TELEPHONE VOTES

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8345, 4 February 1913, Page 10

TELEPHONE VOTES

MR ELL REPLIES TO THE POSTMASTER GENERAL. Press Association. CHRISTCHURCH, February 3. Mr Ell, M.P., replying to a statement by the Postmaster-General with reference to votes for telephone extensions, said ho noticed that Mr Rhodes referred to votes for “telephone extensions in new districts.” There was another item on the Estimates, however, namely: “New telephone exchange subscribers.” The first vote was for new extensions, and that provision was made mainly for the purpose of providing telephone extensions in country districts, with especial reference to tho hack blocks. That was admitted by Mr Rhodes, who told a deputation on January Bth that “if he were to cease extending telephones for tho hack blocks he would grant their application.” That was for slot telephones. As tho speaker- had already pointed out, during 1911-12 Sir Joseph Ward had £20,000 voted for “telephone extensions in new districts.” The Estimates prepared during Mr Ell’s administration provided, for £25,000, and Mr Rhodes asked for an increase of 25,000, making £30,000 more than for 19X1-12. That was £50,000 for 191213, as against £2Cf,OOO for 1911-12. It was an increase in the vote of more than 100 per cent. The Estimates for 1912-13 provided for £IIO,OOO against £105,000 for 1911-12, and against an expenditure of £90,000 for last year; hut Mr Rhodes appeared to have overlooked the fact that the applications for slot telephones were for sites within districts already covered with a network of telephone wires, so that the Department was not called upon to provide money for poles and wires, or, if it was, to only a very small extent, as the sites selected were all within very short distances of the existing telephone lines. Applicants for slot machines were in almost the same position as applicants for private telephones, but each slot machine was providing three and more times more revenue than the Department received from a private telephone in the same position. The capital outlay was in tho telephone cabinet. A few pounds were required for installing gas, and much less where electric light was used, and a telephone. That practically covered the immediate capital outlay the Department had to provide. It could all be provided for out of the £IIO,OOO voted for tho new telephone exchange subscribers. Mr Ell said he had been to some trouble to discover to what extent Christchurch district was provided with aerial cables for containing wires for telephones. He was not in a position to say how many spare wires there were in those cables, or if there were any, but he^knew i that if it was the policy of the Department always to x-t cables o! snob a size as would provide a number of spare wires it would be readily understood that it would never do for the Department to run a new pair of wires right from the exchange to each of say -half a dozen new subscribers. Hence the policy, of which no doubt Mr Rhodes was aware, of running cables out to those districts from which wires were distributed to different residences. If there were nare wires surely it would be profitable to the Department to have them revenue producing instead of lying idle in the cables, representing so much dead capital Some months ago he wrote to the Minister suggesting that he should make inquiries whether therr were any dead wires on'the poles. . 11' ventured an opinion that the Minister •hould ask for a return as to the number of dead wires lying idle throughout New Zealand, and. the number of mare wires in the cables. If the Minister did that he would probably find there was a large quantity of dead capital invested. During his few months of office he felt very strongly that the Department was not extending the use of the slot telephones in the way it should have extended them, having regard to their usefulness to people who could not afford the luxury of private telephones, and to the fact that the slot telephones were paying well, being large earners of revenue.