The Star. MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1923. CHEAPER POSTAGE AND DEARER TELEPHONES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17159, 1 October 1923, Page 6

The Star. MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1923. CHEAPER POSTAGE AND DEARER TELEPHONES.

There is a spice of humour in the circumstance that to-day a reduction in postal charges and an increase in telephone charges are being inaugurated. The business firm whose postal and telephone bills are both large can hardly decide, whether to be pleased or sorry. "What has been conceded by the right hand of the Government has been recovered by the left. The increase in telephone charges to business firms has been so large that it will require a big saving in stamps to strike the old balance. We have already shown that the new system of charging for telephones is inequitable. It strikes very hard at city firms, to whom the telephone service is a modern necessity. The business community, in the matter of this service, is at the mercy of the Government, and it cannot-appreciably reduce the. number of telephone connections without reducing its own efficiency. The city should not be unfairly exploited in order to present the country with a cheap service. The return of penny postage is entitled to a welcome. It was first adopted in New Zealand in 1901, at the instance of Sir Joseph Ward, and it continued in force until it fell an early victim in the Great War. More money had to be raised, and letter postage was one of the obvious things to he taxed. An increase to lid was followed, at the end of the war, hv a further increase to 2d. Later came a return to lid, and finally the Tauranga by-election produced an intimation that penny postage would be restored. Having now fixed the penny stamp in one of its old positions, it may be urged that the Government should still further restore its use. The stamp duty on receipts and cheques might be fixed at the old amount. We hope that the penny postage will have an uninterrupted run, and that when it has finished its course it will be to give way to its present modest rival, the half-penny.