MONEY FOR SOLDIERS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2520, 22 July 1915, Page 6

MONEY FOR SOLDIERS

CABLING CHARGES

WHAT THE PUBLIC SHOULD KNOW

GENEROUS BANKERS

111 Parliament on Saturday last Mr. J. Gr. Coates, in referring to the matter of soldiers in base hospitals cabling to their friends and relatives here for money, made the statement that a soldier had been charged £1 commission by tho Bank of New Zealand for cabling £5 to Egypt, and cable charges amounting to 14s. 7d., so that tho mail-had only received £3 os. sd. out of £5.

Some inquiries have been made since J Saturday last respecting the chnrgcs for cabling money to Egypt from' New Zealand. The report of tho statement made in the House by Mr. Coates and the reply of the Hon. James Allen was submitted, to Mr. A. Green, Wellington manager for the Bank of New Zealand, who at onco saw that-a mistake had been made somewhere, and undertook to make inquiries as to what 'lie tank was doing in the,matter of cabling money to Egypt. . No commission Charged. Yesterday Mr. Green stated that what Mr. Coates had alleged appeared to be incorrect. As • a matter of fact the Bank of New Zealand was remitting 'amounts up to £25 sent to soldiers free of exchange-altogether, and all parents or,.relatives had to do was to pay the necessary cable'charges. The bank had an .agent in .Cairo, and was able to roako all - communications direct with that city. With respcct to soldiers in the hospitals at Malta, the case was slightly different, as the bank had no agent there, and the business had to be arranged through Cairo, so thero would bo cable charges to bo paid between Cairo and Malta. In' any case the bank's charge for cabling £o to Cairo was" oiily about 2s. Cel., so how the £1 commission • said to have been charged whs made up he was at a loss to say.

"Mr. Green. further stated that the bank was forwarding drafts for money for Now Zealand soldiers freo of charge. It had also remitted all the Patriotic Fund money; that was forwarded to England for various purpojes absolutely freo of cost, realising that as a national institution; it should do its share to ease tko general burden. Referring again to the remission of'money to Egypt, it was made quite clear that Tip to £25 money would be cabled free by the bank, but' over and above that amount a charge.of. IJ-.per ccnt. would be made. In . the early stages, of the war the bank had found it necessary to communicate with Cairo through London, which had 1 meant 1 extra' cabling charges, but that had not been the ease for .some time now. ' v. • . •

.Thos. Cook and Son's Charges. Another popular agency through which people in New Zealand are transmitting a good deal of money to their boys in Egypt is the firm of Thomas Cook and' Son, a company whose interests at Cairo and on the Nile havo been extensive for over a quarter of a century past. Cook's are permitted to run their own post office and have other privileges -which have helped to make them a power in the land. I '.. On an inquiry heing made at the local office as to the rates charged for cabling money, Mr. W. Dcsborough (the local manager) said he had noticed the statement made by Mr ; Coates in the House and could not believe it to havo any foundation in fact; Thos. Cook and Son . were able to do direct business with either Cairo, or Malta. The charge for the remission of £5 was 35., for £10 it was 4s. 6d., and for £20 the cost was 7s. That, of course, did not include the charges made by tho cable companies; "We are now able," said Mr. Desborougb, • "to send such messages to soldiers at 11} d. per word, and in that message the firm is allowed to use a cypher word as an assurance of the genuineness of the origin of the message. Anyone could send a message to Cook's, Cairo, saying pay- Thomad Smith, Canterbury Infantry, £10, but Cook's, Cairo,''-would never act on 6uch. a. message, as' the cypher proving it to be genuine would be missing. Then-again, the man. to wlioin the money has to be paid miist be'identified.' So it becomes necessary to forward his full name and regiment, and an some oases his regimental' number, in, order;to protect ourselves."

Cook's in Favour. "All the soldiers appear, to be using Cook's as a rendezvous in Egypt, as the parents and relatives receive cables asking them to remit through Cook's. If money is being sent as a bonus or present, then one of two courses would have to be taken. Eith r a cable would have to be forwarded; to the man informing him that such money was being cabled, or we would have to cable instructions to our people to find the man out. You. will see tnat tir.der. the circumstances the cost of cabling, though now cheaper than ever, it has been, mounts up. Take a specimen message: "Cook's, • "Cairo. ... " Pay Private Percy .William Long, Wellington Infantry, twenty P ° UndS; : "COOK'S." "That message would cost 12-s. s£d., including the cypher (represented by the dash). Then you must; remember that the llid. rate only operates the one way. If a soldier wishes to cable to New Zealand 1 , he cannot do so for lljd.—he has to pay the ordinary rate, 3s. 9d. per word—so that even the barest message acknowledging the 'receipt-of money is expensive." - , / ,

' well Off Jp New Zealand. . Mr. Desborqugh. believes, .however, that wo are better off in New Zealand than they are in Australia in the matter of cabling money to soldiers. Here we are able to use the soldiers' telegraphic rate for the transmission of .money cables, whereas ho judges from correspondence received from Melbourne that for money messages the deferred cable rate has to be paid—something like Is. 10Jd. per word. .