POLITICAL SPEECHES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23637, 22 October 1938, Page 22

POLITICAL SPEECHES

BROADCAST BAN (From Our Own Correspondent) (By Air Mail) LONDON, Sept. 29. Many people have expressed to it London journalist surprise that arrangements had not been made to broadcast Mr Chamberlain’s speech from the House of Commons. This, however, could only have been done on the initiative of the House itself, and the House did not meet until yesterday. The question of broadcasting parliamentary debates has been raised in the House periodically since 1925, but has always been‘turned down. The practice has been adopted, in New Zealand. As far as this country is concerned, however, Mr Chamberlain himself spoke the word last year when he stated that broadcasting from the House would not meet with the approval of most members. The 8.8. C. has been obliged to accept this as final. PARLIAMENT “ON THE AIR” It so happens that the Manchester Guardian to-day publishes a letter from Mr E. G. Kerr, jun., of the Timaru Herald. Mr Kerr takes as; the text of his remarks a letter which had appeared in the Manchester journal at the beginning of August, on the subject of broadcasting Parliament in New Zealand. Mr Kerr writes: “It is doubtful whether the broadcast of Parliament has met with the wide approval and popular success claimed by your correspondent, and when he goes on to say that Parliament competes successfully with nearly all the entertainment features it is safe to say that this is exaggeration Many people regard Parliai ent ‘on the air ’ as poor entertainment, and the monopolisation of one of the four main stations for the broadcast of Parliament is * over the odds.’ With the Opposition outnumbered by three to one there is a surfeit of Labour propaganda by their speakers. “ The statement of ‘ one of Mr Savage’s ablest colleagues,’ to quote your correspondent, that ‘since we have no newspaper press how could the electorate know what we have done and are trying to do if we had no broadcast of Parliament?’ is a misstatement of fact and a charge against the newspapers of New Zealand Admittedly the Labour Government is attacked editorially, but since it came into power almost, three years ago statements and interviews of both Ministers and members have been given the widest publicity in the news columns of the entire New Zealand press.”