SHIPPING TELEGRAMS.

Otago Witness, Issue 929, 18 September 1869, Page 2

SHIPPING TELEGRAMS.

It appears to be a very difficult thing to convince an .official that the useful- 1 ness of his department to the public is the true measure of its value. Long years of service have accustomed him to look upon the outside public in any light hut that of his masters or employers. If he confesses himself a public servant, he finds his masters in his superior officers, to whom he is directlyresponsible. As the public does not directly exercise any control over him, he is never led to recognise the fact that their interests are of paramount import- ! ance; and that his department can have no interests of its own as opposed to those of the public. But the more intelligent he may be, the more obstinately he persists in regarding the public interests as something altogether apart from those of his department. This peculiarity is especially remarkable in the case of revenue officers. They look upon the public simply as a source of revenue. Every man they meet is a man who must be made to contribute to the revenue. And just as policemen are said to consider every man guilty until he is proved to be innocent, so revenue officers are inclined to think that the public is always endeavouring to defraud the revenue. Such a theory of morals may be intelligible in the case of a Custom-bouse officer engaged in the detection of smugglers. But it appears to prevail among revenue officers of the highest grade in tho service — among a class of men who are not brought into contact with dealers in contraband of any kind. It is only on this theory, for instance, that we can account for the singular views put forward by the General Manager of the Telegraphic Department in his Report, with reference to Shipping Telegrams. Mr Lemon's zeal ou behalf of his Department utterly blinds him to all considerations outside of it. Ho makes an annual protest against the practico of supplying information to the public about shipping at ! the oxpenso of the Telegraphic Department. If he docs not distinctly recommend the discontinuance of this practico, ho lots us see very clearly what ho thinks of it. * Thoro can bo no doubt I—ho1 — ho says— * that a certain section of tho community benefits to ft very great extent by tho posting of these telegrams; but. I am still of opinion that the Department loses thousands of pounds yearly by tho transaction, while tho Public generally reap no commensurate advantage.' Nothing could bo more amusingly official than this extract. Tho Dopartment and tho Public arc brought forward in antithesis, an if thoir interests wore anything but identical. Tho Department is represented as submitting to an unnecessary sacriiico for tho supposed benefit of the Public, while tho Public is represented aa being swindled and deluded at tho same time. Tho simple fiict of tho matter is, that tho General Manager docs not relish the Me* of supplying tolognmfl for nothing. He onnnoCi bring himself to nee any fjood in a system under which tho Department u&dtr hii charge la made to work for

l ; n6tixing. : sSiwOrafeprstem lS^ooJgrossVa liviplaU^o^l^lil'^prßcedeiits', to be' I * a m «* n " i r. 'if the'Gen^MM|nl!ger /had any idea, of the pbsiw^S^hiclt his Department really sta^i®rowards the public, he would never have advanced such an argument as he has done with reference to the shipping telegrams.. He is obviously under the impression that it is the chief business of his Department to make money out of the public, and that the great test of its value, to the State is the amount of revenue which it can be made to contribute. This delusion leads him to suppose that it is only 'a certain section of the community ' which can benefit by the shipping intelligence supplied from day to day by the telegraph.' The section alluded to is of course that section of the community which is directly interested in the shipping trade. The rest of the public, in Mr Lemon's opinion, are not at all interested in the shipping telegrams. This ia a very singular misapprehension. It would perhaps be difficult to mention any kind of intelligence in which the public generally is more directly interested than that which relates to the arrivals and departures along the coast. So long as the sea forms the chief highway for New Zealand, the degree of interest felt in the daily notifications of the Telegraph Offices with respect to shipping must be necessarily greater than in other countries, in which the means of internal communication are more or less fully developed. The degree of interest must be considerable at all times; but during the oft-recurring periods of stormy weather to which our coast-line is subject, who can measure the anxiety with which the curt announcements of the Telegraph are looked for 1 Some idea may be formed if we suppose for a moment that Mr Lemon's views on this subject were adopted by the Government, and that no intelligence with respect to shipping could be procured from the Telegraph aa at present. It would be no answer to say that the public could procure the intelligence by paying for it. Putting ' aside the absurdity of demanding payment for intelligence which the public is entitled to expect for nothing, the! Telegraph Department — according to] Mr Lemon's own shewing — has no adequate means of supplying accurate intelligence on such, topics. * The means for furnishing these telegrams to the various offices throughout the colony is very faulty, the Department being dependent for its information on officers over whom it has not the slightest control.'

It is quite unnecessary for us to point out the peculiar importance of this information to the shipping trade and tho general public. Regarding the Telegraph as simply a department of tho public service, and one which must be made to suit tho public convenience, we say that its usefulness in this direction is capable of extension, and that it ought to be extended. It has been repeatedly urged by tho Chamber of Commerce that tho Telegraph should supply information, not only as to arrivals and departures at tho various ports, but also as to vessels passing tho signal stations along tho coast. Arrangements might bo easily irmdo by tho Dopartmont for tho purpose of procuring this information, tho valuo of which to • a cortain section of tho community 1 is very obvious. Wo boliovo it is usual with tho Governments of tho neighbouring colonies to supply this information. Whether it is so or uot, it is clearly a duty which tho Government of this colony owes to tho public to see that such information is supplied. Whatever can bo dono by any department of tlvo public service to promote the prosperity of tho country, should be dono unresorvedly and freely. Tho various departments which constitute the machinery of government are maintained by taxes paid with the expectation that they will bo expended for tho benefit of those who pay them. Tho Telegraph and Postiu\ Departments occupy position!* which to some extent are peculiar. They aro established and maintained in tho first instance for tho convenience of tho public, and not with the vie* of collecting revenue. The

reyenue^is |» secondary] consideration altogether/ *And consequently in the administration of these departments^ the Government is bound to recognise the fact that the public convenience is a consideration to 1 which every other must give way. It is a curious instance of perversity, however, that while the Government refuses , to consult the public convenience in the 'direction alluded to, it insists on interfering with the newspapers in 'the supply of telegraphic information. It has never been considered good policy on the part of the Government to enter into such arrangements with newspapers. The objections to such a policy are obvious. Not the least forcible is the objection which the newßpapers themselves entertain to uncalled for interference of the kind. When it is added that by adopting this course the Government actually throws away revenue without deriving any corresponding advantage, its policy in this respect is absolutely unintelligible. The state of affairs at the present time is droll. The shipping community implores the Government to supply it with telegraphic information, while the newspaper community implores the Government not to do so. The Government sternly refuses to supply telegrams to those who want them, and doggedly insists on supplying them to those who don't.