17

I.—l

Mr. Gillon states that " Dr. Lemon appears to have a general dislike to Press interests." Dr. Lemon, in reply to this assertion, takes to himself the credit of having done more for the Press of New Zealand in obtaining concessions for the Press than Mr. Gillon is aware of, and if the system which was inaugurated by Mr. Montrose, in which Dr. Lemon greatly assisted by advising that gentleman, was in force now, complete satisfaction would be the result. The system was to gather all matter into one centre and catering (in a condensed form if required) for each newspaper according to its requirements, and not, as now obtains under the present system, of loading the wire from one end of the colony to the other with matter of only interest to one section of the community represented by perhaps one or two papers. The telegraphic columns of all the local papers will bear out this statement. Mr. Gillon's statement as to delay may or may not be correct. Delays when the wires are out of order or working indifferently cannot be avoided, but every endeavour is made under all circumstances to reduce delays to a minimum. As regards the errors as to rebate the mistake arose through omission on the part of the officers at Blenheim and Christchurch omitting to report the fact ofcertain suspension of the special wire. This is now guarded against by a daily report being forwarded of each section. To show that Mr. Gillon was not exceptionally treated it may be mentioned that the same error affected the Press Agency. Mr. Gillon states that I have been in constant antagonism with him since the wire started, &c. If adhering to the terms of the agreement may be termed antagonism, and allowing each agency what it is entitled to under such agreement, then I plead guilty to the charge; but the Committee may rest assured that I have faithfully discharged the trust reposed in mc by the Government, and have given effect to their wishes to the fullest degree. The agreements in question were submitted to the Government, approved of by the Government, and I have carried them out faithfully, and any officer of the department, from the Assistant Secretary downwards, will indorse my statement. Mr. Gillon, in his evidence, states that the agreements not being completed by the Governor is the fault of the department. This I utterly deny. On the 31st December, 1878, I forwarded to Mr. Reeves the bond for the signature of himself and others of the contracting parties. It was not returned to me until the month of April, when the Marquis of Normanby had left New Zealand, and the records of the department will prove beyond dispute that I wrote and telegraphed to the contractors to forward me the bond duly completed. Had this received their proper attention the bond could have been returned to me by the end of January and completed by the then Governor. In conclusion, I may state that, since the 12th of April last, the internal routine and official management have been under the charge of the Assistant Secretary, and that gentleman has not been biased or in any way interfered with by me in his relations either with the Press Association or Press Agency. I handed over to the Assistant Secretary an organization, the outcome of twelve years' personal management, and without any egotism on my part, based on the observation of what 1 have gathered from other administrations of a similar nature, I may say that it is as near being perfect as it is possible to be, and nothing would give me greater pleasure than to have a most minute and searching investigation made of my management of the department during the past twelve years. That the result would be favourable to me I am quite confident of. The attached memorandum (C) approved of by the Commissioner shows how the department is now administered, and was done on my sole recommendation, based upon the fact that the work of the department was getting beyond the minute control and supervision of one man. Since the year 1868 the management both inside and outside has been vested in me. The salary then drawn by me was £400 per annum. The salary drawn by the engineer was £600 per annum. On his being dispensed with, my salary was increased to £500 per annum, and by this amalgamation £500 per annum was saved to the country. Within the last few years my salary has been increased to £700 per annum. At the time the amalgamation took place there were 1,100 miles of line carrying 2,200 miles of wire, and 31 stations opened to the public. There are now 3,500 miles of lines, 8,100 miles of wire, and 195 stations open to the public. These figures speak for themselves, and the smoothness with which the department has run as a whole proves that I was equal to the management of it; and they also prove that the assistance readily accorded me by the present Commissioner was not asked for before it was fairly warranted. C. Lemon,

General Manager. Enclosure A. Mr. Ballaed, Assistant Officer in Charge, Wellington Station. Mr. Gillon, in his evidence before Telegraph Committee, states that " The officers have told me, ' We are obliged to remain until 2 o'clock, and there is no need for any hurry ; we plod along slowly.' " As you have had charge of the night-work since Parliament opened as Assistant Officer in Charge, from your observation based upon your experience as an operator, can you inform me as to the correctness or otherwise of this assertion ? Note your reply hereunder. Please show this to the officers of your staff. C. Lemon. 6th August, 1879.

Feom my experience as an operator in the chief offices of the colony, and as officer in charge of the night-staff here, I can state that the speed at which the special wires are worked at this office is more rapid than at any other, and that the greatest despatch is given to " special " memoranda. I may add that the operators employed on " special" wires always push off their work in order to get clear, and so keep it well in hand.

6th August, 1879. J. G. Ballaed. Enclosure B. (Telegram.) Wellington, 6th August, 1879. Please reply to my Service telegram of the morning re Association's specials of last night. W. Mason, Christchurch. A. T. Maginnity, Assistant Secretary. 3—l. 1.