Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-01-23

Xix - Vi -
engaged to-day in the consideration OF
important questions, including that In
volving the constitutiOnality OF the legal
tender act.
SYNOPSIS or REPORT OF THE OFFICERS oE THE
WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY, As
ARGUMENT AGAINsT TUE
PRCJE-T.
Dir. orion, President of the Western Union
1 Telegraph Company laid before the House Com
milIJe on Postal affairs, a paper on the pro-
posed union of the Telegraph Postal system,
which presents a thorough and exhaustive
statement OF the present condition OF the eIsc-
tric telegraph in Europe and America. Inc
| Company has evidently taken great pains upon
/ the subject, and the facts presented, thsreIorei
possess more than OBITUARY interest," anu Eatue-
TIE statistics show that there is .siser num-
bsr of telegraph offices, in proportion 70 tne
population in this country, than IN any other
country IN the world, Wn'le In EufOte tAeLSis
ont ore telegraph ONCE for every i,b5l OF us
inhabitants. IN the United States there is one
| FOR every 7549. The Io.al NUM- DER OF kilograms
| transmitted in EdTope, per annum, according
| 10 tre official statement, IS lS,6SN0, al an e1-
nense oil sl5.2 s6 ESQ; the average cost was 6l9sr-
oFr message. The Western Union Telegraph
| +, Omyany transmits 1905 ,UD teiegtams per au-
mum, at a cost of S5,125iDO, being an average
cost Of SIC. per message. The european STATS
| ties include the overland and the inIernatlonaI
and Transient messages and these present
| a larasruumblr Of kilograms than are actually
transmitted as thesanem essssSIsC LtSh cOu
| e1In several countries while tLose OF the resi-,
srn Union Telegraph company are counIeu
but once, although they may traverse lnou-
/ sands ID miles in reaching their destination,
| and. making the proper allowance Ior the ou,
| pl4cauun in counting ~ Europe Ihs actual
/ number Of dispatches sent was l4,ul2,UD al an
/ aveagge cost OF 81 eacn. IN no country IN Eo
| rope IS the tslegraphtc ADMINISTRATION con,
nestsd with the p0stOfhGs. In France ana
/ spain the telegraph lines are under the control
] 81 the Minister OF the Interior, am IN Russia,
I Prussia and Italy they bsl0ng 10 the Minister
Of Public Works. In Belgium the telegraph
| railways and pOstOfnCes form a general DIVISION
under the Minister OF Public WorES, put are
k-pt distinct. In Austria the administration
| Of the telegraph and POgteface DEPARTMENTS
were at one time united, Lutl II Was found eNEe
dent to separate them. In Y zenahd lhe
telegraohiC organization il nearly the sam as
ia Prussia, and the pO~Stofhces, custom oInces
ana p-ivate estab isnmeuls supply the ee.
ments OF an auxiliary staff; but all the persons
/ employed in the Transmission Of kilograms oe-
pend on the administration uI Inc Telegraph
Tor their compensation and in The annual
buJgstan appropriation IS made lor tnaI SCI.
vice distinct from the Postodices. An enort
was made in FlaZce5 in 1858, TO consollate the
postal and Telegraph tefFlcesi Eut OWNS
! 10 The strong opposition eVinced on the part 81
/ the c1iBf iunctlOualy Of b9Jn services 70 such
an Inauguration, il was reliDquishe1 ana IL
was not until several years after the intro
! duction Of the electric telegraph in America,
tIaJ il was opeued 10 the people by any EURO
peau government; and even in France the
electric telegraph was estab isn6d as late as
| 1851, and las spread throughout The empire was
exceedingly SOW. The semaphore, a detective
and iuemc-ent system OF carr log mtsilseHce
by the exhibition OF signals, was stu IL u-e,
/ AID Notwithstanding the manifest advantages
OF TIE electric telegraph the goVsrnnenttons
refused to employ II.
Tae extent OF line and wire belonging TO the
Western Union Telegraph company IS now
/ more taau twice that CT France, three times
! greater tuGu that Of Prussia, and equals the
/ arrregats system of austria, PrUssIG and the
le ser German states, Italy, Belgium and swift
! Z5r.aud, anu Il Is increasing il a larger rate
tnau any Eur-p=an system. The western
Union Telegraph Company has aided 10 us
lines. during the year 1855 more tAan mics
I Of Wirz-as mucu as the entire system OF Bel
GUM, and IN no country in the world Is there
So vast a system o. lines under one control as
20 this; and in 10 country IS the business done
s. veil anu so chSaply and nowhere else hes
there ever been SO earnest an endeaVor made
10 serve the people faithfully and sAtIS1act O.
me cost Of the construction of the telegraph
line in Great Britain aud Ireland is Sll,U9 Il
per mile, and on tins basis the value OF the
lines belonging to the Western Union Iele-
graph COmpaAy Is s5l,l66,G79 60 The western
Union Telegraph Company has 555i telegraph
I Offices, 5U.75l miles Of line, yI,ilb miles CT wire
30 submarine c-b-eS, ana 65e5 sSlled persons
IN It's employ. The assertion thUJ the tee
| graphic facilities are better IN those countries
where II is under Government control than in
/ tho e where il is lett to private enterprise, is
! shown uv the official statistics TO be entirely
erroneous. In Continental La.ope, where the
teIeglapI is under Gov eminent control, there
G6u0.Jll, while Great Britain, the Denim
! ION OF Cluada and the United States, where
| the telegraph has hitherto Feen left 10 the con
| troll OF the people, furnish COY Telegraph omcss
! Tor q population OF 64,UUO, 90. me NUMBER OF
kilograms transmitted per annun IN CONT
! mental Europe is only E,4e0sUO, WAAe inete
/ were sent by Ehe people OF the three countries
/ where is hiss been hitherto Tree rom G0Vern-
] mlnt monopoly. S,37lIGOv. The t9rlu OF charges
/ average 81 g in Continental Europe, counting
the messages actually transmitted, while IN
! fhe couutIies where the people manage the
! business. II averages but 81 cents. Private en-
/ terprss laid the Submarine cable through the
Persian gulf aud the Mediterranean sea, across
! the gulf OF ~. Lawrence, the Neneyord sound,
! the straits OF Florida, the English channel, the
/ North sea, the German and the Atlantic
ocean. 1t IS a suggestive fact that me noun
| OF news furnished by the Western Union Iele.
