The Carson daily appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1865-1870, 1868-12-05
A POSTAL TELEGRAPH.
from the Sacramento Union. I

e Tor the establishment OF a Government tele
graph service. The first question in relation
to it Ito soothe our Democratic friends
: would be the constitutional one, whether
r such a service is authorized under the power
of Congress "to establish Post Offices and
post roads" We do not see any insuperable
e difficulty on that score. The Government
has rarely. if ever, exercised its power to
establish a post road;' but has had ne
hesitation IN accepting the use of such i'm
proved roads as came into existence There
was no such thing as raili Dad known or
contemplated when the Constitution was
formed vet no one has demurred to railroads
as legitimate "pust-roais that is means
OF transport for news. They were taken for
this purpose simply because they were the
quickest means Of communication and the
public welfare is thought to be advanced by
every in. rease III the speed ard regularity
with which new, NAV be ditiused. 1t would
seem, therefore. that it is the duty as well as
privilege Ct Congress to avail itself of tela-
graphs, as well as railroads, for this purpose,
/ regarding them as {" post-roadS." One great
! advantage of such "r0adS is that they NAV
be made 10 run clear into the Post Offices"
and thus save a vast deal OF shipment.
/ There viii be no need of establishing new
system Of offices; the present organization
/ beiH. fully adequate to take care for the new
7 f I'm c: service. Itis possible that the in
such Il general ard cheapered system might
/ disencumber the Department of much Of its
| present foriu of business; but. on the other
| hand all experience goes to show that the
more easy communication is made the more
there is OF it-;his commerce Of intelligence
j. an iuSatiate ching whose appetite grows
with eatinr."
The practical questions regarding such a
TELEGRAPH service will be more difficult to de-
eide. Snail the Government own its own
taIeorarbs or hire those of others as II now
hires the usa of its nos+-,oads: Shall il !
monnonliza tho ,i,bt Of nuhlic carrier nv |
trlenr5nb as il now docs # mail matter: or
shall it permit private competition b: On this |
point we know that debate has latterIy sprung
IN a. Ia whether the whole bnsiness of news
c,rryin,, n1igbt NOT he,ter br Ter to nrivate
comneti,inn and even now express COM /
nanias cary ON a successful rivalry with the
Government. after nayinrr the latter all il
asks Ru- This i owing IN the greater
prnnptre,s and rariditv 81 transit obtained
from, rho avnress cnmra,ies and tho moro
narfact resntn,i..iIi,v ihev assume 70 the
sender. PfohahIy the same elements wouId
entor ;r,o ~, ,cIaTra,,b sor,;lo md o,.,hIa
nriy3-a ar,arn,iSo ~ cd,1n.,a u;.b - Coyerr-
f,ent estatIiIhment
The Great advar,.oa Of = n,,f,Iic teIepr2Dh
service would be The same uhirh now amer
tains to the rgstal seryice-cheappes bro,,rht
down to the actf,al cost land in fact below
il, though that ought not so TO be1. This
choaruess ;u1IiensSlv stimulates the ar7onrt
Of business transacted which j. 4 GREAT ,rai,,
when the raniI and oennr.I ditrnsinn If in
teIIiGenca i NE re,rlt secured We ouss- ,
ton whether the aaoption OF uniform rates Of
postage over such a vast territory as ours is
altoat tier lust; though it is certainly mat
ter Of which we Of the Pacific Coast have no ,
selfish reason 70 complain. 1t updoubted,y
tends greatly to increase the business. how
ever aud NAV augment the receipts on the
Whole, more than enough to compensate
f3r local losses. 1t IS also a system which
IN be adoJteI cLlv bv the Government
which C atrols the whole area ; for it would
perhaps be dangerous. if it were possible, to
obtain 4 combination Of private companies or
individuals who could undertake to operate
II uniform rates over 50 vast field. We :
noted the ether day a suggestion in favor Of /
managing railroads w this general system i,
f the same rate Of charge for all distances, /
mi expressed the opinion that it could not "
,e realized except in small and denselv peo- u
,!eti districts. or bv a plan which should az a.
-regate these separate sections, and sum up
heir several charges for the total charge o
yer two or more. But it would seem that j
elecrarhv would. Of all things. be best It
dapted t. such a system, and it might be
veil for the TELEGRAPH. COMPANIES themselves
o take thi, matter into consideration aoart
rom the acton OF Congress. The actual
o>t of transmitting a message from New
-ork to Sacramento is not verv much greater