The Akaroa Mail. TUESDAY, JULY 27.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume v, Issue 419, 27 July 1880, Page 2

The Akaroa Mail. TUESDAY, JULY 27.

A rough and ready manner of^^aljySiag , Jeeeipts and expenditure in the Las been adopted by the Commissioner for Telegraphs. It api pears 4;hab-qertiain|tQlegraphioffiqes in. the ! Colony, do mot jwSy-l wLOn she lisl-fiigttres among others, Akaroa. According to a | return furnished to the House of Repre- j resentatives, this office was dtiriftglthe/ last financial year £28 behind, or at the rate of 2d. a .meseage»««Tc« alter this state of affairs, the Commissioner proposes what yre hate already terfaned a rough and ready remedy, and "announces that aiter the end of the current month* au additional jobaege of 6& a.message will be levied. / , ; v ■■■■■;.. ;

Now, in considering this impost, there are two questions suggest themselves. First—-Is it just ? and, secondly—ls it expedient? We venture to think"that both these questions must be answered in the negative, j, , it ~; . ,.>-, , ;, Wβ are not aware on what principle the return has been compiled which shows the deficiencies at the's'o-called non-pay-ing stations, but on-reflection it will be seen that afe is | by , ; ;.no \ means a simple matter to arrive at a conclusion as; to whether an office is paying or not. Taking the. receipts at the office itself be manifestly unfair, for it is evident that they would represent merely the value of the messages jsent, from the office. " Collect" messages at either end would, probably ainioWlbilaiiee ea<|h other ; Jbut? the messages sent from an-office certainly do not represent 'the valae 6f 'thebusH ness done by its means. Take our own case, for example, ; It is clear that if the Akaroa Office were closed there would be less business done in Ohristchurch r Dunediq, and other offices with which we interchange. *• On»the other hand, it would be impossible to credit us with the value of the messages sent away, as if this were done all .round; the centraj offices .would be lqfjb without anyj revenue at all. It; is -.n^ost that; the genuis of the departmental accountant has not risen higher, than taking the actual revenue collected, at any givsn office, kind setting that against the expenses of that office. ./• , '■, -.:>,: .! .•■:■-■•.).» ]■■": ■■■''>■ '

Then, again,, it is not clear on what principle the expenses are assessed.' Wo believe that Akaroa is charged witli interest on the cost of construction of the whole line from Christchurch. Consider-? ing that this line is the,one and only instance in Iwhiclt the |Penirfsula hasfparticipated in the large public works expenditure out of loan which has been going on elsewhere, we think this charge —if it has been made-rmight very well be struck out; and while on the, subject of expenses let us say at once that the Government has gone to work as is usual with Governments of every political hue. Finding a deficiency, they have at once jumped to the conclusion that the tax-payer should be asked for more money to make it up. It has never struck the Hon. John Hall'to look into the matter and see whether the work could not be efficiently done for a less sum than that at present paid. Confining ourselves to the office in question—Akaroa—we have no hesitation in saying that this might have been done.

In the Appropriation Act f0r1879-80 Wβ find the following charges for salaries against the Xkaroa Office -.-—Officer in charge (alsp aster), &36 ;;teie- :- graphist, £140 ; messenger, £40. Now, we do not.mgan to say thatany of these are over-paid, but iwe contend that one of them is entirely supernumerary, and it is handicapping the Telegraph De-i partment unfairly to charge it'"with a portion of the salary of an officer who, so far as that department is concerned,is in the position of th,e fifth wheel s of a? coach. ,It is well known that the fPost-! mas ter —a portion of whose salary is thus shunted on to the telegraph-r-is, not a telegraphist ; also, that the telegraphist is fully capable of transacting all the business of that department, and twice as much more if occasion arose. We fail to see why the same practice cannot be adopted here which we find prevails in other places, some of them of greater importance than Akaroa. At Rangiora, for instance, we find :—Telegraphist (also Postmaster), £140 ; and this prevails all through the country. We find no ornamental "officer in charge," but a qualified telegraphist, woo is also able to take charge of the Post Office, and who receives between the two departments a sufficient salary to secure the services of .a qualified man.

Seeing, then, that the office could be worked without a deficit if the same plan were adopted which is in force in other places, we must protest against the proposed impost as unnecessary, and therefore unjust. We tbjnk.Jt would inei| . The/g>eat n|aijonty / of- mW, j ,tloub| o'Mft? , |c|o ijijjjpM; rn4|i fe » an ' >pei\c4^JtoHl^ost v and simply doubles,, tlie of delayed telegrams. When we consider how often non-leudm2:. qf a capable of being squeezed into the asstraiing , "too'Uiuch to icpnclude, that,-the,/additional charge will act as a deterrent oh the IMuty ; to'*B very'cori'siderable and that the -falling-* ff in number will go, nearly balance any expected increase iii feveriuV In foti il 4f "i Tjhere is which the proposed , action partakes'more of what niight be , expected from a cetty trader than from' a statesniah *••• The l telegraph System is a Jnational undertalnng/ s .and ;should be looked , ' at as*'a ; ' great whole. While it is doubtless the duty of a Government to see that the Department is not bur lened with offices entailing a serious loss •to the , ' 'revenue if is" equally true that tlie question should be approached in a ndtidnal, and not in a "X<itt'e' Paddlington-". If an. office like Akafoa, worked at a far greater expense than necessary, has only lost 2d a message, it is" ! pretty evident, that one like: Ghristchurch, for instance, where every operator's time is fully occupied,, must, A haye;' ; realised handsome profit. Why not.set the one against the other ? Numerous postoffices must be worked at a serious loss The same remarks apply ;to) many sections : of our railways ; yet we aieverhear it proposed to charge extra postages .or railway; fares' for those uhremunerative locaKties. The jactioh taken in the matter of. these telegraph' 'offices; appesrs to us to be crude and ill-ad-vised. : ,' .' . . ;■■',; _.._ _. : We would suggest that a public meeting should at •opce; be called-,' to > consider this so far as this district .is concerned. It may not be too late to make such representations as would cause the obnoxious order to be rescinded.