The Hastings Standard and the Press Association.

Hastings Standard, Issue 72, 20 July 1896, Page 4

The Hastings Standard and the Press Association.

The following extract from No 7. of Hansard will be of interest to our readers, exhibiting as it does the fostering care of certain of our legislators extended to the monopoly which has grown up in this colony, to the detriment of the whole body politic : —"Mr Hogg asked the Government: If their attention has been called to the manner in which the New Zealand Press Association conducts its business, and to the fact that it attempted recently to prevent a newspaper being established at Hastings, Hawke's Bay, by requiring from the proprietors the enormous sum of £SOO as an entrance fee? The facts of this case were somewhat interesting. Two young pressmen, one of whom he had known for a number of years, a few months ago went to Hastings, a town of moderate

size in Hawke's Bay, for the purpose of establishing a newspaper there. In order to compete fairly with the newspapers published in Napier it was necessary that they should subscribe to the United Press Association of New Zealand. This was necessary to newspaper proprietors, in order that they might obtain the latest news from abroad—especially cablegrams. An entrance-fee of no less than £SOO was demanded before they could a obtain this kind of news. He might state, from bis own knowledge of working moderate sized newspaper offices, thai the en-trance-fee would nearly amount to the working expenses of such an office for a whole year. They offered to contribute to the Press Association a sum o! £BOO in cash, and to give a bill at three months for the remaining £2OO ; but the chairman of that Association happened to bo connected with a rival newspaper at Napier—The Napier Telegraph—and the Association refused those terms. The chairman declined to accept the bill for £'2oo, and demanded thai the £-500 should be paid down at once, otherwise they would not be allowed to join the Association. He might say that what occurred there had excited a good deal of attention not onlv iu the district, but pretty well ail over the colony. As un experienced journalist, he thought the sooner the Government took the position and conduct of the United Press Association in hand the better. They enjoyed special prnileg> and in return for those privileges they were increasing the fetters that were being imposed on what ought to be a free Press.

Mr Bell rose to a point of order Was not debatable matter being intro duced?

Mr Speaker considered the honorable member was drawing the House towards debatable matter, and he must request him to refrain from doing so. Mr Hogg would simply ask the question standing in his name, and he would add, with all due deference to the honorable member for Wellington City (Mr Bell), who appeared to be annoyed at this question Mr Bell rose to a point of order. Was it not a debatable matter to refer to an honourable member in that

Mr Speaker said the honourable member was riot at liberty to refer to other honourable members in such a way as to give offence. Sir Hogg was sorry that he had annoyed the honorable gentlemen. However, he would add to his previous remarks that if the Association could impose a fee of £SOO on small newspapers,—a sum for which the newspapers virtually receive nothing in return, —then there was nothing to prevent them imposing a fee of £-3,000, and so preventing the establishment of small or moderate-sized newspapers in the colony. Mr J. McKenzic said he was almost afraid to get up and answer this question for fear of advancing any debatable matter. He would very much like to have the rrower of speaking for half an hour with regard to this Association. He was not at the present time going further than to say this : thai the attention of the Government had beeen drawn to this question, and not only to this question, but to many other matters in connection with the Press Association where they acted very unfairly to the people of this country, and it was his intention to move in a few days for a Committee to be set up for the purpose of inquiring into the whole question of the Press Association and its dealings with the general public of the colony.