Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1870-01-21
POSTAL TELEGRAPH.

That we are behind in our telegraph
facilities is to be attributed to the fact that
instead of having the wires controlled by
the Government in the same manner that
our postal affairs are, they are in the hands
and under the exclusive control of few
greedy capitalists, organized into a most
rapacious and unscrupulous monopoly, that
combines and plots to promote its own
pecuniary interests at whatever cost to the
public There are in the United States
some 1900 miles Of telegraph wire IN ac-
tive operation, requiring, some 1000 public
officers to conduct the business. OF this the
Western Union Company own and control
some 35, 200 miles Of wire and over 3400
public officers. This amounts to an almost
exclusive monopoly Of the entire telegraphic
business of the country, and the franchises
of the company are uSel solely, and in the
most arbitrary manner, to add to the large
dividends annually declared. The most ex-
orbitant tolls are exacted, and they must be
paid, for the telegraph has become one of
the necessary auxiliaries in the conduct of
business, and cannot be dispensed with
There is but one way to break down this
powerful and growing monopoly, and ex-
tend to the people the benefits of the tele-
graFhic system Of communication, and
that is for the Government to assume con
troll of the wires, and give to the people
cheap and comprehensive system of postal
telegraph.
We boast of the great advantages pos
sessed by the people of the United States
over those of all other countries, and in a
solemn report to the House of Represen-
tatives, the Hon. John L. Farnsworth, of
Illinois chairman of the Committee on Post
Offices and Post Roads, had the hardihood
to declare that telegraphing in the United
States was the cheapest and most reliable
or should know, better than this. If he
knows anything about the relative cost of
telegraphing in the principal European
countries, he knows that the expense of
telegraphing is far greater and less reliable
in the United States than in those countries
of Europe that have the telegraph as an ap-
pendage to the post Office system, and his
report to the House asserting the contrary
is an insult to the intelligence of that body.
In Great Britannia despatch Of 20 words
may be sent TO any part of the kingdom at
the uniform rate Of shilling; in France the
same number Of words can be carried GOO
miles for 20 cents, And to-day message
of 20 words can be sent from Marseines in
the south of Frence, to the north Of Scot
land, traYeEsing l40O miles and two king
donls, crossing the Straits of Dover by sub
marine cable, for about So cents. And vet,
if Mr. Fsrnsworth would send the same
message Of 20 words to his wife in Illinois,
be would have to pay the Western Union
monopoly 3d. a still better idea Of the ex-
tortion practiced on the American people by
this monopoly may be inferred from the fact
that 3 message Of ten words can be sent
from Washington to Constantinople BY the
Atlantic Cable and Continental lines for
1910 less than it will cost to send % words
from Washington to Oregon by the West
ern Union wires. Philadelphia Morning
Post
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