TELEGRAPH PROBLEM

Waikato Times, Volume 117, Issue 19607, 20 June 1935, Page 12

TELEGRAPH PROBLEM

HIGH COST OF SERVICE. LOSS LAST YEAR £36,963. A cable from New York, dated June 15, draws attention to the voluntary liquidation of 'the Postal Telegraph and Cable Corporation, which for many years has shared with the Bell Company all the telegraph business of the United States. In view of the fact that many people in New Zealand have criticised the new telegraph' rates here, which were designed '-to put the telegraph system on a better basis, It Is interesting to recall that in this' country, the loss on the telegraps for the last 10 years has amounted 'to £1,043,'684, although for last year the loss had been brought down to £36,-965.

The most economical and efficient methods have been adopted In this country for'dealing with telegrams, and the whole system closely scrutinised during the past few years, without balancing the account. The man In the street who has a natural partiality for a cheaper telegram does toot realise that this Involves getting service at the expense of somebody else, and that even a powerful private company in the United States cannot survive because of the difficulty experienced In obtaining a revenue adequate to cover the actual costs of telegraphic service.