§ Mr. HIGHAM(by Private Notice) asked the Prime Minister whether the House will be given an opportunity of discussing the increased telephone charges, and whether the Cabinet will suspend the imposition of these charges until the House has had an opportunity of discussing them?
§ Mr. BONAR LAW (Leader of the House)I hope that an opportunity may be found for discussing this subject on the Address. As the House knows, the charges will not come into effect till April.
§ Mr. REMERCan the right hon. Gentleman see his way to give facilities for a discussion on an Amendment to the Address standing in my name on the subject?
§ Mr. BONAR LAWThat, of course, does not depend upon me; it is a question for Mr. SPEAKER. But I hope an opportunity may be found.
§ Mr. HIGHAMWill the increased charges to subscribers be suspended pending the discussion in the House?
§ Mr. BONAR LAWObviously, if by any chance the House should take the view against the decision of the Government, naturally a rebate will be given.
§ Mr. CLYNESOught not the House to have had the opportunity of discussing this matter before a decision was reached by the Cabinet?
§ Mr. BONAR LAWThat is a subject that will be better discussed when we have a discussion, rather than by question and answer.
Lieut.-Colonel Sir F. HALL(by Private Notice) asked the Postmaster-General whether the telephone revenue for 1920–1921 under existing arrangements is estimated at £9,720,000; if the estimated revenue for 1921–1922, provided the new charges are fully in force on the 1st April next, will be £16,000,000, increasing to £19,700,000 in 1924–1925, or an additional revenue of £10,000,000; if, notwithstanding this increase, a loss of £500,000 is anticipated in 1924–1925; and if he will state how it is that on the basis of a present deficiency on working of £3,980,000, and with additional revenue of £10,000,000, there will, nevertheless, be a loss of £500,000 in 1924–1925?
§ Mr. ILLINGWORTHThe Estimates quoted by my hon. Friend require some modification in respect of additions to the War bonus which have fallen due since they were framed and concession to large users recommended by the Select Committee, but they are otherwise correctly stated. He has omitted, however, the important qualification that they are based on the costs of labour and material ruling in May, 1920. As time goes on, the pre-War plant of the telephone system has [...] be renewed and extended by plant put chased at post-war prices, and, other things being equal, the unit cost will ten[...] to increase. But there is every reason [...] expect that before 1924–25 this tendency will be more than counterbalanced by reductions in the cost of labour and material.
Sir F. HALLThen does the right hon. Gentleman think that the income for 1924–25 will not show the disastrous results anticipated in the question that I have put, namely, that the £10,000,000 additional revenue there will still be £500,000 loss?
§ Mr. ILLINGWORTHI hope not. But I do not like to prophesy so many years ahead. I trust there will be no deficit.
§ Sir W. DAVISONWould the right hon. Gentleman consider whether this deficit could not be met by running the telephones on business lines instead of increasing the charges?
§ Mr. ILLINGWORTHThey are run on business lines.
Mr. MacCALLUM SCOTTCan the right hon. Gentleman explain how it is that the charges for telephones have increased so much less than the charges for railways, or the charges for articles sold by firms which are run on business lines?