UNITED PRESS ASSOCIATION

Hokitika Guardian, 20 February 1930, Page 2

UNITED PRESS ASSOCIATION

ANNUAL MEETING

ADDRESS BY THE CHAIRMAN.

TLMARU, Feb. 20.

Tliis is the Jubilee meeting of the Association, anil the ’occasion demands a little more from your chairman than, he is in' the habit of saying in the formal address of the year. I occupy this chair for the . second meeting in succession because of the death of Si* George Femvick, who was elected chairman a year ago so that he might be your president in the Jubilee year. ''' ' '

Sir George was the last of our links with the very early days of the Association, He' and his "colleagues were outstanding’ men, who would have made their mark in any community. They had vision, as well as great vitality, enormous energy, and wonderful industry. Trained in a day of rigid principles and conservative practice, they laboured in a, field limited by narrow conventions. Their journalism developed slowly, 'but its foundations must have been veiy sound. What I have in mind is the fact that the last'two decades have been a period of great difficulty, of tremendously' rapid expansion- on • the one hand* and of violent economic disturbances 1 ofi ■ the other. ; In other countries- there- have.been. many, newspaper disasters, hut- the Press of New Zealand has< come ■ thfough < all these trials stronger-than ever.-, Its solidity is due, I-firmly believe,. in very large measure to, - this Association, which, gathering its, .own strength from the co-operation of its;members, endows them, in turn, with a strength they could. not enjoy in .any . other way. .

The Association is itself a monument to Sir George Fenwick and the men who were- associated with him in its foundation.

We have to record with regret also the death .of MY F. H. Kilgour, manager of the ‘‘Greymouth Star, and Mr W. H. Smith, of Marion, who attended our meetings in the past, .and also of the veteran journalist, Mr James Mitchell, who was an agent of the Association, for many years. ' ; HISTORICAL.

The Association was established in 1879 for the purpose ,qf providing the subscribing . newspapers with a comprehensive and prompt domestic news service and with as good, a foreign news service as,. it could afford. From the inception, therefore, it has been concerned almost . exclusively, with the telegraphic transmission of news, and consequently Jts operations and its scope have been dependent on and limited by the policy and the organisation of the Telegraph Branch c-f the Post and Telegraph department. No account, of the Association would bo complete if it. cjid not make continuous reference to telegraph developments.

When the Association .was established in 1879, telegraph communication had been established north and south, connecting up the main centres of population. But it was only in 1872 that Wellington and Auckland were connected, ancl Gisborne, lor instance, was isolated ;until 1875. Cable communication with Australia had been opened in 1876. The whole service, therefore, was still in 'its infancy. The Secretary of the Department tells me that in 1879 there were 3543 miles of pole line, but only 195 telegraph offices, and the total staff of the branch numbered no more than 800. 'Transmission, of course, entirely manual. There was no telephone service at all. In 1879 tlie telephone was being exhibited' in New Zealand as a scientific novelty, but the first exchange in the ‘c-olony, that at Christchurch, was opened only at the end of 1881.

Last year there were 2098 telephone bureaux and l toll stations. * There are now 62,992 miles of telegraph and telephone lines, of which 9567 miles are exclusively for telegraph traffic, 48,916 miles for telegraph' and telephone and 4509 exlusively for telephone toll traffic. In 1879 all Press messages, Association and special, numbered 87,593. of approximately 3,000,(X>0 words, vuluecle at ,06190. Last year the Press, messages numbered 577,327, aggregate ing 98,000,000 words and - bringing the Department a revenue of £74,141, the increases in the fifty years being 559 per cent in messages, 3166 per cent in words and 1097 per cent in value. The average number of words per message in 1.879-1880 would be 40; in 1929 it would be 170. Working as we do with the Telegraph Branch of the Post and Telegraph Department, we come to know its merits and its faults very intimately. Probably better than any other section of the community, we know the magnitude and the value of the service its gives the community. And the community is well served. There are now over two thousand telegraph offices in this little country. Ten years -ago there were more, butin the decade there has been a vast expansion of the Telephone Branch and the telephone communication has in very many cases taken the place of the telegram. At one time, indeed, toll calls were actually grouped with telegrams in the Department’s records. Since 1894, when separate records were commenced, toll calls by telephone have grown from 78,406 *o 10,655,450, and the modest £IBOO of revenue from this source has grown to £442,896 in the last year.

