EMPIRE WIRELESS.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17936, 3 December 1923, Page 11

EMPIRE WIRELESS.

BRITISH LACK OF PROGRESS. FOREIGN COUNTRIES FORGING AHEAD. (ntOH OCR OWK COBBBSPOItDHITT.) LONDON/ October 19. When the Council of the Empire Press Union met this week to consider making representation to the Imperial Economic Conference on the. subject of cable and . wireless -telegraphy throughout the British Empire, very strong comments were uttered by the chief speakers—Mr Robert Donald (chairman) and Lord iiurnham —regarding the apparent deadlock between the Postal Department and the Marconi Company. ; •

Outlining the position in regard "to wireiess, ±u.r DouaiU buul in view of what appeared to be a deadlock in the negotiations between the Post. Oihce and the Marconi Company, they thought it'would be desirable that the cpuncil . should meet aud review the situation.Two years ago- there was an Imperial Conference,' when a deputation from the Union gave evidence on Imperial communications. The position to-day was practically what it was two years ago, excegt that it was much more complicated. There had been several policies from several Postmast-ers-General, but nothing had resulted up to now, except a deadlock. The contention of the Post Office two years agq .was that it was not possible to transmit wireless messages at a greater distance than 2000 miles. Mr Hughes, Prime Minister of Australia,, contested that position very strongly, and subsequently carried out his threat to demonstrate that it was possible to communicate direct 'between this country and Australia. Australia was .the first to break away from the Empire chain.

Independent Action. A start should have been made with the construction of its station in January, but in consequence of delays at this end that had not been possible. South Africa had followed Australia in taking independent action, but in tho meantime the British x'ost Office had changed its policy several times. Last March Mr Bonar Law announced as his policy that private enterprise would no longer be excluded from taking part in Empire wireless, but that' "the. Post Office would run a station capable of communicating with all the Dominions by way of providing opposition. Negotiations then began with the only company that had applied for a license —the Marconi .Company —but. the Post Office seemed at once to have receded from the position of running a competitive service,, and suggested a regional Bystem, which for practical reasons would not work. Then they proposed a pooling arrangement, and the deadlock arose. The Post Office was going to manage the whole enterprise. They were going to erect one station and the Marconi Company two stations in this country, besides being responsible for stations m the Dominions. This meant that the Marconi Company would have had to find the j capital without having any say in the management. No company could raise capital under such conditions, and if Jiey could the Post Office would eoon Jose the money for them. In the meantime the statement of the , Office experts of two years ago hac. ■ been entirely falsified. During the j last two years wireless had made great strides, particularly with regard to the transmission of news. The British Empire had apparently lost, any chance now of getting wireless supremacy m the Paciiic. It had lost its position in the Far East and in Europe and the longer the delay the more difficult it was, he understood, to get favourable wave lengths. They were all being divided up and we were not in it. In Australia they had the humiliating experionoe of "getting new s by French and German wireless, but no news by British wireless. Mr .Donald referred to the progress which had be>sn made by the United. States, France, Germany, Japan, Holland, and Russia in regard to stations with world range end wireless transmission oO cewfl. Russia was giving

this country lessons in wireless. Rusian newspapers wer© supplied with wireless receiving stations, and tho telegraph had been, discarded.

Financial Besults on" the Wtong Side. The Leafield station seemed to be working admirably, even under Post Office management, not for Empire work, for which it was primarily* established, but for the American newspapers. The American correspondents in London sent most of their news through' Leafield. , More .than half the ; despatches of the "New ' York-: ( Tiroe s " went by wireless from Leafield. The :.:New York Tribune" used' it to ifepplement the Western Union, and a ; group of newspapers worked by the "Chicago Tribune'.' vised leafield almost exclusively. 1 . Mr John. Steele, London, correspondent of the cago. Tribune,''. ii reply to an jftnquirji wrote: , ; - , ' ■ ' fl "We lia-fo used the Leafield station? for our transmission to > Chicago for more than a year now with very great success. . . So far as speed and accuracy are concerned, I have never : had asy eabJe service so good as that ■•given to us by the Post Office from LeaSelt." , _ • ""You would think," said Mr Donald, in conclusion, " that this great business, eveniwith the Post Office- doing it, could show some financial rosijl'ts... It can, but on the wrong'side. In answer to* a , question in the House' of Commons • on June 4-th, the Postmaster-General gave the following figures: - ExpenEe venue, diture & ■& Cairo. (11 months) 0,500 45,000 Leafield (12 months) 31,200 36,000 Northolt (7$ months) . 4,500 ' 5,506 Stonehaven (12 months) 3,500 9,200 Total ' 45,700 95,700 "There is a dead, loss of £50,000. These figures do hot, - presumably, include the full establishment • charges or capital charges. StonehaVen has been working for four years, and therefore is not experimental. The income received from Leafield includes £IO,OOO from the Foreign Office, the Post Office being paid at the rate of a word for Government work, and 1 doubt if it is worth it. It leaves this country very far behind. In fact,-we are clean out of it. I do not know what can be done. Apparently nothing can be done in the negotiations between the Post Office and the Marconi Qompany, which . his led to recriminations, and jealousies instead of the big Imperial view of getting on with the work."Lord jßurnham (president of ' the ' Union) referred to the present position as deplorable. So far from having I'lvaneed, they .had gone back' in the last year. In January and June, when a deputation saw the Postmaster-Gon- ' eral, they were led to expect that in a 1 very short time wcj 'should be abreast j of the wireless, communications of the | world. He heard with, apprehensionl that any Great Power had. obtained, if | not a monopoly, a large share of wireless propaganda in the East or any other part of the world. That we should be falling behind in one of the most effective means of communication did not, he thought, augur well for the infiiience that the British Empire ought j to wield in the world's affair;-;. At pre- i sent he saw no light, according to the ■ agenda of the Economic Conference. A ; statement by the Postmaster-General < must obviously be a statement on be- i half of the Post Office with regard to

