The P.M.G.'s Demands
The list of increased postal charges announced by the Post- master-General is not quite as formidable as it looks, so far as the ordinary citizen is concerned. Telegrams are not every man's luxury, nor will the increases on inland money orders, inland cash-on-delivery fees and overseas parcels cause any general hardship. The rise in the postage on inland printed papers from id. to lid. (with an increase in weight-limit from 2 to 4 ounces) falls mainly on the business world, and it will fall on that pretty heavily. A 50 per cent. increase on all accounts, receipts, price-lists and similar documents will, in the case of a firm of any size, add substantially to the burdens that are being laid on private enterprise at every turn. It will still further embarrass newspapers of all kinds, many or most of which are carried at a penny. No doubt the extra postage can be passed on to subscribers, but every increase of price to some extent restricts demand. As for the increase in telephone call-box fees, that will involve real hardship where calls are made for serious purposes. But the new imposts make one thing imperatively necessary—a thorough investigation of the Post Office system of accounting, and in particular of the practice, condemned by the Select Com- mittee on Estimates. whereby Government Departments, instead of paying for -their telephone and telegraph services like an ordinary business firm, are charged an arbitrarily estimated lump sum
Previous page
