PRESS MESSAGES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 May 1938, Page 2

PRESS MESSAGES

CHARGES BY MINISTER > OF FINANCE i ! ASSOCIATION ACCUSED OF DISCRIMINATION. REFERENCE TO TELEGRAPH CONCESSIONS. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, May 17. In the course of his speech last night 1 the Hon W. Nash (Minister of Finance) said there was discrimination shown by the Press Association through pressure of its members. He instanced an occasion when a Minister, having prepared a full reply to charges which had been made by the Leader of the Opposition and widely published and elaborated throughout the Press of the Dominion, telephoned the Manager of the Press Association to inquire whether an official reply would receive publication equally as wide as the charges. The Minister was at first advised to post the matter or telegraph it direct, in either case at the expense of his Department. It was only after being reminded of the fact that the Press Association enjoyed considerable concessions from the State in the way of telegraph rates, and that these carried an obligation to give a proper distribution of Government views equally with others, that he agreed finally to send the statement in full to all except one newspaper. The exemption was made for reasons which he explained and which were purely of a domestic nature. Mr Nash said that last year the cost of Press messages, etc., amounted to £283,983. The sum paid for this service was £64,507. That meant that newspapers received a concession of £219,476 at the expense of the public revenue. NO DISCRIMINATION ASSOCIATION IN REPLY. CHARGES HIGHER HERE THAN ELSEWHERE. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, May 17. The Press Association points out that since its inception its staff and its agents have been expressly instructed by the directors 'that there must be no discrimination or partisanship, political or otherwise. In connection with the incident to which Mr Nash referred, the Press Association states that it has not been uncommon when either the Government or Opposition has desired to make a statement exceeding in length the bounds of an ordinary Press Association message, to suggest that the statement should be posted to newspapers for publication on a named date; The statement of the Leader of the Opposition, to which it was understood Mr Armstrong was replying lengthily, had been posted to the newspapers, and it was suggested to Mr Armstrong that his reply should be handled similarly. Mr Armstrong did not favour that course and asked that his statement should be sent in full as a Press Association- message. It was then suggested that it should be telegraphed free to the newspapers. At this stage the Manager of the Press Association had not seen the statement. On Mr Armstrong declining to have the statement telegraphed free of

charge, the Manager of the Press Association asked to be shown a copy of it. This was done and the Press Association then agreed to telegraph the statement in full. Mr Nash referred to the concessions granted to newspapers in the form of reduced rates for press telegrams. The Press Association points out that concession rates for Press telegrams are not confined to New Zealand. In a majority of instances in the Dominion Press messages are simultaneously transmitted by the Telegraph Department to a number of addresses, and each addressee is charged the full Press rate for the message. This is not the case in Australia and the United Kingdom, where the full Press rate is charged against the first addressee, while other addressees receive their messages at a very substantially reduced charge, which in Britain is one-fourth of the Press rate and in Australia is five-elevenths of the Press rate. The present Press rate in New Zealand is three times the pre-War rate.