graph Company to the press OF me United
| states Tor an aggregate sum Of S52l,JU5 per an
nun, Il considerably greater than the entire
taIs,1oybte rOyresDondence of Continental Eu-
1ops. Tor which thCss Governments receive
| sIf 1852. The average cost Of continental
| kilograms has been stated al 81 W, WINE ths
average cost of press kilograms in the United
states, uuGer our cooperative system, Is out
t4Iee and q half cents. The o'lt introduced o.
Mr.. Wasuburne, FOR the SSaDhshInento OF GoF-
eminent lines, provides Tor "a general tAllH OF
one cent per word, with an additional charge
OF three ceats for delivery, and stlpulaLes that
3 reduction Of not more Than fifty per cent.
would fncTs9ss saverrge cost otnews fer the
urp.s of tEe United STATES more than thlee
h.uarsd per cent; and thus II tbs plan be
suOpted 4. Inc newspapers would De compelled
to pay an extra tax OF sl,0V,Wy a year Iof me
privileges they now enjoy. II Is SHOWN tRat
Inc hizhest America rates FOR teleerapbing are
lower than the highest foreign rates; that the
average American rates are lower tnan the eY-
ergpe foreign rates. and that the lowest Amerl-
can rates are lower than tie lowest foreign
rates. And in order that a fair COMPARISON may
he mada between the American and European
systems Of tslegFaPhiDg. so TAR as the rate OF
charges is concerned, this eomnaDy presents a
list of sixty of the principal stations In Europe,
and the same number in the United states, |
wUh the tariffs aud distances on an sir line
from London aud New NorE, respectfully. by
which Il appears thai the rates nom Locdcn
are more thar twice az much on an average for
the same distance as taoSe nom Sew YORK. IN
Belz um one message Is sent TO each seven per
sons IN Great Britain one TO each !
i've: aud ia The United States one to
ID kilograms 70 letters IN Great Brian
Isl 10 10. in Swttzsrand tore, in Belgium /
10 n and in the United Statasl to p The prop |
ogftIon OF Mr.. Hubbard 10 deliver kilograms Nv |
the letter carriers is shown to be impractic1- |
Die, as there are only fOrty-siX places where
tree delivery Of letters ont Of a total of 5000 |
post Offices in the United states. TIE amount !
o. b. slnsss do1e upon wlfe IN a given time,
Is vastly greater IN tbs ccuutr'- thSn in any ]
other. 10 Europe there ave nearly three times 1
as many milestoI wire as there are in this com
Try, and Yet The wires In TIE United States |
ira smit more Telegraph matter per annum
than al the lines of Europe combined. THIS |
singular fact is explained by the superior CHAR |
ae.er and ability OF our operating STAFF, and the |
mere reliable construction Of our lioe. II is |
worthy Of mention that while ths rates FOR tel
%egraphing in the United states does not aver
axe much more than half as much as the Euro
pean charges for the saTde distance. yet the
cost Tor labor and material is DeSriy three
times as great here asia Europe. The average
price Of labor, including professional, domes-
tic, rmmeTcial, agricultural and todustrfai are
three dollars and sixteen cents, while on the /
continent o. EuToPe the average is considera-
Div less. Letter carriers IN Europe receive
sevaBty-fOGr cents per d9y, and in the United
states two d-llars and eighteen cents. The
number os letter carriers empl yed in the
British Post Office Department fortEe year 1850, L
was Ii,4s9 and the total expenditures
for the same S26540o0, being an aver
age Of s232 IS per annum for each man.
TIE number OF letter carriers employed for
the PostOnice Department of the United States
Tor the year 1866 was S63. and the total exDeusi-
tnres for he same $3.50 &8-bei, q an average OF
Sos ~ for each man. The British pos.ofice de-
Hyered 7O5,OO0,c coo leJtsrs for the year ISt6. while
the United States pcstofice delivered 56iOO0.C coo.
The assertion thQt the consolidation of The tel
graph lines in the United States caused an in
crease in the rates Of telesraphiog is not true.
since the consolidation on the contrary.
there has bseIa STEADY decrease OF the rates
on more than 1900 stations thsy have been
lowered; and this cOcrse is still being rapidly
continued. Tne National Union Telegraph
Company is now pTepafirg a new tariff OF
rates based upon air line distances between an
stations, which viii still further simplify ana
cheaper the telegraph. Ths policy and prac-
tee OF this Company favor a reduction OF the
rates OF Ielegraphing as rapidly as the neces-
Sary expenses OF the SerVics viii admit. Aud
Offers, If the Government vii abolish its Tax
The receipts from tel grams, to lower It's
rates until the reduction upon tee gross
OF business done shall be twice as
much as the tax RENTED. This would lessen
the rates OF telegraphing nearly ten per cent,
and would be a far better plan for furnishing
cheaper tel graph facilities 10 the people than
the Construction and operation of Government
lI.ps at the expense Of the National Treasury.