THE CABLE RATES.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 765, 29 October 1886, Page 30

THE CABLE RATES.

The following telegram has been received by the Manager or the United Pres-s Association from the Superintendent of the Eastern Extension Cable Company :

“ Wakapuaka. “The following message has been sent by the Chairman of the Eastern Extension Company to Sir J. Vogel October 20. I have received with regret your telegram of the 16clr fnsi-. The international Telegraph Convention has nothing whatever to do with local traffic. It only regulates international arrangements, and ns we do not ptopose altering the international rates, notice from the Berne office is unnecessary. The contract enliths us to office accommodation for another ten years, whether the tariff be raised or not; and as one operator is utterly inadequate for the proper working of the service the withdrawal •of the accommodation might compel us to interrupt the traffic altogether, and in that case we should have to hold your Government responsible for all loss or damage she Company might sustain.' Any additional sax you might see fit to impose would have to he borne by the telegrapbii public, and would only add to the expenses and annoyance the raising of the cable tariff would entail upon them. With regard to the Press, we have lately shown by our internal arrangements our desire to meet their requirements, and we are anxious to extend the proposals submitted by the Company to Mew Zealand and the other colonies. xo.s a last resource, and to show our earnest desire to briDg on an amicable solution of the vexed question which shall be satisfactory to all parties, the Company are prepared to refer it to arbitration iu the usual manner, to be held in London. As the Company have incurred considerable loss by the long delay that has already taken place in coming to an arrangement, I should feel obliged if you would give me an early reply to the above. Guarantee cheap rates to the Press over the New Zealand cable, but the guarantee principle can only be dealt with as part of the general guarantee. (DOTTED PRESS ASSOCIATION - .] Dunedin, October 21. Colonel Sargood, of the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce, met the members of the Dunedin Chamber to day, to discuss the question of the cable tariff. Colonel Sargood adduced a number of statistics showing the subsidies paid to the New Zealand and Port Darwin cables. He pointed out that if all the subsidies were lumped together, and each colony paid according to population, New Zealand’s share would be £BIBB. New Zealand would either have to pay a sub-idy or submit to an increased tariff. After some discussion, the meeting broke up without passing any resolution.