The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1869-01-29


.saE'l .ll)Al I-.-- JAN 99, 1869
L l'ogg 7Re Postal FgIeRFapFi.
ra We were never fayoFsbly impressed
= r with y The PropoFi9op to connect the tel
,lsa egTaph with the postal system, and give
the control Of the teleguapbie system to
's'-the gOVernment Because private en-
ne teIPtise takes hold Of a doubtful matter
,sso which, II proved . success, will be re.
nss ngnerssiEs. and if not asuecess, grest
sgilosss-aod1aaer being proved success
ss . has ainassed fortunes for those who
took otbe risk, is no reason cas- wvby those
my lYho have thus been eariched, but who
IS u becoming sor conferred aIcorbesponds
'iHaiOg kens6t upour mankind 3 should be
g 90 deprived Of The business they have es-
tablished, without, at least, a fair com,
PeRsasiOn. Il would be just As reason
-olrRble, aadI just as arbitrary. for the.gov-
q eminent to take control of aay1 other
saslbrsneh Of business which has been Iea- ~
50 dered rsmlsunsrstive OF lucrative By the
energy Or enterprise of those Who es-'
% hssblished il, as that il should seek TO
-i'sasbtEinI control efthetelegraphie system. Il
-Frci1 ~ ssd IevaS- .suCilFr tfforu.gt Ho
sssrpaa We say We were never fsYorably iusl
qa pressed viii, sthe proposition, and we
are less so now, after Beadihsfthe Hon.
p William Oftehis teleefsphie satisfies.
20 which were laid before the House 5pa on IN
y e,i tae 2lst inst Fyop that paper. we
7o,glesn IS fOl0Es: The paper first aEers
adfthatin Psoporti6n 10 ,pupulhtion,q there
q are more telegraph Offices in the United
States than in any other county in in. the.
world, Ip EuroPe. there is an Office
for every 1864 inhabitants; in the
sUnited States one fOs eFsry7 ,549. That
,Fisithss cost in the United States but an
average Of 50 cents per message, during
the past year, while in Europe the avg
srsge cost was 81 5 6tbs. In Europe
IolmanY of the messages afetwice counted,
which by reducing the number actual.
y sent would increase the cost Of. them
70 l09 per message, or nearly double
what they cost in this country. The
extsnt Of lines and wire belonging to
the Western Union Telegraph Company
is more than twice that of France, three
times greater than that Of Russia, and
equals the aggregate systems Of Austria,
Prussia, the lesser German states, italy,
Spain, Belgium and Switzerland, and'it
is increasing in larger ratio than any
European system. The Western Union
Telegraph Company has added to It's
lines during the year 1865, more than
live thousand miles of wire, or as much
as the entire system of Belgium.
The Western Union Telegraph Com
sspany has 3, s,asatslsgrapB Offices, 50, ,4s1
s.miles Of line, and employ 1889 skilled
telegaphers, wherevith to accomno
date a population of between thirty |
aud forty millions, while in Continental
Europe there are but 4,S47 officers for
a population Of 259, 5000 Under
the present system the press telegIraphic
reports are furnished at an, average Of
81 cents per message, but under Mr..
Washburne's proposition the expense
to the press would be increased fully |
three hundred per cent or. more, or
more than a million dollars per year /
,sEeflwhst 10 now costs them, ($421,-
5O9.) Mr.. Hubbard's bill is worse than
Washburne's and provides that offices
shall only be established in cities and |
in towns Of over 5000 inhabitants. This
would leave all the rest of mankind
out in the cold, and deprive all Others
Of the benefits Of the telegraph, as no 1
company would undertake, except at
excessive rates, to establish lines. to /
those smaller places although they
would constitute nearly 5000 Of the Of
ices now established by the Western I
aUnioD. The effect Of placing the tele-
grsph system under the government
control, under the propositions of the
bill now pending, are thus depicted;
is According to the census Of 1860 /
there are only sic cities and villages in
- 4
the United States having the 5000 n
habitants needed to sntitle them to an
Office under the postal system, who theb
Ito maintain the telegraPhic facilities
a the remaining 3,slS towns row hsyl
ing Offices. Private companies if driven
out Of the field by the establishment Of
this semi-government competing. line
could not do it and as. this scheme
makes no. provisions for them they
must necessarily be deprived of the fa-
eilities they now. enjoy. Under this
bill if it passes Arkansas, Florida and
Oregon would not be entitled to,an of
fee; Minnesota, Mississippi and South L
Carolina to but one eachi North Caro-
lima, Texas and Vermont to but two
each Delaware and Tennessee to but
three each ; Connecticut, Georgia Ken
lucky aud Michigan to but four each,
and Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine,
Missouri, New Hampshire, Rhode
Island, Virginia and Wisconsin would
be entitled to less than ten each, while
those provided fortthe whole United
States would be less in numbers than
the brspch Offices furnished forth con
venience of the public by the Western
Union Telegraph Company at the
hotels, docks, piers and other places in
the large towns alone I.gi.r III l5