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♦ No. 79. / The Consul for Portugal, Wellington, to the Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington. Sir, — Portuguese Consulate, Wellington, 15th April, 1908. I cabled to the Portuguese Consul at Sydney, asking whether he had received a letter instructing him to invite the Federal Government to send a representative to attend the Telegraphic Conference at Lisbon; and he replies to me to-day to the effect that the Consul at Melbourne had been instructed to invite tKe Federal Government. I can therefore only assume that the missing letter, addressed to me under date 17th January, contained similar instructions in regard to inviting a representative from the Dominion Government to attend the Conference, and, therefore, I have no hesitation in passing on such an invitation on beEalf of the Government which I represent —more particularly as you have advice from England to the effect that this invitation had been extended. Regretting the unfortunate absence of the letter of instructions, I have, Ac, John Duncan, The Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington. Consul for Portugal. [Tel. 08/822.]

No. 80. The Secretary, General Post Office, London, to the Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington. (Telegram.) London, 22nd April, 1908. In connection with forthcoming International Telegraph Conference at Lisbon: Postmaster-General thinks following summary of his views on question of code telegraphy may be useful. It has already been communicated to Chambers of Commerce in this country. When concession allowing use of pronounceable artificial words was accepted by London Conference of 1903, mainly on initiative of British Post Office, it w-as assumed that privilege would be used reasonably so that public would benefit without undue detriment to telegraph service. But this expectation has hardly been realised. Some code-makers are using combinations which are only pronounceable with difficulty or not at all, such as " Bywrgrocbx " and " liqraqkpcr." Operators cannot grasp such combinations readily, and thus more time is needed for their transmission, and repetitions and corrections are necessary. Postmaster-General would not support any proposal for withdrawal of concession, but he thinks conditions as to pronounceability should be somewhat more clearly defined so as to limit injurious tendency referred to. He contemplates generous interpretation, however, which would cover great bulk of codes in use. [Tel. 08/822.J

No. 81. The Hon. the Postmaster-General, Wellington, to the Secretary, Wellington Chamber of Commerce, Wellington. Sir,— General Post Office, Wellington, 24th April, 1908. In reference to your letter of the 9th instant, urging that steps be taken to oppose any interference with the present regulations for the acceptance of cablegrams in code language : I have the honour to inform you that the New Zealand delegate to the Lisbon Telegraph Conference had already been instructed to oppose any proposal to amend the present regulations relating to the acceptance of code-words. I have, Ac, J. G. Ward, Postmaster-General. The Secretary, Wellington Chamber of Commerce, Wellington. [Letters in similar terms were forwarded to the Secretaries of the Chambers of Commerce at Christchurch and Napier.] [Tel. 08/822(6).]

No. 82. The Hon. the Postmaster-General, Wellington, to the Secretary, General Post Office, London. . Sir,— General Post Office, Wellington, 4th May, 1908. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your telegram (received on the 23rd ultimo), transmitting a summary of the views of your office on the question of code-words in cable messages. The Postmaster-General regrets that he does not see his way to support the alteration proposed by your office. Wliile the Minister cannot overlook the fact that the great concession made by the London Conference of 1903 was mainly the result of the proposals of the British Post Office, it is considered that any attempt to restrict the present code privileges would seriously interfere with commerce and otherwise cause considerable loss to merchants and others who have purchased recently issued code-books. The experience in this Dominion is that it is difficult to work under a rule which may be generously interpreted, as the interpretation, if left to subordinate officers, would lead to disputes with the public. I have, Ac, W. R. Morris, For the Postmaster-General. The Secretary, General Post Office, London. [Tel. 08/822.]