The Dominion FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1928. EMPIRE COMMUNICATIONS

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 51, 23 November 1928, Page 10

The Dominion FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1928. EMPIRE COMMUNICATIONS

The debate in the British House of Commons on the Imperial Telegraphs Bill is of moment to the overseas Dominions. Through the remarkable development of wireless in recent years the existing cable companies have had to face the question of going out or being merged in an Imperial system of communication m which wireless and Table would be part of a unified system. A strono- body of British opinion is opposed to the idea ot surrendering control of the Imperial communications system to a private company. This attitude is quite sound in principle Ihe problem the Imperial Government had to solve, however, was how to britw the conflicting interests of the wireless and cable companies to a common centre of national interest. The Bill now before the British Parliament seeks to solve the problem by the constitution of a mergej company in which the Government, virtually speaking, will be the largest shareholder. . The.Bill, in fact, reproduces broadly the present constitution ot the Bank of New Zealand. The British Government has reserved to itself a controlling voice in the administration and policy of the new company. / This decision was reached after an exhaustive inquiry in which the overseas Dominions participated. It was felt that if the efficient organisation of private enterprise could conveniently be coordinated with State control, the result would be that the interests of the cable companies, already under the supervision of the Imperial Government, would be conserved, while leaving the way open for the wireless and cable interests to recognise the value of Imperial cooperation. The- Labour-Socialist Leader in the House of Commons, Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, has made a great deal of the point that State rights have been virtually handed over to a private organisation whose principal aim was profit-making. Mr.. MacDonald, so far as the report of his speech goes, did not indicate how he would proceed in this matter if he were Prime Minister. It is not easy to see how he could have diverged from the policy resolved upon by the Government without exposing the cable companies to serious loss and the possible deprivation of their services. The anxiety of the Imperial Government in this connection is that the cable companies should not break down under financial stress. Further, that they should be enabled to retain their organisation in case the radio failed.

In short, the Imperial Government has decided to make the best use of efficient private enterprise, while at the same time ensuring to the nation that-very definite control will be exercised to safeguard the interests of the Empire. The Merger Company cannot advance the rates without permission of the. Government.