RADIO BROADCASTING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19720, 20 August 1927, Page 10

RADIO BROADCASTING.

"WHOLE THING A MUDDLE." COMPLAINTS OF LISTENERS. GOVERNMENT POLICY ATTACKED ALLEGATION OF CENSORSHIP. [BST TELEGRAPH. —SPECIAL REPORTER.] WELLINGTON. Friday More criticism of the Government for granting a loan of £15 ; 000 to the New Zealand Broadcasting Company was heard in the House this afternoon. Mr. W. A. Veitch (Wanganui) said a complete and satisfactory explanation should be made of the circumstances leading up to the making of the loan and of tho concessions which had been granted to the company. All might not have been discovered and there might be other transactions of which tho House %vas not aware. The Postmaster-General, Hon. W. Nosworthy: That is a nasty insinuation. "I think it is a reasonable deduction by reason of the secrecy being applied 'by the Minister himself," replied Mr. Veitch. "The Minister has been charged with partiality in connection with the matter ever since the beginning of the session, and I can recollect no statement having been made by him other than that the loan is not a second mortgage." Mr. Nosworthy: The Prime Minister made an explanation. No Charge of Bribery. Mr. E. J. Howard (Christchurch South) said the Minister was merely a rubber stamp and he had muddled radio matters in the same way as he had muddled other subjects he had dealt with. The listeners-in were not receiving a fair deal. Mr. Nosworthy: That is all the thanks the Government gets for what it has done. Mr. Howard: The whole thing is in a state of muddle. I represent 30,000 list-eners-in who have paid their money and they lire entitled to call the tune. I hey are not being fairly treated. When Mr. Veitch had another opportunity of speaking he said he would not accuse (ho Government of having been bribed in connection with broadcasting and he would not associate himself with those who had hinted at such a thing. Neither would ho criticise them. " Nothing But Fault-Finding." Mr. Nosworthy said it was no use members of the Opposition blaming the Government or saying it had indulged in political manipulation with regard to the company which had taken up broadcasting when no one else would touch it. Some of the members of the Opposition wished to force the Government into taking absolute control of broadcasting and that was the object of much of the criticism. There had been nothing but fault-finding with regard to everything the Government had done. He did not believe tho critics of the Government had any time for broadcasting. When the strike took place in the Old Country the broadcasting stations were the only avenues through which tho people could be made acquainted with what was going on, as everything else was swept away. Minister Kesents Insinuations. "Ministers from myself downwards and upwards have been accused of political underhand methods, even to accusations of bribery, practically," continued Mr. Nosworthy. "The member for Auckland East, Mr. J. A. Lee, has asked me what offers were made. Such insinuations are almost an insult, and if certain members had any respect for themselves they would admit their actions are not calculated to make things better when the Government is honestly trying to save the people from heavy expenditure by refusing to have everything forced into its hands." Mr. Lee said it was unusual for the State Advances Office to grant a loan on a home and leave somebody else with a first mortgage on the land. Mr. Nosworthy: The State Advances Department did not make the loan, and that shows tho member does not know all his facts. Mr. M. J. Savage (Auckland West) pressed for a statement as to the censorship of broadcasting, making particular reference to the action of the company in refusing to broadcast the address prepared by Mr. C. C. Munro, of the Auckland branch of the Farmers' Union. He asserted that Ministers had the right to broadcast propaganda and ho claimed the same right for members of the Oppo sition. He did not object to the Prime Minister and the Postmaster-General speaking over tho wireless, but ho claimed the right to reply and to address the people through the same medium. Speakers Over Wireless. The Prime Minister: Surely that is not customary, is it ? Mr. Savage: We are part and parcel of Parliament, and as long as we are here we do not intend to allow the privileges of the House to be interferred with. It would seem that no one has the right to speak over the wireless except the Prime Minister and the Postmaster-General. Mr. Nosworthy: What rot. Mr. Savage: Tell us who controls the censorship over the broadcasting ? Ministers have the right to speak over tho wireless. Mr. Nosworthy: The trouble is that you are not on this side of the House. If you were, everything would be all right. The Leader of the National Party, Mr. G. W. Forbes, said the Government had nothing to be ashamed of in what it had done, but it would have been better if a full statement had been made at the start, instead of members having to get their information from the Gazette.