HIGH CHARGES DO NOT PAY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18103, 11 February 1922, Page 1 (Supplement)

HIGH CHARGES DO NOT PAY.

'CONTINENTAL EXPERIENCE.

BT MRS. JULIAN GRANDE.

GENEVA, December 31

Europe is learning many lessons from the war, which may be all summed up into four wards: War does not pay. The war has caused high prices, high prices have caused high wages, high wages havo caused high charges for the public services (high railway fares, high postal rates, and high telegraph and telephono rates); and so we go on.

It is now becoming more and more manifest in Europo that these high charges for the public services do not pay, and that instead of bringing in profits for Governments and railway companies, they involve both in loss. Despite hex never having been involved in the war, no country affords a better example of the after-effects of war than Switzerland. Take, for instance, her post-office, which before the war paid well, and worked excellently. Now, however, with greatly increased rates for letters, postcards and parcels, it has ceased to pay, and at the end of 1921 it is estimated that the year's deficit cannot amount to less than 22,000,000 francs, which, for a country with a population of considerably less than four millions, is heavy. Inland postage has been doubled this year, and foreign postage raised from 25 centimes to 40. Postcards for abroad used to cost 10 centimes, and now cost 25, while a registered letter for abroad costs 80 centimes (instead of 40, as formerly. Higher Charges, Less Revenue. Again, the cost of sending money through the post, which was, and, 1 think, still is a mitre frequent mode of payment than by cheque, has also been doubled, and tho result is a great decrease in the number of postal payments. People have not more money than formerly to spend on postage; on tho contrary, they havo less. Consequently they correspond less, and resort to all manners of means of saving postage. Fewer postage stamps have been sold since the heavy increase of postage rates, and fower postcards also, and althongh the number of persons in post office employment is more than 600 less than a year ago (it is 15,560 at present), yet the expenses do not decrease, or decrease very slightly, while receipts fall off. rv Similarly with regard to the telegraph and telephone sendees, the charges for which have been doubled as compared with before the war. The number of subscribers to the telephone has decreased and the numbor of telephone calls also. Telegrams cost so much that no one sends them who can avoid doing so, and peoplo simply do without. And once they nave learned to da without telephoning and telegraphing, it is not altogether easy to teach them that they need to do with both

Last, July the French Government also doubled its telegraph rates for abroad, and I was assured by a high official of the French telegraph office that takings havo diminished 60 per cent, since then; and now there is a keen difference of opinion between the French authorities responsible for the fixing of telegraph rates as to whether they should still further increase these rates or lower them in the hope of inducing the public to send more telegrams. Similarly, again, with regard to railway fares and freights. These have been so much raised in Switzerland that in the mouth of Novembor last tho traffic receipts of the Federal or State railways, for the first time for nino months past, do not covet' the working exponses. In the first 11 months of i 921, the number of passengers carried was about 8 por cent, less than in the corresponding period of 1920; while about 5 per cent, or more of goods traffic has been lost to tho railways by the competition of motorvans or lorries, because this method' of transport is found cheaper in many cases and for many articles than railwaytransport, especially as the vans come to tho door of the sender and go to the door of the receiver, whoreaa goods sent, by rail must first bo taken to tho railwhv station, then loaded on to a truck, then unloaded at another railway station, and put into a motor van.

Meeting the Market. Private business houses are now beginning to realise that high charges do not pay, and the moment conditions on the world market enablo them to reduce their prices, they aro obviously doing so. A large boot manufacturer said to me the other day: "We could more easily sell a thousand pair of boots at 20 francs a pair, and make a good 'profit on them, than 500 pair at 25 francs each. Leaving tho oost of loath'er out of account, the machinery can turn out, twice as many pairs in nothing liko twice as much time, and at very littlo extra expense, A high official of a railway company admitted that his company could carry 500 passengers at 5 francs each a given distance with moro profit than it could carry 200 passengers tho samo distance for 10 francs each. But, as he said, his railway being Sate-owned, it is difficult for it to remedy the blunder which it made by raising fares so much. State railway 'decisions aro somowhat like Acts of Parliament— much easier to introduce than to repeal. These high charges for postage, telegrams, telephones and railway fares and freights, however, aro not merely inconvenient and deterrent to the private individual, but they affect commerce, national and international. Business houses hesitate not only at the cost of letter postage but also at that of sending commercial papers and samples; and the railway by tneir high charges prevent commercial men from travelling abroad to other countries. In fact, if we did not know that so much raising of th e cost of tho public services was pure Government stupidity, we might have thought that it was being done purposely to keep trade from reviving. In England, railway fares have just been decreased, but in a very gingerly manner. France is 'talking of decreasing fares also, and in Switzerland it has been demanded for months past. That Germany and Austria havo recently again raised their railway faxes is due largely to their phenomenally low exchanges,-and their altogether abnormal conditions. All these countries however except- Switzerland, have been involved in the war, but apparently there cannot be a great war now without profoundly affecting material and moral conditions even in neutral countries.