STATE-OWNED CABLES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13938, 21 December 1908, Page 7

STATE-OWNED CABLES.

PENNY-A-WORD SCHEME. SIR JOSEPH WARD'S VIEWS. In speaking of his recent deliverance on th" question of penny-a-word cables, the Prime Minister (Sir Joseph Ward) remarked to a Herald representative last evening 'that he had no hesitation in saying that « service between New Zealand and Australia, and also between England and Canada, over a State-owned cable, could be profitably carried on for a penny a word. In regard to the service between Canada and New Zealand, however, the institution of a. penny tariff prevented some difficulty. The cable in that case was a long one, and the increased traffic would probably necessitate new cables in addition to the present one. "The preaant cables," Sir Joseph went on to say, ' are not carrying anything like the traffic that they are capable of carrying The rates are beyond the capacity of the ordinary person, and the cables that are sent may be termed messages of necessity. I think, that Mr. Henniker Heaton is working in the right direction, and I am only too glad to do anything to assist at this end of the world in bringing about such a desirable reform. The matter needs to be publicly aired with a view to the attention of the different countries interested being concentrated upon it. Public advocacy and the pressure of public opinion through the Government, together with the inauguration of the Pacific cable, have already had the effect of appreciably reducing the rates, and the institution of a system of State-owned cables in England and the self-governing colonies of the Empire, including India, would, without doubt, be a step in the direction of securing further substantial reductions."