The Association, of course, depends indirectly on the telephones for v-r----itually all its news from the country districts, since it is by telephone that the newspapers gather all their country news.

There are over 2000 telephone toM stations and bureaux in the Dominion, supplementing the 20OJ telegraph stations, so that the population is undoubtedly very well served in tliis direction.

Technically, too, the Department has made consistent progress. From the commencement of the telephone service it was used to supplement the Morse service. In the eighties all communications between Nortji .inl wSouth Isaluds had to be transmitted from Blenheim, which was consequently a very important station. In 1894 automatic “translators” or ‘repeaters” were adopted to eliminate the extra working, and a marked speeding-up was the result. In lb9B quadruples working was installed between Wellington and Auckland, and the capacity o.f the whole service was enormously increased.

For something like ten years now wo have had machine printing, and it is of interest to mention that the transmitter in use is the invention of a New Zealander, Mr Donald Murray.- We have travelled a long wav from the days of manual transmission. Those of you who had no experience of Press telegrams in the days of old can scarcely realise the advance that has been made. When I was first on the sub-editing staff more than thirty years ago, we us id toi go to press not infrequently without having finished the telegrams, which would still be dribbling in at five o’clock in the morning. In those days of hand-setting we used to get to press about 6 a.m. Nowadays we handle five and six times, and even ten times as much matter and go to press before 2 a-.m. Apart from outown technical improvements, we ; Cf>uJd not achieve that result unless the telegraph service had been improved out of all knowledge, .1 have used the figures of the Telegraph Branch to indicate the expansion of newspaper telegraph services, because the Association’s own office gives tio indication of the volume of work handled. We started operations in 1879 with a manager and one assistant and eight paid correspondents. We have now a manager, four assistants and typiste and 72 paid correspondents. In 1879 there were 48 subscribing newspapers; last year there’ were 65. But the volume of business has expanded in a measure out of all relation to staff of the Association. The cable business alone has grown in forty years from 155,000 words to nearly a million words.

In the fifty years our revenue lias grown from £1486 to £19,715 a year, and the. expenditure in like proportion. ,

So far as cable news is concerned, the. Association has been working in conjunction with the principal Australian newspapers since 1887. ‘Prior to that date the foreign service was bought direct from Reuter’s, though it was supplemented . from time to time by arrangement with the “Sydney Morning Herald,” the “Argus,” and the “Age.” There was no change of consequence until 1910, when the Independent Ciiible Association w*is formed, with its main office at Y’uncouver. This service was purchased, and the special service of the Sydney “Sun” was acquired in 1913, Reuter’s again entered the field in 1916, and its service was substituted for the 1,0,A, In 1926 the Association entered into a joint arrangement with the Australian Press Association and the Sydney “Sun.” Wo have no record of the quantity of cable news handled until 1891-92, and then only the messages as filled in were recorded. The development of the service since then is shown in the following table: —

The growth of the Association’s

general work may also be indicated

The figures relate, of course, omy to the finances of the Association, hut it may be taken that tho expenditure of individual newspapers on telegraphic and cable news service lias grown in like or greater proportion, and franklv I see no prospect of curtailment. The demand for news i nour country is insatiaole. The public want all the news and the newspapers must supply it, and every year sees the opening up of fresh news sources. Recent years have seen, for instance, a remarkable development of commercial news. Sports and sporting are making constantly increasing demands on the space of newspapers and on the staff of the Association. Never, in my recollect ’.on, have economic and social problems been more eargerly or more widely ruse us sed. Scientific developments have a growing interest for all elases of people. These tendencies become more marked every year, and the newspapers, in consequence, must cover an ever increasing field. Whatever interests the public concerns the newspapers, and the demands of the newspapers must be satisfied by this Association .

