CHEAP CABLES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 409, 11 July 1908, Page 3

CHEAP CABLES.

A Penny a Word. The Premier’s Views. Reference was made by the Premier in his Financial Statement to the cheap cable scheme recently propounded by Mr Henniker Heaton. He says “ A proposal of far-reaching im'portance, which will, it is hoped, receive the serious consideration of all parts of the Empire, is that of Mr J. Henniker Heaton, M.P., to establish a penny-a-word rate for cable messages. In my opinion the scheme in feasible, and is, therefore, one which has my entire sympathy and support. With the Pacific cable in the hands of the Mother Country, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, it would not be difficult, or, comparatively speaking, costly, to extend the State-owned system by creating a land line across Canada and laying a special cable across the Atlantic. The application of modern rapid automatic instruments should enable the line to be worked to a payable capacity, and the control throughout under one administration should result in such a greatly increased efficiency as to render the project a commercial success. From an Imperial, and social point of view the establishment of a penny-a-word rate for cable messages throughout the Empire would be of inestimable value.”