RURAL TELEPHONES

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 141, 10 March 1920, Page 2

RURAL TELEPHONES

r»— — new' scheme adopted EXTENSION OF STATE AD- ... VANOES SYSTEM ." LANDS TO BE LOADED ■ People living in the cities where telephone facilities are of the best do not always consider the position of the. buckblooks settler who, in many cases,, if he wonte to communicate with, the outside world—to • summon-a-doctor, for instance — has 'to get : on o horse and rirto for miles over bad roads boforo he can get to the nearest telephone. This difficulty of com- ' munication which every person' going into tho back country has had to face-in-creases the hardships of tho now setter nnd very often causes hard-wpi'kiinr una deserving settlers to "give in" and mako for-tho towns again.- These features of the case of tho backblocks settlers 'have been closely considered _ by tiro 'Goye.m-' ment, and ono of the items in its policy before the general election was "better telephone facilities to the buck areas," The result i 3 that tho Post-master-General (the Hon. J. G. Coat'es) has'announced a very interesting "Boho,™ which should help largely to do away with the difficulties mentioned. Material at Cost. As a result of conferences I have had with Mr. W. K. Morris (Secretary of the Department) and Messrs. "Ji... ■ A. Shrimpton and A. Gibbs (Chief and Assistant Telegraph Engineers)," said.Mr, .Coa'tcs to a;'reporter'yesterday,. "I-think that a scheme has been decided upon to give tho backblocks settlers the communication desired which will be. satisfactory, It has been" a difficult, matter to devise means to get-over difficulties and to provide something . that- would give the maximum of benefit to settlers. I feci that what has been-decided upon, will serve the interests of settlers very well and at the same time 6liow that the Government • is in earnest in its efforts to bring the settlers of the innermost backblocks into as close touch with the towns and cities as is possible. I have taken as a model for the making of ono part of a scheme for the linking up of the back country with the tele : phone the very excellent system underwhich the State Advances Office makes its loans to settlers and workers,' arid I don't think there will be any difficulty in'working the scheme. The. engineers, of the Department, have gone;into the matter exhaustively, and ! their . reports assure nie.that the new, scheme-'should :w'ork very well. "In order to mnke.it easy for any' settlor to connect, his houso or horiic"stead by private wire with the nearest telephone office the Department will uns dertake to_ sell to settlers, at-actual cost the material for telephone construction on a deferred payment.system;, intercut to be charged on unpaid, money at the rate of five per cent, per annum; instalments tp be payable half-yearly; 'and such instalments to be of an.amount-as..will pay off both- principal and interest iu a period of ten'years. The table on which- the half-yearly payments would be made will be similar to that used .by tho Advances to Settlers Department for reducing their mortgages; but On account "f the depreciating nature of telephone materials, ten years will be allowed for repayment instead of twenty years, which is the shortest period allowed-by the .Advances Department.' Until; thewhole of the principal is repaid the materials will remain the property, of the Post and Telegraph Department. The scheme of course refers to only private lines intended to connect with tho Departments system, and will not be applied to the; erection of privateJines intended for private inter-communication :apart from the' Department's' system.-- --.v" •■;::- •; .;•■': I .< . ~ Supervision. Free.. . "Summed up. the position will ; be that settlers desiring to -erect' a private wire will be able to obtain the material from the Department at the'lowest price, and on the easiest possible terms, and will also, through the private line-license, obtain the assistance and advice of the' Department's engineers in the'erection of the line. The latter is an important factor in the erection of private lines; and' is a big concession to .the backblocks settler. An additional part of the scheme — and this is of importance to'the outback settler—is that if the settlers themselves can supply, the poles and possibly the wire and insulators and. the labour for erecting a line, the work of construction will cost them nothing, as .the Department will provide the supervision of the work 'by on engineer free. This is.assuredly an advantage to the settler.and will bo appreciated. Material Now on Hand.."' "As I pointed out some days'ago, the greatest difficulty has been .experienced by the Department in getting materials. I am glad to say that at present the Department has fair supplies of telephones and insulators, and further supplies are on order. Wire suitable for country Hues is available in fair quantities; but just now the greatest difficulty confronting, the' Department is the supply of poles of suitable hardwood. I have been in communication with the '. Munitions Department, nnd there .is sonie prospect of that Department providing 'a boat to make two trips from Australia to, Key Zealand with hardwood, There are between 20,000 and '30,000.. poles awaiting shipment in Australia, and it is hoped to bring these poles to New; Zealand by the boat mentibned. As soon as', these poles arrive it will be possible to make a start with several works already authorised to connect up'many".backblocks districts. The Department will then be able to go on with some of the many party line connections with .telephone exchanges .which have been held up for so long for want of poles. "My sympathies—and I -must, say. I .have found the sympathies of the chief engineers of the Department going in the same direction—are with the-back-blocks settlers, and, to do the Department justice, schemes', for providing the settlers with telephone communication at the lowest possible price and upon o)isy. terms have been under consideration :for some time. To meet-them,' it has been found necessary to change the noliey. of the Department. One of the changes',l buvo already mentioned. Party Lines to Exchanges, • "As an illustration of. the popularity of the Department's system of- party line telephones, there are 1500 party Hues in existence serving 15,000 subscribers. The rental charged for these, party, lines is the'minimum at which they . can bo. operated, especially at. the present time, when the costs of material and labour are so high. In these party, lines where the settlers connected nreVgreat distances from telephone exchanges, it is usual for the Department to construct a portion of tho line for a limited distance.and the subscribers construct'and ma'ntain ■ that part of the line'from the Department's wire to their homesteads. Several instances exist where settlers, 35 miles from a telephone exchange . arc joined up to that, exchange by a party line. In one instance I have' in riiind the settlors on .such a party lino pay-i« the Department ,C 3 5«. per annum for. the service they receive. It must, be admitted that'a cheaper rate could not reasonably be asked for. The..reason for ths popularity of the party l'nc system, is that in addition' to providing'communication with the outer world, intercommunication between settlers in their own district ; s obtained, and'particularly in formint! districts this-facility is greatly appreciated;^l do not think; there-is. any need to i'uake any iclnnge iiu .theDepartment's party line system." It hjs' : been tried now for.a number;of years, ■ and has proved itself to be factory from the'subscribers' point, of view, ns well as from the. Departments point of view. - -'.':• "Loading" Lands for Telephones, "In his report to me, the Chief.Telegraph Engineer admits that tho .arrangement by which country and backblocks districts are provided with telephone' offices as distinct from telephone exchanges is not as satisfactory ns tho Department could wish for. The scheme.under which these offices.aro established is that if the; revenue to bo expected is estimated to cover working expenses the proposal tx>