Our Association must progress if it is to exist, end we are even now atthe point where we should be considering very seriously the development of the organisation to meet the new conditions. I want to warn you, moreover, that the demand for news and the cost of news gathering cannot he regulated according to the variation of industrial or financial conditions. We may have depressions and slumps, we may have waves of prosperity, but

the cost of newspaper production is likely to increase persistently, and this Association , will have to face its share of the increase.

You should not have- it stand still, and you must know that it cannot stand still, its service must respond closely to the demands of the strongest and most progresive members, otherwise it will cease entirely to function. For fifty years now it lias been the mainstay of tile press of New Zealand, and in their own interests ists members should permit no impairment of its efficiency and no curtailment of its service.

1 have to thank you for your oresent attention and your help during the last few months. I want to thank Mr Atack for his invaluable and unfailing assistance, and to express my appreciation of his work, the work of uie Sydney manager and that of rhe'staff during the past year. Mr Atack has been our manager now for for fortyfour years, a truly remarkable recoid. I beg to move the adoption of '.he report and balance sheet and statement of accounts.

CHAIRMEN OF THE ASSOCIATION

1879 to 1891—W. Reeves. 1891 to 1892—H. Blundell. 1893 G. Fenwick. 1894 H. Brett. 1895 -J. L. Wilson. ;1896—E. W. Knowles. 1897 G. Fenwick. 1898— H. Brett. 1899 J. S. Guthrie. 1960—L. Blundell. 1901— J. L. Wilson and H. Brett. 1902 H. Brett. 1903 to .1904--G, Fenwick, 1905 H, Brett, 1906 — G. Fenwick, 1907 G, Fenwick. 1908— E, W, Knowles, 1909 —G, Fenwick, 1910— G, Fenwick. 1911— H. Brett. 1912 H. Horton. 1913 H. Brett. 1914 G. Femvick. 1915 L. Blundell. 1916 P. Selig. 1917 F. Pirani. 1918— G. Carson, and P. Selig. 1919 L. Blundell. 1820—G. Femvick. N 1921 C. S. Smith. 1922 H. Horton. 1923 W. Cecil Leys. 1924 P. Selig. 1925 C. S : . Smith. 1926 G. Femvick. 1927 W. Cecil Leys. 1928 A. G. Henderson. 1929 G. Fenwick and A. G. Henderson.

THE ASSOCIATION’S STAFF MANAGERS.

18*9-1884—E. T. Gillon. 1884-1886—G. Humphries, 1886- —W. H. Atack.

SYDNEY MANAGERS

1888-1910—A. J. Fraser. 1910-1928—J. : W. Bradley. 1928- —F, M. Morgan.

1879-80—Staff, E. T. Gillon, Manager, and one assistant, Subscribers, 48, Paid Correspondents, 8. 1890—Staff, W, H, Atack, Manager, and two assistants, Subscribers, 50, Paid Correspondents, 20, 1900—Staff, W. H. Atack, Manager, and two assistants. Subscribers, 58. Paid Correspondents, 23. 1910—Staff, W. H. Atack, Manager, three assistants, and typiste. Subscribers, 7. Paid Correspondents, 65 (including Suva Agent). 1920—Staff, W. H. Atack, Manager, four assistants and typiste). Subscribers, 71. Paid Correspondents, 73 and Suva Agent. 1930—Staff, AY. H. Atack, Manager, four assistants and typiste. Subscribers, 65. Paid Correspondents, 72 including Suva and Apia. Long-service members of the staff, are:—

Words. Cost. £ , 1891 155,009 5,220 1900 333,835 4,923 1910 520,981 5,018 1920 731,590 7,364 1929 979,086 13,6 r

Year. Revenue. Exjenditure. £ £ 1881 1,486 1,314 1890 8,468 8,217 1900 7,944 7,063 1910 9,272 0,338 1920 13,603 11,855 1980 19,715 19,403

G. Humphries 1880-1908 A. J. Fraser 1880-1910 W. H. Atack 1886-1930 A. M. Burns .. . 1889-1906 T. L. Buick 1913-1930 V. H. Morgan 1917-1930