Page:The life and letters of Sir John Henniker Heaton bt. (IA lifelettersofsi00port).pdf/319

 feeling about the charge for H.M.S., though here again the amount at stake is but a penny! Here is a letter on the subject:

I take the opportunity of suggesting the iniquity—as it seems to me—of the Post Office charging every bluejacket and every member of the public the letters H.M.S. as three words in a telegram. I should have thought there should have been a symbol—counting as one word—to mean His Majesty's Ship. I believe the cable companies do the same, but am not certain, but it leads to words like battleship, cruiser, etc., being substituted for the proper title H.M.S. Seeing that four figures count as one word, it would not be a great stretch to treat the three letters H.M.S. as one word.

Assure the writer that anything touching the happiness of the British sailor is peculiarly interesting to me; but I fear that the state of telegraphic revenue will not yet allow of this concession.

Here are documents asserting that:

(a) Freedom of communication by cable is one of the most vital strategic interests of the Empire, and, as such, ought not to be dependent on the policy of private companies. It is in the highest degree expedient to encourage, cheapen, and facilitate communication by means of the electric cable between the several portions of the Empire. The rates charged by the cable companies, for the transmission of messages are, generally speaking, excessive and in some cases prohibitive. The foreign and Colonial trade of the United Kingdom is absolutely dependent on the free use of the cables. The British Government—if possible with the co-operation of the chief Colonial Governments—should acquire the rights and property of the cable companies at a valuation (on their present