LONDON NEWS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXII, Issue LXXII, 12 October 1916, Page 5

LONDON NEWS.

WORK FOR WAR QFflcl

A CONTRACTOR'S ACTION CRITICISED.

AN AMERICAN PRESS AGENCY SUPPRESSED.

a m t, , LONDON, Oct. 11. ■ A Blue Book reveals, that Sir John [Jackson, Ltd., offered Lord Kitchener ito erect army huts without profit in August 1914, and the War Office accepted.the offer, but later, Jackson's requested a five per cent, commission upon additional work. The contract hnally^am«unted to £3,250,000, wherel l?o^, Jackson's commission worked out at £170,000. , The Public Accounts Committee were highly critical concerning these. arrangements, one member suggesting that it was a bogus offer to do something for nothing in ord**- to secure Jackson's from competition. Mr Bonar Law announced that the Speaker will preside at the Electoral Reform Conference, which opens on Ihursday to investigate redistribution, registration, method of election, and how the elections costs are to be borneft Mr McKenna stated that ths issue of six per cent, bonds was adooted because the time did not appear favorable for a long-dated loan. -He would recommend a loanftat the first favorable opportunity; A Tbe Press Bureau states that certain American newspapers published an alleged cable from London by the correspondent oC the International News Service, relating to the Jutland battle, whereas such message was not transmitted. -.',

There were previous- instances where messages were altered out of recognition. On each occasion the New York manager categorically promised that the incident would net recur, but on September 3 he published full statements of .the air raid, allegedly cabled from London. In view of this continued garbling and breach of faith, the International News Service has been debarred all transmission facilities' until further notice.

It is added unofficially that the International News Service belongs to Hearst (the owner of. the strong of "yellow" journals, which are pro-Ger-man).

In the House of Commons Mr Lloyd George stated that hitherto two thousand conscientious objectors had been court-martialled: