REPORTING DEBATES COMMITTEE.

F.—No. 8.

5

necessary ; and as there was no doubt that some members of the Reporting Staffs were inefficient, and as I was unable to certify to the correctness of tho reports in consequence, it was impossible for me to use the discretion which lam supposed to have under the above Resolutions. The authenticity and consequent value of the record is, however, so injured by this so-called improvement of diction, and the expense is so much enhanced through the numerous corrections, that I trust I shall have the support of the Committee in refusing to admit anything which cannot fairly come under the heading " inaccurate reporting." Further on in the Report, the Committee will see the system adopted in this respect by those Australian Colonies where Hansards are published. Peinting, &c. I feel some delicacy in referring to the Printer's work in connection with Hansard, as that Department does not come under my immediate supervision; but I am bound to say that I think there is considerable room for improvement in this portion of the production of Hansard. The work should not be allowed to get into arrears as it did last Session, chiefly through the Compositors ceasing work at 11 o'clock each night, when the Reporters remained up until their work was done. "When this is the case, there can be no limit to the time during which corrections can be made: Members do not receive proofs of the reports of their speeches until too long after the delivery of those speeches for the speakers to remember accurately all that they have said, or for me to decide which is the more correct, the report or the correction ; and at the close of each week the work so accumulates that a great deal of the week's debates is left out, or the latter part is hurried through in order to make the pamphlet up to the usual size. The cost of corrections, put down by the Government Printer (as I think, excessively) at half the cost of printing, was by no means due in previous Sessions to bad reporting alone, but might fairly have been shared in equal parts by bad " composing." The original cost of printing might, I believe, be much reduced by paying Compositors by the piece and not by time, as at present, when no distinction can be made between the good and bad workman. The argument against the change is that under the present system the men are available for other work ; but I do not see how this argument holds good ; for last Session, when the Compositors were put to other work, Hansard had to be neglected, which I am sure the Committee will not approve of this Session. Furthermore, if the Hansard work should chance to be slack for a time, Ido not see why the piece system should prevent the men being otherwise employed. Again, with regard to reading, which is one of the most important branches of the work, and involves a great deal of special knowledge, I would suggest that the Reader's time should be solely devoted to this work, and that he should not be called upon to do Compositor's work as well asReader's, which was very often the case last Session. I think, also, he should receive special remuneration. Accommodation. I shall feel much obliged if the Committee will request the House Committee to have a portion of the Reporter's Gallery railed off for the Hansard Staff. This could easily be done, and would be a great convenience to my staff. It is impossible for me, amongst my multifarious occupations, to* undertake the duty of keeping strangers out of the Reporters' Gallery. Hansards in" othek Colonies. During the recess I communicated with the neighbouring Colonies, in order to obtain information respecting tho systems adopted in reporting the debates in the various Parliaments, and have elicited the following:— Victoria. —There are three Reporters, who are engaged permanently at £500 a year each, are all on an equality, and who have nothing to do during the recess. The sitting days of the Parliament are nominally the same as in New Zealand, but the hours are much shorter. My informant (the oldest member of the Staff) says, " I have noticed that when regularity has been in the ascendant, the disposition of Members has been to sit three nights per week from 430 to about 1130 each night. The Sessions generally extend over a much longer portion of the year than in New Zealand." .He also says : —" Members of Parliament are not, as a rule, supplied with proof slips of the reports of their speeches for correction. If a Member desires to see a slip of his speech, we endeavour to oblige him; but any alteration which he may wish to make is subject to our approval. However, I don't suppose that we have more than twenty such applications in the course of a Session, and the emendations, whenever suggested, are very trifling." .... "The debates are published weekly. Our contract requires the delivery of all copy for one week to the Government Printer in time sufficient toenable him to publish the number before the sittings for the next week commence." The total cost he estimates at about £2,250. Queensland. —The Staff consists of three, who receive £400 a year each, and have nothing to do in the recess. Besides reporting for Hansard they have to take evidence before Select Committees, but my informant (the senior Reporter) says : —" The strength of our staff, who have the combined duty of reporting Hansard as well a3 the evidence taken before Select Committees, sometimes very voluminous, is, as your experience will tell you, quite unequal to the occasion, and the result is that as soon as twoor three Committees begin to pursue their investigations in earnest, and summon their witnesses de die in diem, the weekly proof sheet of Hansard, which should mako its appearance on Tuesday morning, does not come out. We have then to represent the state of things to the President of the Council and the Speaker of the Assembly, and a small vote for extra assistance is usually given, so that virtually the work is not done by three men." "We get out proof sheets weekly for Members to correct, exercising our own judgment to admit or excise the alterations they make." The cost of reporting is estimated at £1,500 a year. 2