NEW TELEGRAPH RATES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21758, 24 March 1934, Page 10

NEW TELEGRAPH RATES

" The new scale of rates and charges for telegrams announced by the Postmaster-General introduces the prin6iple, newj to New Zealand, of differentiation,according to distance, for which there may be justification on the score of variation in cost. It also contains a number of welcome concessions, probably the most important of which is fixing a charge of sixpence for an urgent message instead of double rate. Local telegrams, which iri Auckland will be those lodged for delivery in the city arid most of the suburbs, are to cost sixpence, and ordinary rates are to be charged on Sundays and holidays. The scale will, however, require further elucidation before its effects can be properly gauged. It will be important, for instance, to know what is the normal volume of business for which, under the new system, more than the present rate of one shilling will have to be paid. Beyond the sixpenny zone that of ninepence will begin, rising by steps of one penny, according to distance, tft one shilling, which will be the maximum charge for a telegram for any place in the Auckland postal district. Then will begin a further" progression, the maximum for the North Island being one shilling and twopence, and for the South Island, as far as Auckland is concerned, one shilling and threepence. The scheme may be designed to make long-dis-tancei messages pay the extra required to cover the cost of local concessions, but it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that the department is seeking more revenue from an already over-l/urdened community. An attempt has been made to scale up as well as scale down, but all the experience of commerce supports the argument that it is only by scaling dowi that turnover cap be increased. It is to be remarked, further, that in the zones where the sixpenny rate is to apply, telephonic communication is most readily available ; in the zones where the charges are to be increased the paying public has no such easy alternative. The sole object of the adjustment, it is stated, has been to devise an equitable scale of rates more in keeping with what the average person considers he should pay for his telegram. There has been no direct attempt at increasing revenue, but increased business is anticipated from the "popular charges." Will such an increase be accompanied by a decline in the business over long distances, for which the maximum means the substantial increase of 25 per cent?