Wilmington daily commercial., 1872-04-01
GENERAL.
The Weather Reports.
nEvoLr OF THE rr1EanArn COMPANY.

REVOLT OF THE TFLEaKArH COMPANY.
An act of Congress passed in 1866. gave the
telegraph companies the right to construct their
lines along all post road cross ua igable rivs1b
aud through public landr tne u; It to cut tim
Der and quarry stone the public lands, and to
take 40 acres for each telegraph station not less
than 10 miles apart. 70 avail themselves of its
provision, the law required the companies to file
in the Pust-Oifice Department their acceptance
of the following conditions:
First l'hat they were to do all work required
by tue Government, and give its messages pri-
ority over any others.
SccOtd: That they were to accept as compen-
sation for the trausmis4ion of Government mes
sages such rates as the Postmaster General
should fix.
Third: They agreed to sell their lines to the
Government at any time within six years, for a
price to be determined by referees.
All the telegraph companies in the country
have duly filed their acceptance Of these condi-
tions When the transmission OF weather reports
by the Signal Service Corps was commenced, the
Postmaster General, after long negotiations with
the Western Union Company, got them to fix the
actual cost of sending the dispatches, and deter
mined upon the rate to be paid by adding thirty
per cent to this cost price, The Company did
not object to this. The rate 80 determined was
only about one-third of the current rates charged
to business men. The agreement became known
to the public, and there naturally followed many
protests from the commercial world against the
exorbtant charges for business and private dis
patches 1t was said that If the Telegraph Com
pany makes thirty per cent. profit on Govern
ment messages what an enormous profit it must
reap from the messages of citizens who pay
three times as much per word as the Govern
Inent does.
This is said to be the explanation of the de-
mand of the Telegraph Company. through Mr.
0rton, its President, for higher rates Postmas
ter General Crestwell refuses to pay any more,
and insists on his right, under the law to fix the
rate. The company first denied that the Signal
Service messages were of the kind specified by
the Act of 1866. But they have abandoned this
position, and President Orton admitted
the right of the Government to send what it
pleases. He fell back upon the right of the
Company, as private citizens, to control their
Lutte possession of their lines for an hour three
times each day for its messages, excluding all
other business, it amounted, he said to prac-
tical confiscation Of their property during that
time. To this MIR. Creswell replied that the
Government would not tolerate the idea
sthst it had not the power to compel the sending
of its kilograms when it wished them sent, no
matter what the telegraph company might say.
This power, he said. might be essential to the
safety of the country, and it weuld never do to
allow an association of citizens to delay or inter
fere with the instant transmission of intelligence
and orders from the Government to all its Off
GERS. II must have absolute command of every
telegraph line and station Mr. 0rton responded
that this theory gave the Government
the right to seize at will the property of the
company. The difference between the Govern
ment and the Company is apparently irreconcil-
able The only apparent way out of the diff
Guilty, il both parties insist upon their position,
is for this Government to own and operate the
telepraph