POST OFFICE FINANCE.

Taranaki Daily News, 28 July 1932, Page 4

POST OFFICE FINANCE.

The returns of the Post and Telegraph Department for the past financial year are quite illuminating. They show in the plainest manner that to raise charges for public services beyond the capacity or inclination of the public defeats rather than promotes the object in view, which is to obtain more revenue for the Crown. Last year postal letter rates were doubled and there were increases in charges for parcels and telegrams. Despite these heroic efforts to augment the revenue the receipts for the year amounted to £3,636,392, compared with £3,647,507, the previous year. It is true that expenses were reduced by £550,000 year and the surplus was £900,000 as compared with £400,000 in the previous year. For the more economical management the department is entitled to credit, though the figures raise the point whether, had similar management been applied earlier, there would have been any need for increased

charges. Nevertheless, there is no disguising the facts that higher rates diminished the department’s business very considerably, and that it Was wise in returning to the old postal rates. The revival of traffic brought about by 'cheapened .postal rates should be an indication that a similar policy in regard to telephones would be equally efficacious. The department points out that relinquishments were barely 3 per chnt. last year. That there should be any diminution in the nse of telephones ift a. progressive community is sufficient to demand a thorough review of the policy under which the service is being offered to the public. That so many have made special efforts to continue the use of telephones does not indicate that the service is perfect or the charge for it reasonable. It does show that the demand for it is sound, and judging from the department’s experience in regard to postal rates a lowered rate for telephone rentals would soon be justified by increased business. In most commercial dealings the greater the turnover the lower the price. With telephones the larger an exchange becomes the higher is the rental charged, and there seems to be something wrong in such a system.