opon the offica..ia .approved. If the proposition, however, shows a largo loss and the work would be a difficult one' to carry out, the office would not be opened. In ninny cases whoro.njoss is expected it is suggested to the settlers that the lino will.bo'gone on with if'sis settlers are willing'to'ohtor iatd a bond! to pay ouethird of the loss on tho lino for five years. The latter proposal.is very-often objected to.. Settlers'..as a rulo.do not care., to'become guarantors for deficiencies for. .which. their .neighbours should x bo equally responsible, and generally endless trouble-is experienced in obtaining guarantors and-.afterwards, in lollcctiiig moneys due from guarantors. The guarantors leave the, district frequently, and ill sorts of .difficulties, consequently, occur.' This class' of business is non-paying ■to. the Department, pud is unsatisfactory bccau6o of its defects, which result in many_ deserving backblocks districts being without telephones, and the more for.tunate older, settlements obtaining thorn. After tho conferences' I. have had with the Secretary, of the Department and the t Chief and Assistant' Telegraph Engineers' I think it will be possible, apart fron the solieriio I;have.already outlined for the construction;of private lines to back areaß, for any ,new settlement, whether it be near or far away from civilisation, to. have its telephone at a minimum cost, arid-may bo ,in a position to demand such a telephone because the. settlers will be prepared and .able to bear tho cost. A'number, of entirely .new settlements, . particularly for- soldier 6ettlcr6, ore be-' \ ing. established. ..The Lands Department, when it is cutting up land for settlement, first of all goes into the question of the purchase of the laqd, and then estimates the cost of survey, roads; etc, Theso latter costs aro added to the first cost of the land, .-and the rental to bo paid by the settlers based upon the total cost to the Lands .Department of. the land. Lands Department Agrees, "Mr, Guthrie, Minister of Lauds, ho» informed me that the Lands Department is agreeable to treat telephone comniuni- ; cation as of equal importance: with road communication, and that before the rental to-be charged for 6uch land is fixed, the Lands Department will get . i&to touch with tho Post and Telegraph Dcpartmont with a view to ascertaining what the cost of telephone communication would be, 60 that 1 , tho charges for this would ; be included in tho rental ■ charged to" the settlers for the laud. Spread over the cost of the la&d, tho cost of telephone communication would, .'in-, the .vast, majority of cases, be infinitesimal, and settlers going on the ..land would be in the .fortunate position that telephone communication preceded them, or,- at any rate, followed voay cloßcly upon their,occupation of the land. The. revenue derived from each such line erected would each jear bs credited to the annual, cost' of working. Kii' in. stance) if the annual.cost of working were JCSO in a certain year, and the rev'enue derived amounted to #20,'. tho . amount to be paid by the settlers to the Lands .Department and by' the Lauds Department.to the Post and Telegraph .Department would ,T>e .£3O. When the revenue, equalled, the .'.working expenses, p'ayments to be made by the settlers on. iaccount of. telephone communication 'would, of. course,, cease. Every telegram iseht over, the; lino and every toll comiriuriicatiou would thus be in the direc-. tion of reducing the.rental to be paid by-the settlers for the line.

: Telephones for Existing Settlements. ; "Telephone facilities for existing set-tlements,-that is* settlements which havo S'assed, out of the hands of;the Lande epartment and are occupied by settlers, have also been considered.-. The Lands. Department ihas, in; these case*, no ..'means of levying rental, one of tho reasons being, that some of the lands : raay be freehold.' To provide for such' .cases, legislation will be. introduced tp ; enable local bodies to levy a speoial rate , over, the lands of tho signatories to a. petition asking for a telephone line or at the discretion of either the local body :or'-.the. Postmaster-General .< oyer the ;vhble of the lands benefited by the telephone, service, \ Tho rate,, as in-the case of new settreraents, would-be-sufficient■ ,oiily,to coyer .tiro.actual annual .working. jexpenses,' ~!,... '",."_. ~..' -, ... .'. Conce.ssl.onVto Soldiers, : '■ ,f l (think, arid the Cabinet agrees, that returned soldiers going on the laud should have special consideration in the construction of' lines to thoir settle-, merits.' It is but reasonable that they should bo required'by the Post"' and Telegraph. Department to pay only' half the amount that civilian settlers would be asked for under the scheme; or, in 'other'words, that the Department should accept half- the loss involved in jiiy ' .caso where returned. soldiers' farms are included' in telephone rating areas. ' "The scheme outlined," concluded Mr t .Coates, "will ensure every application, for & telephone connection bejug met,. and tho Department will in every case •be guaranteed'sufficient.revenue or'its equivalent'to'make each proposition just, barely a paying one. I feel stirs that it. will be a' succreti arid help to provide easier conditions to the settlers going' $p ■ tho land."-' — ' , '