The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 1870.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5548, 9 January 1879, Page 2

The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 1870.

Many of our readers may desire to know what special advantages, if any, the general public may expect to derive from the special wire which has recently come into use, and which is exclusively employed for the transmission of news for the ■ Press during certain hours of the day and night. The new regulation lately published in the “ Gazette” sets forth that the Governor may, if he think fit, agree to give the special use of a wire to any proprietor of a newspaper, or to any company carrying on the business of Press or telegraph agents, provided that the special use of any wire shall not he granted for a less sum than £2OOO per annum. The power thus given has since been made use of, and there is now a special wire working both tor the Press Agency and for the New Zealand Press Association. At the first sight this might appear to he a great, boon, as the check imposed upon reporters, by the cost of the wire charges, was always liable to limit the amount of news transmittted. At times, interesting items would be held hack for fear of the monthly bill for wire charges being grumbled at for being too heavy, and there has been a tendency in some instances to., make the reports of important matters exceedingly brief. ■ All danger of brevity has now disappeared, and tho first fruits of the new system were especially evident on the first day on which the special wire came into use. Descriptions of New Year’s sports, races, and cricket matches were given at great length, and the only thing for those at a distance was to decide how much of each description to cut out. Detailed accounts of each race, and the positions taken up by individual cricketers in a match, were items of news received by us of no special interest to Wellington readers, and were therefore at once consigned to the waste-paper basket. By the exercise of some little discrimination in sifting the news supplied in too extended a form this evil is not difficult to remedy, but unfortunately a much greater misfortune is threatened, which we will endeavor to explain, Tho carrying capacity of any one wire in respect to tho hews which can be transmitted by it is necessarily limited, the hours during which the speoial wire is open in the case of a morning paper only extends up to 1 o’clock a.m. If,.therefore, the interchange of news between any two places is sufficient to absorb the full power of the wires, news from those two places only would be obtained during that night. It is true that the lessees of the wire have power to limit the amount of general news to be supplied by their agents under ordinary circumstances. But even this precaution will not meet the requirements of the case. The supply and interchange of news >t all the different stations between Invercargill and Auckland may any day out-grow the carrying power of the wire within the hours fixed. The result would be that at one o’clock an, unfinished, imperfect epitome of news from several, quarters would ,be supplied to the Press. Nor is this the only danger. Unless orders were given that the most important news should have priority, the . newspapers may during a. busy time ■ find themselves burdened with a lot of trivial nevvs, the portions of the telegrams containing the best of the news being delayed. That the drawbacks referred to are real and not imaginary, may be proved by the following examples ; In the case of, the speech ; recently delivered by Mr. Sheehan up in Auckland, we hear that a special telegraphic report was furnished to some of the Southern papers, not by the special, but by the ordinary wires. The reason given for this exceptional proceeding is that there was a great risk of the speech being cut off, while incomplete, at one o’clock, by the ■special wire being closed. Under the old system, any report put into the telegraph office before the hours of closing was sure of transmission. If Sir George Grey were again inclined to exercise his God-given power of making long speeches, it is just possible that the special wire might be blocked with his stump eloquence to the exclusion of all other telegraphic intelligence. And. we believe that the general public would complain bitterly of such a dose of the peculiar political hobbies of Sir George, even though they be divinely inspired. The ■ question of tho expense involved in the new system stands quite apart from, those already treated of. It is we think sufficiently evident from the examples given, that in addition to the special wire intelligence, news must sometimes be forwarded by telegraphic reporters per ordinary wire at press rates. All news from own correspondents must also be separately paid for. The present agencies have agreed to pay £4OOO per annum direct to the Government, in addition to salaries and expenses, acting as agents for the Press; each newspaper, besides its share of the cost of the agency telegrams will also have to pay for their own correspondents and other important telegrams. The leading newspapers in the colony will be called upon to find most of the means of supporting the ■ new regime, if they can, the contributing power of the country journals being but small. If upon trial it becomes evident that the Press of the colony can only support one company of telegraph agents, then the old law of the survival of the fittest must run its course. - We believe that partisan feeling was the cause of. the opposition to and outcry against the Press Agency, and have the fullest confidence in its power to stand a trial on its merits. A comparison of the news furnished both by the Agency and by the Association may be instituted daily by those who doubt which is the best caterer for the wants of the public, and we feel assured that the old .firm has nothing to fear from, the strictest examination, provided that it is impartially conducted.