LONDON CABLE NEWS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 90, 12 May 1909, Page 4

LONDON CABLE NEWS.

XEW ZEALAND'S REQUIREMENTS.! STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER. Strong criticism of the selection of English cabled matter sent to New Zea : land newspapers was heard from the Prime Minister (Sir Joseph "Ward) t Kaikoura on Saturday. He had referred | to the enthusiasm with which New Zealand's ofiVr of a Dreadnought was greeted in England, how the telegram was i read bv Mr. Asquith (Prime Minister) | in the''House of Commons, and the many I other striking indication*, of how Ihv 1 o'ffer had touched the hearts and fired th t > imagination of the people of tiie' Motherland. It was extraordinary, he continued, that though iwe had a Pre.-s Association receiving communicationsbelieved to be of interest in New Zealand. there was nothing in tlie newspaper cablus about the way in which the new*' of the Dreadnought offer was received in England, nothing of the ex- i traordinary enthusiasm displayed by the people and laudatory tone of the Press. Any other matter of moment, though it was an outrageous murder or*the destruction of some important people, would find the Press Association cables teeming with information. On tlie occasion to which lie rcfvrred, the Government, as tlie representatives of the people, had taken a step probably historical, one of the mos't unique in New Zealand's history, and there must be something radically wrong about an organisation towards which the whole of the Press of the. Dominion .was paying whvn it apparent-1 ]y wilfully ignored the enthusiasm | which was of such deep interest to the people of New Zealand. Though New Zealand was a partner in a State-ownrrt cable, it would hardly be believed tint the Press of the Dominion had signed an agreement under which not a single •word of Press messages should pass over thcTaoific cable. In combination with the Australian Press thev were getting the filtration* of news o'f interest to the mass of readers in Australia, but this was not suitable to the requirements of the mae>s of readers in New Zealand, though we had to take it all the same. He wished to say without reservation that this* country ought to make prr>vision for an independent Press cable service of London news to be all over th,, country and sent over llio Pacific cable. We ought not to tolerate the system of having our information, •which we paid for. filtering through the organisation of another country. It might have happened that the expressions would have been condemnatory, and we would then have had it ail very quickly. He was directing public attention to this matter because the Dominion wanted fair play and an impartial K.vstem which would attend to the requirements of every section of the community irrespective or iU opinion*. Them was a very fine Pre«?s in New Zealand on both sides of politics, but the organisation through which its out--ide news filtered was unsatisfactory, th ( , occasion to which he alluded had demonstrated.