94

gambling advertisements, he was sorry to see that Queensland had gone so much further in the matter than the other Colonies had done. It was to be hoped that the whole of the Colonies would deal firmly with indecent advertising, but, he did not agree that the gambling advertisements did so much harm as was suggested. He intended, with the permission of the other Members of the Conference, to withdraw his Resolution and propose another. He hardly liked to say that the rate in Queensland was exorbitant, but it was excessively heavy. It was not in the interests of any Colony that the people should be denied outside newspapers owing to a heavy rate. Victoria did not try to keep other colonial newspapers from her people. He hoped that the Queenslanders would see their way to deal with the Colonies in the way that the other Colonies dealt with them. Leave was then given to withdraw the motion. Hon. J. GAVAN DUFFY said that the following was the motion which he would submit in place of the one withdrawn :— " That representations be made from this Conference to the Post Office authorities of Queensland, pointing out to them that the high rates charged on newspapers coming from the other colonies is an unjustifiable restriction on the Australian press." Hon. JOSEPH COOK seconded the motion. After further discussion, The PRESIDENT said that before putting the motion he wished to refer to a remark made with reference to the gambling having drifted to another colony. It would be just as well for the members of the Conference to carry away a correct idea of how the gambling was carried on. He would have been glad if they could have had an opportunity of visiting the racecourse in order to see what immense advantages Tasmania possessed by reason of her management of the Gambling Act. Tasmanians when visiting the racecourses on the mainland found objection to the noisy system of bookmakers, which held forth such inducements to the young, who were inclined to gamble. They found that the totalisator system in Tasmania did not inculcate gambling into the young of the colony, as representatives from the other colonies supposed. The motion was then put and passed. Urgent Telegrams. Hon. JOSEPH COOK moved— "That the system of 'urgent' telegrams in operation in six Colonies of Australia be abolished." They in New South Wales never had, as a matter of fact, concurred in the proposal to treat certain messages as " urgent" over others. It was not the right thing to allow certain people to have a monopoly over the telegraph service because they were able to pay an extra rate. The system was often most vicious in its application. A poor man with only Is. in his pocket could only pay that sum for his message at the ordinary rate, and had to wait until perhaps 50 or 60 urgent messages paid for at a higher rate took precedence. The telegraphs being maintained by the Governments of the colonies, the telegraph rate should be made the same to every member of the community. Hon. J. GAVAN DUFFY would second the motion as a matter of courtesy to his hon. friend, not that he believed in it—quite the contrary. Hon. J. G. JENKINS moved as an amendment, — " That the matter be referred to the Permanent Heads of Departments for report." In his colony they had power by Act of Parliament to charge for " urgent" telegrams, so any postmaster, even if the motion was passed, would be obliged to send "urgent" telegrams. But beyond that, he did not think the proposal was"a wise one. After further discussion, Hon. J. R. DICKSON could not say that he was in favour of either the motion or the amendment. A man might get a special train to proceed to a place—it was all a matter of paying. Hon. J. GAVAN DUFFY: Withdraw. Hon. JOSEPH COOK hoped Mr. Jenkins would not withdraw the amendment. There was no parallel at all between a man paying for a special train and men, because they had the money, monopolising the public telegraph service. A man could only get a special train so long as he did not inconvenience the public using the ordinary trains. A special train could be delayed by an ordinary train, but the ordinary telegraph business of the country.was compelled to wait until specially paid for " urgent" telegrams had passed over the wires; and that, he held, was unfair, making it a source of trouble, inconvenience, and annoyance. The amendment was agreed to. (See Report of Sub-Committee, page 76.) Telephonic Communication. On the subject of "Establishment of telephonic communication between the capital cities of the Australian Continent," Hon. JOSEPH COOK said that the question was one that had been raised from time to time by ihe various Chambers of Commerce. No doubt it would be a desirable thing to have a thorough