The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-08-16
SPIRIT OF TIzz PRESS.
Editorial Opinions Of the Leading Journals
Upon Current Topics Compiled Every
Dny for the Evening Telegraph
GOVERNMENT AND THE TELEGRAPH.

The bill enabling the British Government
to acquire possession Of the teegraphs has
become law As soon as the necessary ar
ranoements are perfected. the various lines
in the United Kingdom will pass under the
management of the Post Office Department
This result has not been reached without
prolonged effort and vigorous opposition.
Until now the British telegraphic system has
been identical with that which still exists
here. The service was in the hands of private
companies whose charges and general manage
ment excited discomfort among the mercantile
classes
Their complaints led the Postmaster-Gep-
eral to institute inquiries into the working of
the postal telegraph system adopted on the
Continent, and conducted with admirable
precision and success by the governments of
France, Belgium, and Switzerland. The con-
clusion officially arrived at was favorable to
the acquisition of control by the Govern
ment and the incorporation of the manage
ment with that of the Post Office, 'Under
the existing system it was reported
e'the development of telegraphic cor
respondence has been retarded while
under government direction the growth
of such correspondence has been
greatly stimulated in Belgium and Switzer-
land" The opinion was expressed that like
results would follow the change in England
that ''from the annexation of the telegraph to
the Post Office would accrue great advantage
to the public and ultimately large revenue
to the State This was in 1866. Two years
after the subject again occupied the attention
of the Post Office Department, and assumed
definite shape in the House of Commons.
Statement and counter-statement, argument
and reply, were heard by a committee, and
the first step was taken with the measure
which on Tuesday last received the Queens
sanction.
The delay has proved costly to the British
Treasury The earliest estimate of the cost
of purchasing the various lines was e., 100000
sterling, which by a supplementary estimate
was raised to G3OOO,O 900. The telegraph
companies, however, claimed higher prices.
which were still further swollen on ac-
count of reversionary rights owned by rail
way companies. Negotiations were opened
which ended in the adjustment of a basis
for the proposed purchase. The leading tele-
graph lines are to be bought up at twenty
years purchase on their receipts of 1S6S-an
excessive rate of valuation for the plant and
goodwill of a commercial enterprise, and
one which seems to have been accepted by
the Parliamentary Committee in ignorance of
its probable amount. In some instances the
compensation allowed is exceptionally eXorbi-
tant Thus one company, not content with
twenty years profits, has secured twenty
years purchase of the probable annual in
crease of profits in addition to the market
value of its shares. A total valuation which
at first was computed at e2,500,00O has
grown to G. 100000 sterling-the sum pro-
vided by Parliament. 1t is not surprising
that the prospect of this eXtravagant bargain
has acted like magic upon the market price OF
many of the shares For example, the Flee
trio and International Company's shares have
risen from ae153 to goo, and the premium on
Reuters shares has been multiplied nine
times.
The terms of the bargain, however, are a
matter of detail which in no way affects the
merits of the policy on which the Govern
ment has proceeded. Whether it pays more
or less than the precise value of the lines ac-
quired is question to be considered in con-
nection with the immediate business profit of
the transaction, but it leaves untouched the
principle that underlies the junction of the
telegraphic with the postal service.
The two services are in their nature identi-
cal. Telegraphic messages are a form of
correspondence. They are letters flashed
with the speed of lightning If the Govern
ment may properly carry letters, it may with
equal propriety convey telegraphic dispatches
In both instances it acts as the great mail
carrier for the people.
But the Government conducts the Posi-
Office business by more than permissiye
right. The service it renders in this respect
Is one WHICH, uOJLlllS ltSS Ildll Il SONGIllultll
tai organization may be relied upon to per
form. The postal system is in some particu
lars more perfect in England than here bu
neither here nor there could it be conducted
with 1.-THE of the certainty and efficiency, o
at the same rate, by any other agency. Public
opinion would revolt against a scheme for sur
rendering the work of the Postal Departmen
to railroad or express cOnapanies, because th
change would subject the service to the greco
and caprice of corporations conducted solel
with a view to their own profit. The perform
ance of the service by the Government doe
not always imply a monopoly of that service
But the country would feel that its right
were better cared for and its interests NOR
fully respected by the concentration of posta
privileges in the hands Of Government thai
by any guarantees which private corporation
could afford.
Exactly the same considerations apply t.
the telegraph. We have no desire to under
value the accommodation afforded by tn
companies whose wires cover the continent q
with a net. Their enterprise has accom-
plished much. But it were folly to preten
that they have made the conveyance of mel
sages as efficient as il can be made. Judgin
of it only by what we see here, it is a greI
convenience. But judged by the systel
which European governments have dew
loped, it is in almost all respects unsatisfa
tory. It's rates are extravagant, and the fac
lities it affords are inconsiderable in compar
son with those which might be afforded /
postal management.
The leading recommendations of the post
telegraph are cheapness, uniformity
charges, and what may be termed the un
yersality of it's machinery. Every post Off
on the routes traversed by telegraphs is a st
fon for the receipt transmission, and distl