PARLIAMENT.

Oamaru Mail, Volume III, Issue 790, 23 October 1878, Page 2

PARLIAMENT.

Wellington, October 22,

In the House of Representatives to-day, Mr M'Lean presented a petition from Messrs. Holt and M'Carthy, of the Press Agency, stating that the Government have given a monopoly of the wires to a few individuals, and praying that they may be placed on an equal footing.

Mr. Curtis asked the Attorney-General if the Government will take into their consideration during the recess the expediency of altering the present mode of prosecution. Mr. Peldwick asked the Minister for Public Works if he intended to proceed with the Fisheries Preservation Bill this session. Mr. Macandrew said such a Bill was likely to lead to considerable discussion, and so prolong the session. Sir R. Douglas asked the hon. member for the City of Wellington (Mr. Barton) whether, in the event of the committee, or the commission inquiring into the grave charges he has made against Chief Justice Prendergast, and Mr. Justice Richmond, he will have any objection to same committee or commission inquiring whether he, as a barrister, had conducted himself as a barrister should do, ' and if the charges made by him are found to be false, whether he should not be debarred or suspended from practice. The Speaker said the custom of members putting questions to each other was frequent in the House of Commons, within certain restrictions, but had not been taken advantage of in New Zealand. Mr. Barton replied, as to the first' portion of the question, that it was assumed that the charges of misconduct as a barrister existed against him. He would reply that he was not aware that any such charges had been or could be made. As to the portion of the question in which the hon. member for Marsden asked him to assume that he was capable of making charges against the Judges, knowing them to be false, he regarded the question as unworthy of the hon. member himself, and equally unworthy of notice from him (Mr. Barton). Mr. M'Lean desired to move, without notice, that the papers laid on the table j relative to granting special wires to certain newspapers be granted. Mr. Stout objected. Mr. M'Lean, in order to have the opportunity of speaking, moved the adjournment of the debate. Mr. Stout said the printing office was fully occupied. The papers referred to could not be printed this session. Mr. M'Lean urged the importance of printing these papers, which disclosed an attempt to grant a monopoly to the independent Press of the Colony. The papers were the Auckland Herald, Lyttelton Times, and Otago Daily Times, in the latter of which one member of the Ministry was interested. The Attorney-General should be ashamed thus to assist journalism in which he is interested. The arrangement was designed to kill the Dunedin Star and Morning Herald of Dunedin, and the Canterbury Press, and any independent papers v. inch scrutinised the policy of the Government. He hoped every member of the House won!. I read the correspondence. Mr. Wakefield said an impression had got abroad that an exceedingly wrongful transaction had been attempted, in the shape of a special contract with a few newspapers, to the exclusion of the rest. The idea was that the Government proposed to give three or four newspapers a monopoly of wires for three years. Mr. Stout said the arrangement proposed would not apply to any particular journal, and the Press Agency could obtain the same terms, if willing to pay the same amount. Mr. Fox said, from a perusal of the correspondence, he believed the Government proposed to give a monopoly of special wires to three newspapers which were already largely subsidised in the way of advertisements. This monopoly was granted in defiance of the advice of the General Manager of Telegraphs, who reported that the proposed scheme would involve the expenditure of L4OOO a year. The newspapers concerned got the cost reduced to L'2ooo, and the Government accepted this and made an exclusive arrangement, without consulting the rest of the Press of the Colony. Mr. Fisher said eight newspapers had joined the combination. The Government 'intended to provide a special wire for the Press, regardless of political creed. The Press Agency would have the same facilities as newspapers. Mr. Swanson said he had a telegram from the Auckland Star, complaining of being excluded. Mr. Fisher said the Government did not see its way to increase the accommodation granted to evening papers. The special wire arrangement would not come into operation until the beginning of next year, and by that time the Government hoped to have another special wire to accommodate the Press of the Colony generally. Major Atkinson contended that this was an admission that the Government intended absolutely to give a monopoly to a few newspapers, leaving the rest of the Press of the Colony dependent on the chances of another wire. Mr. Richardson said he had been informed that a letter written by the Press Agency was left out of the correspondence laid on the table. Mr. P.allance replied that the Government would iav it on the table. Mr M'Lean said he was informed that the letter which was not laid on the table was from the Press Agency, applying for a special wire, and asking the Government to name their price. Would the AttorneyGeneral deny that he had not prompted the editor of a paper in which he was interested to make this application ? Mr. Stout : That is utterly untrue ; it is utterly false. Mr. M'Lean called the Speaker's attention to the words.

The Speaker ruled Mr. Stout out of order. Mr. Stout said that the statement of the hon. member had not an atom of truth in it.

Mr. M'Lean said he had merely mentioned the matter in a categorical form. The Government could not stretch an additional wire from Auckland to the Bluff in two months, even if they had the material. The motion for adjournment was negatived on the voices.

On the motion of Mr. Sheehan, the following Orders of the Day were discharged from the Order Paper : —Fencing Bill, Fine Arts Copyright Amendment Bill, Fisheries Preservation Bill, Publicans' Licenses Bill, Brands Registration Bill, Impounding Bill, Bribery Bill, Dog Registration Bill, Wanganui Harbor Board and River Conservators Bill, Dunedin Botanical Gardens Bill. In the course of the discussion, Mr. Sheehan, in referring to the Licensing Bill, said he had caused the Bill to be drafted this session, but when he considered the question, he came to the conclusion that it would not be right to regard publicans generally on the principle that they were rogues. He would not promise to draft another Bill, but if he did, he would make its provisions public before next session. Publicans' licenses being local revenue, if any reductions were made those bodies would have a claim on the House for compensation. A fair solution of the difficulty would be to give local bodies the power to raise what publicans fees they deemed proper.