CABLE CONCESSIONS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2410, 16 March 1915, Page 7

CABLE CONCESSIONS

« * :: » n A brief paragraph announced a few a weeks ago that the Postmaster-General v was about to reduce the rate charged 0 for_ ordinary cable'messages -to the •' United Kingdom to.2s. Bd. per word, p and the deferred rate and the. week- j, end rate proportionately. The • publio Sl are reminded of this concession. From jj April 1, via Pacific, the rate on ordin- c ary messages to the United Kingdom d will be reduced from 3s. to 2s. Bd. per r , word; on deferred messages, from Is. t: 6d. to Is.. 4d.; on week-end messages, n from 15s. as a minimum for twyity words, with 9d. for each additional c : word, to 13s. 4d. as a minimum for c twenty words, with Bd. for each addi- a tional word. It has taken the Post- y | master-General much time and ne»o- p ' tiation to secure this concession, his 0 , argument being founded on the differ- s ence' between the- Australian terminal (. rate (5d.) and the New Zealand term- > inal rate (Id.), and much _ correspon- } 1 dence has passed'not only in arrango- ]i • ment of the details, but in i-ccuring con- '\ sideration of the concession at all to p New Zealand, fair as it looked. The f '■ Postmaster-General's negotiations were b i with the Pacific Cable Board as more ■ immediately concerned with the - New t i Zealand traffic from and to London, h ' though ho had no reason to suppose c ■ that the .concession'once made would c 1 not be accepted by the Eastern Exten- v \ sion Company. The business relations r ' of that company are more particularly t | with the Commonwealth Government, i i and up to a few davs ago no informa- c tion had been received about any pro- r posals of the company to make a cor- f responding reduction in respect of New a Zealand traffic, the Commonwealth Government having given no _ indication t that it intended to fall in with tho ar- « rangement. Tho Postmaster-General received information a day or two ago, however, that the traffic via Eastern would carry tho same reductions of The reduction by the two routes will, I ■> of course, apply to several other destin- I ' ations besides tile United Kingdom. ' These will be announced in full through ] } the usual channels. (