BROADCASTING POSITION

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 68, 17 September 1925, Page 14

BROADCASTING POSITION

RADIO BOCDSTY'S VIEWS.

Mr. W. J. Roch» pweided over » well-attended meeting of the Amateur Radio Society of Wellington on* Tuesday night. A number of new members were enrolled.

Much diaaatiifaction was expressed at the existing condition of .broadcasting in the Dominion, and the opinion was freely expressed .that the new scheme would fall a long, way short of , what the. public had been led to expect. The following motion was carried unanimously: "The Amateur Radio Society of Wellington enters ■an emphatic protest against the very unsatisfactory state of ■ broadcasting in New Zealand. ■The failure of th« Government to keep the promises made at Dannevirke near^ lytwo years ago by the present Prime Minister: when Postmaster-General has been a very great disappointment, to a large numbar. of listenera-in throughout the Dominion. W» feel that the lamentable lack of enterprise and: dilatorines* of the Government in bringing New Zealand broadcasting up to date is a breach of faith and a matter for serious protest. The hole-in-corner methods adopted of approaching.'firms privately instead dr calling for tenders and, letting contracts openly it, in our opinion, contrary to public interest,. unbusinesslike, and open 'to . grave abuse. .We have learned on good authority, that, a much better service could have been secured than the one provided for. under the recent : contract had public' tender* been called for. Though four large stations w-ere promised by the late PostmaatsrGeneral to be in operation by Lit April, 1925, we now learn that, at present, only two stations are to be 1 erected, and it will still be several month* before they are available ; meanwhile we are being heavily taxed for a service we have not received,; arid there seems little likelihood of receiving for aome considerable time to come." .' ■ :

It was mentioned that Mr./! O. '.M.-.BJ. Salt (Auckland), who: had been elected representative of' all radio. licensees on the-Broadcast Control Board,; had -been notified ; by the Secretary of the Post and Telegraph Department that at the present time ■.there' : was 1' no necessity- to call.a'-.meeting-of the board. -The secretary of the P.. and T.;Department had also notified. Mr.; Salt as regards .his ex-* penses while travelling ' 'in connection with meetings of the board, that the matter wae one to be dealt with by those whom he represented.'■' : /'■ . .Considerable discussion arose over the failure of- the regulations -to provide for payment of the expenses incurred by the licensees' 1.; representative in attending meetings of the Broadcast Control Board," and the following resolution was adopted unanimously :-*'■' That they PostmasterGeneral be requested to make provision for the pay'mentof the expenses of the representative of the radio licensees incurred in attending the meetings 'of the Broacast Control Board. 'The expenses of the representative of the motorists on the Main Highways Board are^provided for. in section"'T of the' Main Highways Act' of .1922, sub-section 2, ', and it i» the opinion of this meeting that a 'similar arrangement should ' te\ made for the radio licensees', representative. 1 That the Postmaster-General's' attention be drawn , to. the fact that the radio'licensees' representative on ]'. the Broadcast Control.Board was : appointed by ajgeneral ballot 'of all licensees, the far greater" majority of whom : ard: not attached to any organisation, and that, under those circumstances it would bequite impracticable for the radio licensees representative to; collect his expenses from a just proportion; of those he ' represents." '-!. ■■..-:■'• ■:■ -;■.':■:':'■. '■ , ; •.'.■•:■;,•■ -.-•:

' The meeting,: also passed a m6tion instructing the secretary of the'society .to ask the ■ Postmaster-General to summon immediately a meeting of the Broadcast Control Board ■ to: consider the present unsatisfactory position, .of broadcasting throughout New 1 Zealand, and' Wellington in. particular, and to 1 ascertain what cah.be done,' and is being" done, to place broadoasting on a' better footing.