South Canterbury Times, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1886.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 4241, 16 November 1886, Page 2

South Canterbury Times, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1886.

The dispute between the Eastern Extension Company and the Postmas-ter-General has at length been arranged, and, so far as this Colony is concerned, the settlement of the difficulty is eminently satisfactory; There is no need to enquire how far Mr Pender was influenced by the information that a new cable conld be made in forty, and laid down in eighty or ninety days, bnt the result of the quarrel has clearly shown that Sir Julius Vogel was justified in bolding out as be did. To enable our readers to understand exactly what the new arrangement is, we give the final telegram of the Chairman of the Eastern Extension Company to the Postmaster-General in full. It runs as follows:—“ In view of the deadlock which has arisen between the Company and the Government, and the serious public inconvenience resulting, the Agent-General suggested to the Company to revert to the position occupied by both Company and Government previous to Nov. 1, so that the New Zealand Parliament should have the opportunity fully of reverting to the whole question next session. The Company agreed to accept this suggestion believing that it will be viewed as an evidence of their desire to meet the convenience of the telegraphic public as far as possible, and believing also that the New Zealand Parliament will appreciate their motives for terminating. The AgentGeneral now informs me that your Government will approve his suggestion that the Company should restore the status quo ante for the next six months, upon the Company agreeing to lower the Press rate to threepence per word on a guarantee that the Press revenue will not suffer by that reduction. In further evidence of our desire to meet the public requirenaento, I accept this proposal, on the understanding that you ensure the Press guarantee. Immediately on receiving your acceptance of this arrangement orders will be sent to our agents, and the Governments and the Press will be notified accordingly.” From this it will be seen that while the mercantile community is pined in the same position as heretofore,there is the very substantial reduction of seven pence per ten words for Press messages. This might appear at first sight a special advantage to newspaper proprietors, bnt in reality it is not so. As a matter of fact, the public will reap the benefit, as the Company is guaranteed against any falling off in the revenue obtained from this department; The lowering of the cable charges was not advocated from motives of selfishness, but from a desire that the public should be supplied with better and fuller intelligence concerning Home affairs than has been the case hitherto. It is only necessary to compare the messages sent by their London correspondents to the leading journals of Melbourne and Sydney with the miserable items vouchsafed to us by Beuter, to recognise how we suffer in this respect in New Zealand. Let us hope that this reduction which Sir Julias Vogel has obtained will put matters on a more satisfactory footing, and that in future the Press in this colony will be placed in as a position as in Australia. The present arrangement is only temporary, and it is evident that the Postmaster-General is by no means inclined to give up his scheme for laying a new cable. .We do not, however, think that be will find Parliament willing to agree to bis plan, nor is there, in our opinion, any good reason for entertaining such a proposal at the present time. The Eastern Extension Company, although the Chairman naturally enough tried to make the best bargain be could, has shown itself amenable to argument, and the House will no doubt, when the question arises, give full consideration to the fact that Mr Pender gave way when the interests of the telegraphic public were seriously threatened.