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dependency, a great deal of the matter which they get would be duplicated. That is the effect when there are two evening papers in the same town. 510. Have you seen the Bill laid before the House —" The Electric Telegraph Act 1875 Amendment Act" ? —Tes. 511. Have you any reference to make on the provisions of it?— Well, yes. The Act, so far as it affects anybody here, simply throws the responsibility on myself. It is not an Act in the true interpretation of the word :an Act gives finality, which this does not. The responsibility begins and ends with me. 512. That is the 2nd section ? —No ; it is the 3rd. 513. Are you speaking of both sections ?—At present the law seems to rule that the present contract is ultra vires —nothing in the present Act authorizing us to carry it out. That is inserted there to make it legal. 514. It leaves the whole power in the hands of the Government of making arrangements with any company ?—'By an Order in Council. 515. That is, the Government. And the 2nd section states [quoting it] ? —Tou see the clause leaves it at my discretion whether to bring the Act into force at all. 516. Tou would have to exercise that discretion? —Tes. 517. Complaints have been made, Dr. Lemon, of the arrangement which provides no power, in the case of interruption, for the department to take messages in during the time which that interruption lasts, and that the bearers of the messages must renew their application to leave them at the office. They are thus either compelled to go back with their messages, or hang about the office until they can be taken in ; and I have also been informed that the same complaint has been made by private persons with private telegrams, and that in the case of some of these persons going away by steamer, they were unable to have their messages sent at all, as you refuse to take them in during the time of such interruption. Can you state any arrangement by which this inconvenience can be avoided? —No, 1 cannot. It is done all over the world, and it cannot be avoided. We continually get notice from the other side of the line about the cable being interrupted. The reason we decline to take messages then is this: formerly we used to make no difference when interruptions took place. "We used to take thorn in; and the consequence was this, that sometimes we would have the accumulation of messages of a whole day on hand by the time the line was right, and we had our current work running at the same time. 518. Then you mean that it threw back your current work ? —Tes; the whole work had to go. The way we overtook it was simply by turning night into day. But it is not of very frequent occurrence now. 519. Are you aware that the same practice prevails in other countries ? —I told you we had continual advices of the line being interrupted. 520. That is not my question. Are you aware that in those cases the offices refuse to take in the messages ?—No, I cannot say so. The bulk of them are so differently situated from what we are. They ha7e nearly all got alternate routes, which we have not. If the line goes down on one side, then they have the other. 521. Practically, then, it means that the lines are not interrupted. Do I understand you to say that if you took in telegrams while the line was blocked, they would afterwards interfere with your current work ? —Tes; and that there are a great many of the telegrams which by the delay become valueless. 522. I suppose many of the telegrams which would be sent if the line was not interrupted would he rendered valueless by the interruption continuing for a certain time ? —Tes. And another thing : Ido not see how we are going to accept the man's telegram because he is in the office. He may say that he is going away, and wants to leave it behind him ; but how are we to know if that is correct ? If he is going away, lie can easily leave it to be brought back again when the interruption is over. And when the public knew we would take one telegram because people were going away, they would come to us with all sorts of excuses. 523. Have you ever considered the question of posting telegrams?—Tou can now post telegrams. 524. How do you do if they can be posted ? —We take them in and send them forward when we can. • 525. Well, yo"u do that ?—Oh, yes ! 526. Suppose I came to your office now, and the line was interrupted, have you the means for me to post a telegram there?— No. 527. Where ? Could I post it at the post office ?—Tes. 528. And it would reach you the same day ? —Tes. 529. Mr. Bain.'} In reference to the report sent from the Committee last year (the third section), to the effect that it would be desirable to provide wires, and that the various papers should be asked to unite in making suggestions: have any such proposals been made, do you know ?—No ; no applications have been made.

Friday, 2.3rd Jttlt, 1880. Mr. E. T. Gillon further examined. 530. The Chairman.'] Are you aware, Mr. Gillon, that we have received a letter from Mr. Eeeves ? —Tes ; it came to me. 681. Have you any statement to make with regard to it ?—Tes. Mr. Reeves says he waa acting upon his own authority, as he had not had an opportunity of consulting the committee. I may say that since then at least a majority of the committee, if not the whole of them, have assented to the terms of the letter, so that it may be taken as representing not only Mr. Keeves's opinion, but that of the committee of the Association. This Committee have kindly allowed me to see some of the evidence that has been given, and there are a few points in it upon which 1 should like to offer some explanation. The first refers to the subject dealt with in Mr. Eeeves's letter—the entrance-fee. I should like