, 1872-11-18

| HdeAuetoA auH1ceB agree that there Will b.
another effort, this winter, mora vigorous thai
any previous one, to invest the Government
with the telegraph business Of this country
that the Postmaster General will 1eiterate hif
recommendations Of the project in his forth.
coming report; and there is IN impression thai
the President will favor it in his message. The
| public objections to this scheme are so numer.
ous and grave that they cannot be repeated TOO
often.
l. The purchase Of the telegraph lines by the
Government would establish precedent Tor fur
ther Capitalization ofpower that would be- without
limit. The came epecious arguments that sug-
gest it would be brought forward in due time to
warrant Government control of the railroads,
the express business, the steamboats,, the stages,
and all other common carriers. This has been
the case in Prussia and Some other European
countries where the first step has been taken,
1T would be impossible to foretell where the
Government assumption Of private business
would end, short Of national bankruptcy.
2. The Government cannot accomplish the re-
suits which are promisedin this matter It is siro
ply impossible, with our complicated, heterogena-
ous and corrupt Civil Service system, to transact,
promptly and accurately, the telegraph business
over the enormous area Of our territory. The
difficulties that the Governmant still encounters
! in the working Of the slower machinery Of the
| mails, is sufficient warning that it would be
| uttarly incompetent to manage the more delicate
and exacting business OF telegraphing.
8. The Government would not hold itself re-
sponsible for any damage to private interests re-
aulting from the tardy or inaccurate adminis-
tration Of the telegraph. It rests with
the Government to fix it's own &C.
countability in all cases, and the circumstance
that it now refuses to be responsible for the loss
or wrong delivery Of letters, or even of postal
money orders, is clear indication that it would
not assume any liability for damagesin the more
serious mistakes that could result from telegraph
errors. Government monopoly OF the telegraph
would then present to the public this condition
of affairs: A very large increase of the delays.
er1ors, and damages, and an arbitrary With
draWal of every means of naturalization for
loss. The commercial public will scarcely con-
template with rapture my such state of things
as that.
4. The Government espionage that would
thus be exercised over all private business, and
all political messages that should be entrusted
to the telegraph, would become a serious men
ace to personal freedom, and enable any Gov
nH1 ;o1 ~
tor or blackmailer On the knowledge Of other
mems business. So long as the telegraph re-
mains in the hands Of private persons or cor
porations, responsible in law for the acts Of
their servants, no general or serious harm can
follow the possession Of this knowledge, ANY
use made Of it by the operators or agents of pri-
7ate corporations, whether for the purpose of re-
vealing it to the public or for private benefit.
would be fatal to their own reputation and busi-
ness. Their employees understand that good
fifth in this matter is condition of their reten-
tion, while Government employees would equally
understand that their places depended mainly
upon political influence, Of which this espionage
wonld become part.
s. The increase in the official patronage of the
Government would, Of course, be one Of the
greatest evils Of the proposed system. Not less
than 30, 600 Of new Offices would be created.
Probably this is the reason why N1r. Chorpen-
ming Creswell is so anxious to put it through.
6. By controlling the telegraph, the Govern
ment would virtually control the press of tho
country. It could mould news to suit its own
it could punish obnoxious journals in
q thousand ways where there would be NO re-
dress. In short, it could possess itself Of the
only medium Of public opinion.
While these arguments against the Govern |
ment purchase OF the telegraph lines will sug-
gest themselves as potent against the scheme.
the advantages that are claimed for it will
likewise be found to be impracticable and yis-
lonary. It is not true that the cost Of tele- |
graphing wonld be reduced ; it would simply be !
transferred to the taxpayers. To carry mes
sages at the proposed rates it would be, neces- /
sary to put up at once three times the number
Of telegraph wires that are now in use. They |
would cost money, and cost the Government
mora money than Individuals Or private corpo- |
rations. The expense Of managing the in
creased number Of lines would be proportion
ately increased, and this increased e1-
9ense would fall largely upon people who
aeVer use the telegraph. It is needless to en-
arge upoa the injustice Of such proceeding.
The Government can, in no way, be more enter
'raalng than private capital. New telegraph
are organizing, and new lines build
ng all the time. Competition will bring the
harges for telegraphing down to the lowest fig
ire at which the service can be afforded That
10" enough; and when that point is reached,
here will be no robbing Of Peter to pay Paul.
10 taxing Of one portion OF the community to
urnish cheap te1egraphing to another.
The budget receptly.submitted by Herr
the Finance Minister Of the Prus-
ian EMPIRE shows an increase OF the revenues