Untitled

Otago Witness, Issue 2409, 3 May 1900, Page 9

THE CABLES QUESTION.

■•" IMPORT 4 WI STATEMENT BY THE STATE OWNERSHIP SUGGESTED. ' (Fecit Our Own Cohbespoxdext.) WELLINGTON, A^ril 25.^ To an- interviewer from the Post, the _ \, T to- -, - ■> ■ •+ ■* t> *+ Eon.\Mr Ward, m his capacity of Postmaster^general, to-day gave some interesting: facts ""and figures regarding the-inter- ' colonial cable, and v incidentally made the_ su»aestion that'th* cable" should be" owned b/New Zealand i »,%.« and -the adjacent colonies. ; The intercolonial. revenue of the ~ Eastern Company to 1892 he stated, - ±>20^58 per annum - Tne, rates .charged for ordinary intercolonial, - commercial and Government messages . were 9s6d for the first 10 woras and Is , lor each--additional' Y°riU and fc 'r Pr.es! messages Zd fper' word. The, international rates-/at v.xhe :4,irae were: JFor commercial messages,-16syfid;,-Government.lps 6d, and the. press os 2d, per Word. Since then the seduction-.of Dates ha? been: For inter--natip'nal,messages to ,5& 2d jer. word, , for ' coaimereiaP cerbles to 3s lid per word, and • for Government' cables- and for. the" press ,'to 2s-pefword. - , .- - , M- that, time there was," , says Mr , Ward*, "no guarantee given by this colony for;<-th,G intercoWnial cables. In 1892 we . joined; .:the r oUier colonies, except Queens1 land,-iri- giving 'a guarantee of £26,258 per ;-annum^ .and this was continued up to 'Jie end of April, 1895.,- This guarantee , was based- upon the average of the previous , three years' revenue received by the 'Cable , Company under the high rates mentioned. 1 In ■ consideration of .this guarantee we ob- , ' -rained' extra or dinaj;y reductions on the rates in fprce -at that time., We got the '"'iiitercQloniarcable/rates^reduced to .2s foe ;;,10_ words "and tb, 3d for each additional t < word, .and. later on. we,got ,'the press, rates ■ reduced: from 3d per word -to Id' per word, -:--At th'eVsame thttfr 'the -inteitiatiohal^ rates -were reduced'from 10s'6d" to ss;-2ds;-2d per" word commercial ('cables, to 3sl'lid for -Co-j vernment "'messages, and' to." 2s for press As the. result of the reduction-, of -„,rates .-LhV revenue 'over the intercolonial line .y^Srvltih'&.ltih'&. four -months' of the year 1893 was '''~£4&&si,- and !we' had to pay our proportion ,Qi'jKe_-,guarantej^'(£l49B) 'for that period. In.' 18SJ4t-ihe' reyenu'e-was £11>714, and'our jthe 'guarantee,, was £4958.. ( Itt 1895_'-tlie 'reVeitoe'Tyas £-11^622;' and we -paid £4890.. .'-..1n 1595,-. we >, reduced; ,qur "' "guarantee- "ftpm^'£26,2ss''.id' £20,000 per' "j^nnum.' WelJ',;',now;~ youl,wifl i."see 4.a4.a very > temarkable-mcrease, haY-baleen Wee in iilfe T a-eyenue year--by yeas since the'reduction'of «» S?fTante^ iSSS .the'- revenue was >'* iQc^'Hr an ' . om' guarantee £2693^- in viaa/'the ■revenue was £16,144, and oiif guarantee £l/5o; ln ii BgB it wwas' s £16 646 /^ ™"-P*3JBent,£l99o; in i 899 it\VSL' s I *Lf,6ob, ana our payment £1163- and

