Parliamentary Paper, No. 34, Session of 1876. Lord John Manners, Postmaster General: “In the first two years after the transfer the expenditure was kept down, because no charge was raised for maintenance, as it took the form of renewal of the plant of the late companies, which, between 1868 and 1870, had, in some instances, been allowed to fall into decay, and was therefore considered properly chargeable against capital.”
[63] That sum was made up as follows:
| Telegraph companies | $29,237,000 |
| Railway companies | 10,000,000 |
| Extensions: 1870 to 1873 | 11,041,000 |
| Extensions: 1874 to 1906 | 34,534,000 |
| $84,812,000 |
[64] Parliamentary Paper, No. 267, Session of 1870.
[65] The subjoined table gives, for successive periods, the average capital sums upon which the net revenue earned by the telegraphs would have paid the interest; and also the average sums actually invested in the telegraphs in those periods. The first column of the table is constructed on the assumption that the interest paid by the State for borrowed money was 3.25 per cent. from 1870-71 to 1883-84; 3 per cent. from 1884-85 to 1888-89; and 2.75 per cent. from 1889-90 to 1900-01.
The ten million dollars paid to the railway companies some time between 1873 and 1879 are not included in the sum put down for the average capital investment in 1875-76 to 1877-78, since it has been impossible to assign that payment to specific years.
The results of the year 1870-71 should be ignored, since the cost of the maintenance of the telegraphs was charged to capital account in the year in question.
| The net revenue sufficed to pay interest on: | The average capital actually invested was: | |
|---|---|---|
| 1870-71 | 52,710,500 | 33,790,000 |
| 1871-72 to 1874-75 | 20,090,000 | 40,045,000 |
| 1875-76 to 1877-78 | 31,305,000 | 41,715,000 |
| 1878-79 to 1884-85 | 52,785,000 | 54,510,000 |
| 1885-86 to 1888-89 | 24,646,000 | 60,545,000 |
| 1889-90 to 1891-92 | 44,033,000 | 63,446,000 |
| 1892-93 to 1905-06 | Nil | 74,243,000 |
[66] The net revenue sufficed to pay the interest on:
| $ | |
|---|---|
| 1877-78 | 30,165,000 |
| 1878-79 | 41,190,000 |
| 1879-80 | 51,310,000 |
| 1880-81 | 69,455,000 |
| 1881-82 | 55,055,000 |
| 1886-87 | 14,745,000 |