370
THE HONGKONG. WEEKLY FRESS AND
[MAS 6, 1000
and as the commercial public will event 3 per cent Preference stook was at 5 per cent | India and Europe, or even between India and. mally have to pay the major portion of cost of premium and the 4 per bent. Debentures stood at England, and vice verad, by one-half, the Cham- the proposed work, they are entitled to the 26 per cent premium, From these figure fiber believes that the use of Codes would not be most perfect and useful form of issue. Ex-seems to this Chamber that the Company is so universally and solely resorted to as at present cepting the absence of consecutive numbering now if it was not before-well able to face s--for that use is attended with several diand of all words therein, your last issue so far as it went was in a decidedly acceptable form.-I have the honour to be, sir, your obedient servant,
HENEY CHAS. MITCHELL, Secretary.
CABLE RATES.
The following letter from the Madras
Chamber of Commerce with enclosure has been
forwarded to us by the Secretary of the Hong Eong General Chamber of Commerce :—
The Chamber of Commerce,
Madras, 14th April, 1899. Dear Sir,-I beg to enclose copy of a letter addressed by this Chamber to the Govt. of India on the question of reducing the telegraph tariff Between India and Europe in the hope that your influential support in the matter.—I remain, Dear Sir,
you will afford
Yours faithfully, A. E. LAWSON, Secretary.
1
The Secretary Chamber of Commerce, Hong-
kong.
The Chamber of Commerce,
Madras, 25th March, 1899. Sir,-In concluding its letter dated the 25th January, 1897, to the Madras Government, com- municating to this Chamber certain extracts from the Report of the Indian Delegates to the International Telegraph Conference held at Buda Pesth, the Government of India stated that it is a matter of great regret to Govern- ment that some reduction was not secured in the rates on telegrams between India and Europe, but it is hoped that the thorough dig. cussion on the subject that has now taken place will pave the way to reductions being obtained at no distant date."
Since these words were written more than two years ago, nothing has been done by the Telegraph Companies concerned in the matter of a revision of their rates. The time has therefore oome, it would seem, for the Chambers of Commerce in India, and the public generally, to again invite the co-operation of the Govern- ment of India in a strenuous endeavour to seek relief from the exorbitant charges which are now levied.
At the Telegraph Conference at Buda-Pesth, the chief opponent to any reduction of the charges for telegraphing between India and Europe was the Eastern Telegraph Company, whose representatives stated that though the Company was most anxious to meet the wishes of the Government of India, it regretted it could not, for financial reasons, agree to risk the loss entailed by even a sixpenny reduction without some guarantee against a diminution of revenue. They further pointed that, looking especially to the inadequacy of its Reserve Fund, the fin. ancial position of the Company was not such as to justify its facing a loss of £26,000 a year, which the stationary character of the traffle, and the negative results of a similar reduction made ten years previously, indicated as almost cer- tain to ensue. The representatives also stated that the Company was on the verge of possible competition due to the laying of a Pacific cable, and advanced other reasons which seemed to the Company to justify it in maintaining its rates at the present very high leval.
E
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temporary loss by reducing its charges between India and Europe, and vice versa.
With regard to the guarantee against loss that was sought by the Eastern Company, the Chamber would have been glad if the Govern- ment of India had been able to give it, as it is firmly convinced of the ultimate financial suo cess of a substantial reduction of the charges, The effect of such a reduction is seen in the case of the reduction made in the charges between England and Australia in 1891, for the development of traffic that followed was so large and so rapid as to compensate for the estimated loss of revenue in four years. The substantial reduction in charges to South Africa had a similar result. Both cases would thus seem to justify the Government of India, in guaranteeing the Indo-European and Eastern Companies against any loss that might at first
result from a reduction.
it
The following figures show that while the number of Indian messages has remained prac tically stationary since 1891-92 the Trans Indian messages have
ve increased upwards of 57 per cent, while as regards the total net value, the former show an 'increase of only £18,000, whereas the latter show an increase of no less than £227,590 :
value.
p8
#
1
Q
2,540,8091 378,218 11 10
3,928,361₫ 512,017 19 0
Number
Totals.
Total net
£
4,649,458 652,499 1 11 4,587,4781 644,5252
4,972,182‡ 705,099 168 5,110,2307 716,308 9.3 5,954,7511 239,757 10 8 6,157,2084, 859,788 69 of Words.
6,469,171 890,236
10 10
Total net Trans-Indian Messages.
Number
of Words.
value.
Indian Messages.
Year.
Number
of Words.
8. d. value.
2,347,250 360,097.155
...
1896-97
2,209,446 348,071 19 9 2,348,580) 368,116 11 6 8
2,384,6787 375,091 17 5 2,319,743359,591 14
2,237,2494 344,353 7 6
s. d.
