Manawatu Evening Standard. FRIDAY, MAY 11, 1934. TELEGRAPHIC CHARGES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 137, 11 May 1934, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. FRIDAY, MAY 11, 1934. TELEGRAPHIC CHARGES.

The Palmerston North. Chamber of Commerce has joined with other similar bodies in contesting- the new scale of telegraphic charges. Under what is now called the zone system, which has been in operation for two months, the charge for telegrams is graduated, according to the distance the receiving office is from the place of origin. The amended rates, the Minister has pointed out, are purely a business proposition, and in defending them he claims that if it is just for persons making toll calls to pay according to the length of line occupied, and persons travelling on trains or sending parcels by the railways to be charged according- _ to distance, then the same principle should be applied to telegraphic charges. In the past, Mr Hamilton affirms, short-distance telegrams have had to pay for the extra cost of long-distance transmission. Returns have been falling oft' for a number of years, and the graduated scale has been devised to avoid this loss and to secure additional revenue. Mr Hamilton has expressed the opinion that the revenue increase will amount to only li per cent., but it may be doubted if an accurate forecast can be made at this stage. It is, however, interesting- to note from the statement made to the Palmerston North Chamber of Commerce by the Chief Postmaster at this centre that in the quiet season of the year the revenue is not showing a shrinkage. Nevertheless, the complaints made by business interests are evidence, were it required, of the scale of charges pressing- heavily. The rates in force prior to their adoption imposed restrictions upon the use of the telegraph by commercial houses. In other years, when the charge was less, they did not hesitate to send a telegram; but increasing fees have resulted in letters taking- the place of the quicker means of communication. The same is _ likely to happen again, for, as it was pointed out at the Chamber of Commerce meeting-, commercial firms will find it more expedient to forward a letter to either Christchurch or Auckland instead of paying the long-distance fee. Short-distance telegrams, of which much is being made by the Department in stressing the public benefit from the new charges, do not enter so freely into business activity as is thought, for telephonic facilities take their place to a very large extent. Tlie benefit to business and the general public from these “local” telegrams cannot therefore amount to very much in the long- run. It has been contended that the large earnings of the Post and Telegraph Department provide a sound case for a reduction in rates. In respect to telegrams, however, there appears to be an unwarranted departmental fear that a lesser charge will mean decreased revenue. The Chamber of Commerce, like other Chambers, would rather the Government introduced a uniform cheap rate which would, it asserts, result in substantially increased revenue as demonstrated by the re-

turns from Christmas greeting telegrams despatched last year. The Minister and his Department, claiming that a universal charge is not equitable, have turned a deaf ear to such representations. The experience of the Railway Department should not pass unnoticed by them. Its net return to the Consolidated Fund for the past financial year has exceeded a million pounds, the first time in several years. The Board claims that this is the consequence of the policy it adopted, an important part being the reduction in passenger fares, traffic which showed a substantial increase in the period. Were the Department to take the long view and lower its telegraph and telephone charges, there should be no reason to doubt that a good deal more revenue would within a short period be recorded for these two branches of its service.