to the colony is.not stated. If one-half the sum was paid to newspaper offices for Government printing, it could be executed as cheaply as well, and as expeditiously as it is at present, while those offices could then well afford to employ a, competent reporting staff to-give, without a single farthingofVbo'st to:the Government, and without a. single extra farthing, of cost to the public, full and accurate reports, of the Parliamentary debates!; It may be said that though they could afford to do so, they would not; but; in this case free,.competition would be the means of securing what an unwarrantable interference on the part of ■ Government in' private enterprise has failed to accomplish. We have already said that the- cost of printing the “Hansard” is not stated iu the Keport, but the. value of the printing executed for the two Houses Of Parliament last, year is put idown at no less than £6,483; . Talk about retrenchment !• : If it is not rt quired here; it is not anywhere, ■ But it is well that the public sh‘6uid know how t.lie parliamentary debates, which cost the; calony so much, are appreciated. This information -is afforted in; the Itepurt'.before us. . The amount,, realised from their .Bale"pom' l to lune, ' TB6B was £Bl -18 s-; lid ! The-figures., are suggestiv - and signi- - -T-V'- '