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Postal shopping

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The formal opening of Parliament, with all its picturesque pageantry, was due for the following day, and this first radio broadcast was confined to the proceedings of the House of Representatives with the object of giving the people of the Dominion an intimate insight into the way in which a new Parliament elects its Speaker, without whom it could not meet the representative of the King on the following afternoon. Here were the eighty members, fresh from a memorable election campaign, nearly half of them unfamiliar with their surroundings. Their first duty was to take the oath of allegiance to His Majesty King Edward, and although they probably did not know it, they were liable to severe penalties if they voted without complying with this essential Standing Order. The proceedings were directed by the Clerk of the House, but he is not permitted to address Parliament, and when in due course he had to indicate the member desiring to nominate the Hon. W. E. Barnard as Speaker, he could only point to him. The official commentator was required to announce the name for the information of listeners, and as the broadcast commenced more than half an hour before the Speaker's election was held, it comprised a description of the scene, with occasional introduction of the interesting process of the swearing-in of members. The whole of New Zealand, if it had been listening-in, could have heard the new Prime Minister swear due allegiance to His Majesty King Edward, but in the absence of television, it could not see Mr. Savage write his name in the handsomely bound volume containing the signed oaths of hundreds of men who have helped to make history in the Dominion

The four national stations of the Broadcasting Board were linked up for the parliamentary broadcast. It was an historic event for radio, and the Broadcasting Board has in its archives a complete sound record of what went over the air. These are the opening sentences:

“This is a broadcast from the New Zealand House of Representatives Chamber on the occasion of the opening of the twenty-fifth Parliament.

“For the first time in the history of New Zealand broadcasting, the microphone has been introduced into Parliament itself, so that even the most distant elector may gain some first-hand knowledge of the more important happenings. New Zealand is blazing the trail for parliamentary broadcasts.”

The printed comment following the two first radio broadcasts seems to have contained nothing but appreciation of the new opportunity given to the people of hearing Parliament at work. A good deal of descriptive narrative had necessarily to be provided on these occasions, where much ceremonial is observed, and the writer was selected to “tell the story” because he was familiar with it, and had experience of presenting broadcast talks, involving an entirely different technique from that of descriptive journalism, for scenes had to be described as they happened—there was no opportunity to carefully consider the exactly-right word or phrase, no friendly editor or proof-reader, but a great listening public possibly critical over an innovation, but happily in the sequel, quite appreciative of the effort.

Behind the broadcast, which was a technically perfect one, were the experts placed along the chain right from the microphone at the announcer's elbow in Parliament, to the studio in Wellington and all the other broadcasting stations; alert technicians concerned with the sound output and the maintenance of quality and volume, as well as the “faultmen” page 50 page 51 who would have come into instant action had anything gone wrong with the complicated circuits. Of course everything had been gone over beforehand. There were many conferences among those associated with both the radio and the parliamentary sides of the experiment. All that could be rehearsed beforehand was rehearsed—but when it came to the broadcast story itself, that had to be left largely to the inspiration of the moment—only the commentator's voice quality could be tested.

To present over the air an adequate representation of the formal opening of Parliament by His Excellency the Governor-General it was necessary to set up three relay equipments at what might be called strategic points. One microphone stood on the steps of the main entrance to the great marble building, fronting which the troops lined up to give the Royal salute on the arrival of the Governor-General. This was the instrument which picked up and made heard all over New Zealand the boom of the saluting guns firing from Point Jerningham, down the harbour, immediately His Excellency commenced the journey from Government House, through the Capital City, to Parliament Building. A second relay equipment was installed in the gallery of the Legislative Council immediately above the Speaker's chair, and a broadcasting microphone was suspended over the floor of the chamber in front of the dais from which Lord Galway delivered, in clear, cultured, emphatic tones, the Speech from the Throne. Still another broadcasting point had to be set up, for the proceedings in the House of Representatives following the formal opening of the session were relayed to all national stations, enabling the people of New Zealand to hear the tributes of their national representatives to his late Majesty, King George.

One microphone on the steps of the building and another in the Legislative Council were needed simultaneously for the broadcast from the moment His Excellency left Government House, until the Speech from the Throne had been delivered. There were outside as well as inside features of the picturesque ceremonial to be described, but the observer could not be in two places at once! I have to make a little confession about the solution of this problem, by admitting that my description of the “outside” scenes, including the arrival of His Excellency and the inspection of the Guard of Honour, had to be given from memory of many previous events of the kind, fortified by a general survey of the outside scene, including a look at the weather, some minutes before taking my place at the microphone.

The relay points were connected by telephone with the studio, where an operator dealt with the “sounds without” from the Parliamentary steps, and blended them with the spoken description. As the latter had to synchronise with actual happenings outside, invisible to the commentator, the studio telephone gave the signal when the outside microphone picked up the sounds of the mounted escort trotting ahead of His Excellency's motor, and it was possible at the right moment to announce “His Excellency has arrived, and we will hear the National Anthem being played by the band, and the sounds of the Royal salute.”

In the Legislative Council at this moment the members waited silently for the Governor-General's arrival, and the last spectator had been packed into the overcrowded galleries. Nothing was happening which could be described, but a broadcast must be continuous, otherwise listeners might become anxious over the working of their sets, or think something else has gone wrong. So the narrative had to proceed, the narrator speaking in subdued tones close to the microphone, so that the august silence might not be disturbed by this modern innovation. There was a reassuring message afterwards from a high officer of Parliament that the announcer had not been heard in the chamber, although the quiet voice, amplified at the relay point and further reinforced at 2 YA studio, was heard at the extreme ends of the Dominion.

The Speech from the Throne having been delivered. His Excellency left the chamber, and the broadcast had to be resumed as soon as possible in the House of Representatives. It was necessary for relay operator and commentator to make a quick journey from one chamber to the other, bul with crowded corridors this was no easy matter. Messengers and police were warned beforehand to give quick passage to the operator who carried the microphone, for he had to be ahead of the commentator, and set up communications with the broadcast system before speech could go over the air. One could not resume a broadcast in a breathless condition, so the commentator's progress was deliberate—and he arrived before the technician. Here was a dilemma! Fortunately it was soon over, for the relay official came in hurriedly with the explanation that he had lost himself in the complicated corridors.

Only a few moments, and the relay point was working, just as Mr. Speaker commenced to announce that members of the House, having proceeded to the Legislative Council, had there heard the Speech from the Throne “of which, for purposes of greater accuracy,” added Mr. Speaker, “I have obtained a copy.”

From that point onwards, description ceased, and the commentator joined the radio listeners in hearing Parliament speak for itself.