ALL-RED CABLE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 91, 11 January 1919, Page 9

ALL-RED CABLE

APPROVED BY / THE GOVERNMENT. An abstract of the Minutes of Proceedings of the Imperial War Conference of 1918' published recently as a Blue Book reveals the fact that at that Conference the Imperial authorities for thp first time acquiesced in the proposal to co-iperato in the acquisition of a Stateowned cable across the. Atlantic as part of an -All-Red cable service between the United Kingdom and Canada, Australia, •and New Zealand. In this connection it is also interesting to note an important discrepancy between the version of the resolution'on this subject ! as now published in the Blue Book and the version given in the official summary of the proceedings issued during tho sittings of the. Conference The official communique issued on July 20 stated "merely , that the Conference "passed a resolution on the snbject ot cable 'communications, emphasising the need, in the highest interests of the Empire, for telegraphic rates being further materially. reduced." The actual resolution as it now appears in the Blue' Book is in the following terms: "That, it'is in the highest intere'sts of the Empire that the rates toi telegraphic communications between the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, South Africa, and India should be further materially reduced zs soon as practicable. That.ih cvrdar to ensure generally the cheapest and most secure telegraphic communication between the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New .Zealand, it, is desirable that they should co-operate in the provision a State-owned cable across the Atlantic. The latter part, practically pledging the Imperial Government to co-operate 'with the Governments of Canada and Australasia in the provision of a_ Stateowned cable across the Atlantic,' is now published for the -first time. Heretofore the Imperial Government has refused to participate in this enterprise. Even on this occasion the .representative of the Imperial Post Office (Mr. Pike Pease) would fipusar from tlie Abstract of the discussion . published in the Blue Book ■to have received the proposal "with any-*-tiling but enthusiasm. He said that "as far as the British Post Office was concerned he was not in a position to say whether it would be nossible to obtain, facilities for taking flyer the various cables as had been suggested, bu,t,in view of the fact that-thirteen were controlled by the United Sta-tes the amount of capital required to take over so'many lines would be very great." The fact, however, that the resolution was supported by the representatives of India in addition to those of Canada, 'Australia, and New Zealand appears to -have ensured its acceptance without dissent.