these matters. He coujd uot im&fffln* ' ' why the Government was making 8u«k: a desperate' l effort to fiavo its fac«, I£ this enterprise was not' Ukelyfer'swae : years to be easy and profitable to operate, why should not th'e QoVijWßMlt'' allow it to fee undertaken by privafcft enterprise t If the <sove«uneat reserved the right of purchase after a number of years he thought the public interest would be adequately safeguarded; - He moved a resolution-Ap-proving the request to the Economic s Conference on the Council's behalf, and • . authorising the chairman to iaiike.&r' ' rdngements for a deptitatiQfi.if a'fav*'. • durable reply were receiffift. -. v Sir T. J. Bennett, MJP. (<°Hi^ , Kraes V of India") expressed indignant 'disaj>- t pointment at the way the question h£<J <, been handled, and said tijat - hqthin# v more discreditable had f gcCVrT9<i in tbf a history of . the Post Oineft during tin past two of three years than .thJfi <s&■ fault'on their part in -v* the'wireless system. ' 1 i^fiv

•"A Humiliating Position.'' , * IVlr J:VO. Fairfax (."Sydney, Moerto-• iug Herald") thought, they ashamed of the position of the British 4 " Empire. He was, eVery time wireless news from with«niy 's< occasionally a' scrap' from Lea&elcf. , "We, with oar wide-flung >®f "r , L all people in the world, should nave ' this wonderful power of spreading; our news," he said. It was roost ' c ftble, an;d bEc step they could taS»> could be' too strong to try p& vemc&b the existing condition of The chairman said tb&l. fifor .Maorfci*.. / Han key (secretary'to the Imperial Ooo> >*' ference) said that the I&ono&uc I'Obft- 1 ferenee would deal with '<V tipns, -so that it was aecee&ory to'- g» •< --4 to that body. i . *« Mr T. Fink ("Melbourne Her»kS") suggested that representation*! Oijghs, ' be made to the Dominion Prime Mia- v. I ■< isters. wanted to go to the _ people who governed. . t Lord But-nham said that from■ the communication referred to by the chairman it seemed'as if there firaa sonfe anxiety relegate them, to' th® smaller Conference. ' i The chairman asked whether •* ctHßmunieation not-be want saying - that' as the question was an imperial ' question of polity they would ii£& M; lay their views before thO* Dom|ai(nt Prime Ministers to'well as .JBtltqdk Ministers. ', ' . The resolution was' agrecid'to' in an amended form, approving" the" retjueai to the Imperial Conference,. authorising the , chairman ,to - arraags- ' menta for, a. deputation in .the ev<snt "of a favourable reply# and adding-that the Council: considered it : that" they should have opportunity of laying their rriewa the-, Do- ' minion i'rime-' as "well' aft j members of the British Gerenuupnt. Other preeent were: Mr ! Valentine Knapp. (Xewapaper Society); J Miss E. iiivurits (.New SSealand . I .Associated Press), Mr TV S.Townend ("Melbourne'Argus"); Mr J r IV Collins CCap© Times"), Mr H'. C» ; Bobbins (Press Association), MrGjMnnes ("Melbourne Herald''.), Mr'*' D,- W, AlcCay (Australian Newspaper'.Cable ; Service), Mr • T. Darbyshire (Attptraj Man Press Association), Mr T. \W. | Tonkin ("Sydney Sun"), Colonel E. F. ; LaWson ("Daily Telegraph'.'), Mr * | Crosbie Roles Cthe "Englishman,'' 1 Cai- . cutta), Miss.E. L. C. Wataon. (New j Zealand Press Agency) r and Mr\H. Ei Turner (secretary). 1 ■"