The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-06-09

peny ana 1tS Ext0rtt0ns - mhnAssox
schcnck's Important Disclosures.
The letter which we published in yester-
days HERALD from General Schenck, our
Minister at London, to the Secretary of State.
on the extortonate charges made on kilograms
sent to the United States by the Anglo-Ameri-
can Telegraph Company, we hail as formal
declaration of war against this grasping mo-
nopoly-the formal opening of a war, in short,
which must inevitably bring all our telegraph
lines, by sea and by land, under government
control. In this view of the subject, such is the
| importance we attach to this letter Of General
Schenck, that we believe it will be held here
after as the distinguishing achievement Of his
public life in the estimation of a grateful
people. It is an arraignment Of this cable
monopoly before the government and before
the bar Of public opinion from which, in our
judgment, there is no escape as it is an expo
sition of the grasping designs Of the monopoly
imperatively demanding decisive action by the
governments concerned.
General Schenck had been thinking for
some time of writing to Mr. Fish on this mat
ter, in having discovered that the company
owning the cable between England and the
United States ''have an arrangement with the
Western Union Telegraph Company, in our
country, through which o systematic impo-
sition is practised which ought to be exposed"
Systematic imposition is strong expression;
but the charge is we'll sustained. The es-
pecial reason for our Minister'S official inter
ference in this business, however, lies in the
fact that communications transmitted by
ocean cable on government business are sub
jected to the same overcharges as are the mes
sages of Individuals and because 'sthe public
| and private persons are equally concerned in
having what is done known, with view to
some correction Of the wrong" Thus it
| appears that the cable companies in question
shave some contract between them by which
it is agreed and arranged that messages sent
from England by the Anglo-American to all
| points in the United States shall be received
and transmitted by the Western Union to their
destinations. Prina .facie this is q con-
venient business arrangement; but the OBJ
lection is that cit gives to the Western Union
Company monopoly of the business coming
through the cable" for which they can afford
to pay something, and, according to General
Schenck, the amount which they do pay for
this exclusive business els one-third Of what
is charged for transmission over the wires in
the United States" Of course this one-third
Of the land charges on this side for cable
dispatches is not drawn from the Western
Union but from the public, through said COM
,>op, &c ov<ro To- both
as will presently appear.
We thus find from General Schencks re-
searches that the English cable company have
tariff of prices--four English shillngs, or
one dollar, per word, date and signature in
Guided, from London to New York or to
points east of New York, although after this
month they promise reduction to three shil-
lings, or seventy-6ve cents, word. They
could not resist special raid on the Vienna
Exhibition. The Western Union has also its
schedule Of charges which we need not here
reproduce. But mark how neatly these two
companies work together, and then tell US if
you can, inquiring reader, ''under which
thimble lies the little joker?" A message is
sent by cable from London to Washington,
Chicago or San Francisco, and thus General
Schenck explains the mod,ls opcrandi THE
Office in London collects for each word four
shillings, which pays for transmission to New
York, and threepence (six cents) more for
each word to Washington, ninepence more
for each word to Chicago (date and address
included) and fifteen pence more for each
word to San Francisco, which is more than
double the regular home charges of the West
ern Union, and is so far Credit Mobilier
dividend, shared between the two companies
Our Minister gives a number Of illustrations
Of the working of this beautiful combination
of monopolies, and of the profits accruing to
each of the two companies on long and short
dispatches, and then he expresses the opinion
'that the percentage of these unjustifiable
charges is no small thing as affecting the cost
of sending intelligence between the two coun-
tries, and that, 50 far as the government Of
the United States is concerned, it must have
made large difference during the past year. 4"
This exposure is submitted to the Secretary
of State for such use as he may deem it proper
to make of the information. We are gratifed
that the first use he has made Of it is the pub
LEGATION of the letter but we are encouraged
from this publication to believe that there is O
design in it on the part of the administration
looking to the reduction of the telegraph
monopoies, by sea and land, to government
control. The Postmaster General for several
years has been laboring zealously, and with
still charging hopes Of success, for an act OF
Congress placing our land telegraphs under
!. the control Of the Post Office Department, as
properly belonging to that Department. We
know too, that the Postmaster General is
cordially supported in this great enterprise by
the President, and we infer, accordingly, that