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120. Mr. McLean.] Tou say you represent thirty papers ; how much does each paper pay towards the £2,000 ?—I will give you a list if you will take down the figures : Otago Daily Times, £325 ; Lyttelton Times, £325 ; New Zealand Herald, £325 ; Timaru Herald, £225 ; Hawke's Bay Herald, £225; North Otago Times, £175 ; Southland Times, £75: total, £1,775. The New Zealander was to pay £225, but changed hands, and the new proprietor went off to the other side, and the consequence is that the amount which it should have contributed falls upon the contractors. The three first papers will have to make up that sum for the New Zealander, £70 for Ashburton, and £70 for Grahamstown. The other papers are not contractors ; they simply pay the contractors a specified sum for the use of the wire, and have no further responsibility. 121. What benefit do these papers which you have not referred to get from the special wire?— They do not pay 6d. towards it. The evening papers, say in Invercargill, certainly have the right to cut the special-wire messages out of the morning paper and use them, but they could legally do the same if they did not belong to the Association. It has been decided that there is no copyright in telegrams once published. In taking the messages the evening papers may have the moral satisfaction of knowing they are entitled to do so, but that is all. 122. Are you aware what the papers pay to the other Agency ? —Only from report. I know what papers are supplied by them. 123. Are you aware whether or not the Press in Christchurch, and the Herald in Dunedin, pay the whole amount ?—I am not aware what they pay, but lam aware that they do not pay the whole. 124. Do you recollect the Herald in Dunedin askinp- to come into your Association, and to pay their share of the contract?— The Herald did not do that; Mr. Eraser telegraphed to me, "Is there any objection to the Herald joining the Association." Those were his words, I think. 125. And did you not reply that you would decline to take them ? —The answer was that our Association was confined to one morning paper in each town, the one in Dunedin being the Otago Daily Times. 120. Did the Press in Christchurch offer to come in in the same way ?—I have had many conversations with Mr. Briggs on the subject, and with Mr. Leys, of the Auckland Star, who represented this, amongst other papers, I believe. lam not aware that tho Press ever made any direct offer. 127. Mr. Wakefield.] Are we to gather that the Press did or did not apply ?—lt did not apply directly, but indirectly. I understood it was anxious to join. 128. Mr. McLean.] Why did you not accept these offers ? —I have no power to go outside my instructions. 129. What reason have you for saying that the other Agency pays nothing for Ashburton, while you pay £70 for keeping it open ?—They pay the same as we do, but have a paper there which takes their messages, and pays for the wire. 130. Tou staled you were paying £70 a year for Ashburton and Grahamstown ; who pays you for it ?—We have no subscribers there. 131. Why do you pay there ? —To receive telegrams from Ashburton and Grahamstown to our papers. Wherever competition exists it becomes a matter of necessity to pay the cost of a special wire. Thus we have had to pay for Ashburton and Grahamstowu, because the other people have a special wire there. 132. Tou say there is a large amount of rubbish sent on those wires?—l believe there is. 133. And you blame the department, and say it is badly conducted ? —Tes. 134. How can you control the amount of special-wire matter sent in ? —I can control it in this way : The department does not time or count the special-wire messages officially, but I have from each agent every night a short telegram addressed, " Gillon, Wellington," in which the agent says, for instance, " Ninety words at 8 o'clock." I make each of my agents count their words, and put in the time, so that I am iv a position to know every night exactly what is put in and on the wire, oven to such messages as coursing matches, for instance, from Timaru or Oamaru, which w rould be of no interest to the North, and are only sent where they are of interest. I have here a record of every message, where to and from ; and every night I am in a position to judge what is on the wire, and, if required, to instruct an agent to cut down his message. 135. Is it not a fact that every day you put in far more matter than it is possible to send along ? — No ; but a great deal more matter is frequentfy put in than is sent. 136. Mr. Wakefield.] Tou speak of making your agents do so-and-so; is it not a fact that you have no agents at all? —They are under my instructions. 137. I understand that the arrangement is this: that each contractor to the Press Association finds an agent for his particular place for the transmission of news, but I do not understand how you can have any particular control over them. For instance, if there was a race meeting at Oamaru, how could you prevent your agent sending such a thing ? —I could prevent his sending messages by telling Dr. Lemon not to take them. Under the agreement I have that power. The contractors delegated to mo full control over the wire and the agents, who, by agreement between the papers and the Association, are bound to act under my instructions. 138. I do not see that you can have any control over them if each agent is to put in what he likes? —If an agent chose to doit iv defiance of my instructions, for one night ho might do so, but I should take care that he did not do it a second time. 139. Mr. McLean.] Do you instruct the agents each day as to the quantity to come over the wire ? —No; but I very often instruct an agent to cut down a message. 140. How can you tell how much ?—He sends mo a precedent message of the length. 141. Mr. Wakefield.] How long has that been iv force ? —The first instructions in regard to it were issued in January. 142. How long has it actually been done ? —By some agents ever since the Association commenced, by others at intervals since. I have a complete record in this book from the 29th of May of all specialwire messages. The sending of these messages is occasionally omitted. The instructions were issued in January, and it has been done, with one or two exceptions, pretty regularly ever since. 143. Tou also stated that Dr. Lemon has thrown every obstacle in the way of the newspapers ?— Tes.

Mr. Gillon,

August 6, 1879.