estimated that the receipts will exceed | x>20,000, which is the full amount of the j guarantee" that _we joined in giving in 1595. J^-J^S^tr&lS?l^ an( j \- cstoie them the amount of subsidy that they were getting under the agreement of that year, despite the fact that, with the low rates now ruling,, the revenue,has m(nmted to near)y and the cs^i Q ig m^re than -ggif. supporting. Now I will show what I mean by this. We estimate" what we can put down a new cable between' Australia and New' Zealand of the ta^^ita^--^™--at 3 el. cent: would represent' £6000 a jear- From a careful investigation made b the executive officers of my de-. payment; r find'that a very liberal allowancß for the staff for sai arie3 wduid be £4000 pto annmn> and a full amount for repairs £2000. Consequently, for interest ,and for saiaries and repai rs onw £12,000 per annum would be absorbed. This would ,i cave'(so long as there would be any mcrease whatever in the business' in -the future, which it "would be-ridiculously pessimisti<, to ? assume' would not" be the case) : about £8000 per annum on the present revenue; - over, arid abbve all working exj penses, *to go towards the cost of laying the cable. Now as a matter of fact, lam > informed that the value of the present cable is nob over £150,000, and it would j appear to me that the right course for this , country to adopt; rather than continue to ' give guarantees.to make un a larger revenue ; than the c6nipahy is now. receiving, or to ; quietly submit to any increase in the-cable rates, would be to' acquire the existing cables, and to' set aside out of.earnings a j sufficiency to meet the cost. It would pay j' the colony handsomely to do -this. At a 3 per cent, basis on the cost of the Eastern 1 Company's cable between New Zealand and | Australia' there would be at once a full' 'margin of about £10,000 a year upon* the i present revenue over the present working . expenses, interest, and repairs, "and as the ' increase of business for the last five -years has been over £5000 it is only rational to • suppose that with the growth of population in" our country and the neighbouring colonies, and the necessity for'the continuous use of cables, a similar increase would go on for some >years to come. I don't think' I am taking" an over-sanguine view when I- say that within the nexi, five years there will 'be a margin of about £15,000 per annum, and, in all probability, basing it . upon^ the ""actual traffic that Has taken -"place, the revenue in five years from now ! -wilt 'be £26,00-0' to- £27,000 per-annum. . I / don't >s personally -wish ".to see any -injustice , done" to", the.present company.." They have done their work well,-so far'as the colonies "are concerned ; 'but the- rates in the interests of the company were very-high prior to* 1892, and the neighbouring colonies/ to* W her -with/New, Zealand, protected-the Company b^i' very substantial' guarantees ■

their lines. I .am expressing my own opinion when I> say' it. appears to me that far the better course in' the interests^ of New /Zealand would' be -''the cable should be owned either" Jby" o;irselves or jointly with our neighbours' across the water. On the face' of' it, not nearly co much will be- required to be extracted from the users of -the cables if it were Slate1 owned -as is necessary under private-pro-pzietary. In the first, place, we' do not require to obtain anything approaching the same amount of interest upon our >money as is expected by investors in a private 'undertaking; and, though I am but expressing my "bwris.opj.jiion. .upon this matter, I-'shouM, -wry' much like yj&.jse'e the

oth-er ' cqlonies^'-'huve' -.an., interest in the cableC and even without' them it would be,

riot only a payable investment upon its actual v financial basis, but would confer 'benefits --upon .the ; , country v itself- *tha.t it is difficult at the moment- to estimate. "'There is nothing new whatever in taEdng about the State owning^ its cables'. ,Ib is on a par with State-owned telegraphs in this country, and -one requires ' only to go to America to have an experience of the pri-vately-owned telegraph^' and railways there to realise to what extraordinary purposes" they are put" by. comparison with the Stateowned, railways ,ancl telegraphs of - ihis~ country. -They- /form some, of ..-the; greatest stocks for speculative* investment on the American Stock Exchanges, and the rates and arrangements are made there 'frequently in the interest of the speculative investors rather than in the interest of the general public. Ifc may be looking -ahead, but 1 have a very strong conviction that before many years pass by the Imperial C4overnment and the Australasian Governments •will own the whole of the cables that now traverse the ocean to distant parts from the seat of the Empire, and if we can only get the Pacific cable laid and have a practical working of it for a year or two, the incentive to tbe acquirement of tlie undersea telegraphs would be su"h that no re-

sistance could prevent their being generally owned by the Imperial, Canadian,- Indian, and colonial Governments."