Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1868-10-22


upon i country redeemed from Radical
misrule.
By order Of The Committee.
j.. j. BINGHAM, Sec'y.
TEI.EGRAPHY-ITs USES AND ITS
ABUSES.
The magnetic telegraph was great
invention and has wrought and is work
ing wonderful results. Like everything
human, however, it issnbjected to abuse.
The following references to the, matter
in two of the most widely circulated
journals in their respective sections, indi-
cate some Of Che evils in the system re-
9uiring reformation. :. ~ .ss.i 1850. "a
The New Orleans Crescent Of the
18th saws: is.3r IS ..sitl aaai azores aa1l |
1t is fast becoming absolutely neces- |
sary that there should be competition in !
the telegraph business. The wires should
be the mail carriers instead of the lum-
bering old-fashioned mails. There should
be SO much competition, and such con-
sequent reduction of charges for mes
sages, that friends could correspond from
distant parts of the country as cheaply
almost, by telegraph, as if they wrote let
tiers and sent them by Uncle Sans slow
post. Z. ~.
Telegraphing is usurping the place
Of every other means of communication
by word of mouth-h that is not bull.
There is no reason why it should not.be
cheaper to the people; there is no wear
and tear to the lines, except that OF wind
| and weather and time; not half as much
/ as that on city railroads, and hardly more
than that on well regulated watch.
/ The receipts Of certain telegraph
monopoly in these United States for Au-
gust, tthe dullest month in the year, are
stated to have been over 100000. -
No enterprise OF recent origin has
! better prospect of success and wealth
than combatant of the tremendous mo-
nopoly which now embraces the country
f in its wiry folds from Maine to California.
The Cincinnati Enquirer of the 10th
alludes to another and grosser abuse
Z and says; s d.lE tss1'-a.r 81
Il The telegraph is employed wherever
rapidity isdemanded, and the same Law
4 that sends letter carrier to prison for
! | violation of confidence should be appli.
# cable to telegraph operator. Family
! secrets, the most important mercantH
d adventures, and matters of internationa
: interest, are daily transmitted over the
/ wires. GThe officers and employees Of the
4 telegraph are necessarily admitted into {
a partnership acknowledge of things which
if divulged, might prove injurious to the
"a interest of those who rely upon them
d If Postoffice Clerk is liable TO an i'm
Of prisonment for five years for abstractinl
IL a dollar from hastily sealed envelope t
aid, perhaps, in the support of sick wifi
in or numerous family, is it just that
r man should sell simple Information h
was paid to convey unknown by all say
At | the sender and the recipient and go SEQ
70 free? We are opposed to all scheme
y tending to a Capitalization of power Il
re- the hands of the government. For
NJ | free people it is already too powerful
W But there are limits to patience, and il
England, during the last session of Par
"a Lament, bill was passed placing tn
a. telegraphs, like the Postoffice, in tn
ve hands Of the administration. This wa
n | done to secure sanctity Of intercOurs
IN and increase certainly in the transmits
SION Of messages. Where there is on
" mile of telegraph in England there ar
a. twenty in the United States, and wher
of the needle is once resorted to i
of Europe it is called into requisitio
hundred times here. Many month
:, AGO. General Butler, without shadoI
of authority, seized upon the records {
n. the private correspondence Of thousands
The whole country rang with cries
Indignation; his action was Justly de
nOunced as a crime conceived by dishon
est intrigue and carried out with tn
reckless audacity of an unprincipled ban
- dit against the property of the people {
- whom he assumed to be a representative
AZ The same crime by man in high plac
~ is daily perpetrated by hundreds Of sub
20 ordinates; the position which sheltere
y the Congressman will, they perhaps in
"a agine, protect themselves. But it is nj
~ SO. The indelhble stain which hs
=, blackened the name Of Butler will b
I'll affixed to every man connected with tn
telegraph, who ignores his responsible
- and communicates to many, tidlngs, II
y tended for but one. Want Of fidelity an
:! failure to adhere to their engagements
III secresy on the part of the employees
ur the telegraph, is no less short sighte
than criminal. Millions of dollars al
al invested in this means Of communicate
III that completes with the PoStOttice,. br
we warn the directors and shareholder
ey | that the investment will become unrt
mt munerative when once the conf
ge dence Of the public is lost. Me-
he OF business will prefer the long delay II
e. uuired for an answer to letter t
ire speed of electricity, unless they can b
ng assured that their words and thought
nd viii be as sacred with the latter as ii
ny former. Public confidence is alread
IN shaken, and unless quickly restored, I'll
lily telegraph will soon cease to be the Vehic
9re Of intelligence. Against the attacks
-scOgnized highwaymen precaution ma
les ! be taken, but it is more difficult to DEF
nat with the derelictions Of confidantS. A
he extension of the law making it felony
''N open the letter of another by one charge
ay with safe delivery is imperatively calle
rs. for. Telegraph operators must be mad
Hn and the sooner it is declared felony
rs, diyulgea telegram, the better for the il
EN- terests of all, but of none So much 9
&C. the owners of the telegraph itself.
ed These remarks have general appl
cation at any time, but recent event
is within the knowledge of many citizens
20 Cincinnati, make them specially apprC
ey pfiate now Private kilograms passin
rec between here and the East, relating
int important political movements, have be
ion come public through the infidelity Of I'll
ich Telegraph Company's agents The o
lst Tense has gone unrebuked too long. W
Did trust that those who have power to pr
he vent its repetition will exercise it rigo
res Ously in the future.
Dge
he AN ex-Judge in this State, an al
rn- pointee of Gov. BrOwnlow, has public
,I charged that officer with specializing
ro,rarl yrOclamatianS for fuOit;SeS fro