7 3 2,240,2284 284,427 7 3
2,587,508† 329,947 19 3
3,919,9584 515,434 19 3 2,329,715 292,807
2,900,784 368,236 9 6 3,606,2201 471,640 19 2
Total net
*
1891-92
1892-93
1893-94
1894-95
1895-96
*** 86-4681-
The Chamber would also draw prominent at tention to the anomaly of charging the sum of 48. per word from England to India, and only 48. 9d. from England to South Australia, or 9d. for the great distance between Madras and the Australian Continent. If the Companies con- cerned can between them afford to carry a message all the way to Australia for 4. 9d., the Chamber submits that the Eastern Tele graph Company and the Indo-European Com- pany could very well afford to carry a message between England and India for 2s. per word.
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vantages, such as the lime occupied in codify. ing and translating telegrams and the inelas. ticity of the Codes and that the general public would also resort much more largely to the cables than they now can afford to do. - In these days it may well be said that, business transactions between distant portions of the Empire are carried on solely by means of the telegraph, and consequently, anything that can be done to cheapen that method of communion. tion and so lessen that tax on the foreign trade of the country, is, the Chamber considers, matter to which the Government of India, may fairly be asked, to again accord its powerf support.
If the Telegraph Companies remain obduratë, and decline to make substantial reduction, the Chamber would not be indisposed to advocate the living of another independent cable between India and England, and to ask the Government of India to guarantee the payment of interest on the capital outlay until such time as the Company that constructed it was able to show a surplus of revenue over expenditure exosed- ing the guarantee. But, for the present, the Chamber will do no more than request the Government to give some guarantee against loss, as was done by the Australian and Bouth · African Governments with such marked success.
In submitting this request, the Chamber does not feel that it can be charged with making an undue demand upon the resources of this coun- try. The Government of Talia in the case of the recent introduction of Imperial penny post- age has admitted the justice of extending State aid to postal communication, and 'what holds good in that case, Holds good with 'equal forbe, the Chamber submits, in the equally, if not more, important case of telegraphic communi- ':
cation.
The feeling of the Mercantile Community in respect of the injustice of the present exor bitant rates for telegraphing between India and Europe is very strong and wide spread, but the monopoly enjoyed by the present Companies has been proof against attack in the past. Consequently, any action that the Government of India may again take to effect a subtantial reduction of these charges-and the Chamber earnestly hope that such notion will be taken at an early date will be widely and warmly appreciated. I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
9. R. TURNBULL,
Chairman.
The Secretary, Government of India, (P. W. D.
Telegraphs), Caloutta.
SHANGHAI, GENERAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
At the annual general meeting of the above held on the 27th April Mr. W. D. Little, who presided, said-Gentlemen, before asking you to adopt the report of your Committee for the past year, I will, with your permission, make few remarks on some of the work and.arents of that period. First we will take the River Approaches to Shanghai and River Conser- vanoy. This important, matter has had the earnest attention of your Committee and the revised soheme for the constitution of a Con. servancy Board has recently been completed and forwarded to the Sealer Consul. With regard to the Extension of the Settlement, as remarked by your Chairman last year, this question is not in our hands, but in the words of the report I, may my the quad- tion has by no means been lost night of. general meeting of Last June we held the Chamber open to the public," calling the urgent attention of the community to the necessity of supporting the Municipality : by public action and expression of opinion.” observe in the British Blue Book on “Affairs in China, No. 1, 1899” just to hand, that a' full report therain of your meeting is recorded. We hope soon to hear that the efforts of tM authorities concerned have been that the looked-for-rexiansion
The Conference was productive of certain minor benefits so far as India is concerned, but this Chamber considers that adequate consider ation was not given to the representations made by the Indian Delegates, and that the argu- ments advanced by the Eastern Telegraph Company were specious and ungenerons. The capital of that Company is about £7,300,000, but notwithstanding its magnitude it has been found possible to pay for each of the nine years to 1896-97 a dividend of 63 per cent, while for The effect of the present very high rates has 1897-98 the dividend was 7 per cent. As been to compel the Mercantile Community to regards the General Reserve Fund this make use of Codes for the condensation of stood at £858,992 at the end of 1897-98, while messages. These Codes have probably attained the amount at credit of other special Funds the highest degree of perfection that can be brought the total sum in reserve up to the very expected; hence no great expansion of traffic. considerable figure of £1,160,188. The or under present circumstances, is likely to ensue, dinary stock of the Company stood at the same irrespective, that in of any expansion of trade date at 175, or 75 per cent premium, while the | Bat with a redustianɛof the charges batwong: | bieqmas an
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