The New York herald., 1873-10-28
THE POSTAL TELEGRAPH SYSTEM
Letter from Mr.. Orton-A Plea for the
Telegraph Monopoly.

NEW YORK, Oct. %, 1873.
To THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD
The editorial In the HERALD OF Sunday, october
10. headed "The Postal Telegraph" &C., con.
tans certain erroneous statements, and is other
wise liable to convey erroneous Impressions con-
cerning the business Of the Western Union Tele-
graph Company, which l ask permission to
correct
FrsLThe average charge per message was
sixtyone cents as stated in the annual report and
not slXty-i1pr and nalf Nc cents "a as given by the
crepancy is found in the fact that the gross re-
ceipts OF the company include moneys derived
from other sources than from tolls on messages.
SecOnd.-The statement that "tne working ex.
penses Of the European lines, owned and operated
by the governments average only forty per cent OF
telegraph Is operated at loss Dy nearly every gov
ernment In Europe and the aggregate loss Is sew
s n per tBe y
per cent of the receipts. The average cost per
message in Europe to the governments which
carry on the business is greater than the average
charge Of the companies dong the business in the
Tnird-The statement that sit is admitted that
duplicated with the best English wire, the best in
struments now in use, and the best poles, Tor
$12 900, 000 is erroneous so far as the admission
OF any competent authority u concerned. Such o
statement would be grossly Inaccurate by whom
soever made. The annual report, 70 which refer
ence is made by the HERALD, shows the acquisi
tion OF new property by the Western Union Com
pany during the last seven years which cost over
$l3, 600 900. The western Union Company now
own considerably more telegraph property than
that for which the British government has already
paid over $4,000 600, gold and an estimate OF Sir
Frank Ives Scudamore, now before me, states the
probable cost OF their telegraph property on the
hav ss Win them have saa az
and wires as the Western Union now own. :. sss
Fourth-'The stock Of the Western Union is" not
''watered up to three and o half times the real
value Of the plant.n 1t did contain some s'watern
put have already shown that over $4,000 900 has
recall the TACT that thousands OF miles OF line have
been acquired at small fraction oil the cost to the
original owners, and that millions have been con-
tributed BY railway companies to secure connec-
tion and the extension OF lines upon their roads,
It will be seen that the present capital OF the COM
the sum which was originally expended to produce
'i.f TJtnYThe western Union has paid no dividends
in several years. What difference does 1t make.
then whether its lines cost S10 900 or $40 00
50 lar as & the COS cost oi sending messages is con.
pay the cost for operators, messengers stationery
and battery, to say nothing OF maintenance rents,
Stzth--The increase Of sixteen per cent In the
number ofmessages In 1873 over 1872 Is erroneously
duction made was "the abrogaton OF ali rates
over 90 60, and this did not take effect till Febru-
ary 1, 1873, and was, therefore, in force but five
months Of the year which ended June 80 1873 The
other and greater reduction referred to went into
effect July !, 1873, the beginning Of the present
Serenth-The new "square ratesv are, with but
rev exceptions, the same as the iormer especial
rates" established upon competing routes Tho
exceptions are the rates between Boston and
washington end inteEmeqate stations. The new
rates are uniform for like distances In the Eastern
Middle, Southern and Western States
Eignth-The HERALD Is, probably correct in as
suming that further reductions Will not be made by
the companies now doing the business for some
Time TO come. Inc average message rate In the
United States since July is but ffty five cents,
which is Eve to six cents below the average in
Europe, where the cost OF telegraph material and
the wages Of operators thirty to lfty per cent
less than here. More than year ago France In
creased her rates twenty per cent on one class Of
messages and forty per cent on another, the
latter Increase being on rates which yielded over
sixty per cent OF her telegraphic receipts; and
yet the increase IN the number OF messages during
the year succeeding this increase OF rates was
greater than during any one OF several preceding
years. 1t Will not be claimed that the increase OF
rates caused the increase IN messages, but this
fact does appear--vz., tnat the natural growth OF
the business was not sensbly retarded By con-
siderable increase OF rates.
Ntnth-The phrase "the best English wire, the
best instruments and the best polesn Is liable to
be construed to mean that the poles, wire and In.
struments OF the European lines are superior In
quality and working capacity to those OF the West
ern Union. Such construction would not accord
with the acts. very large majority OF the poles
used In the United States superior to those In
use In Europe AS TO wire, the Western Union
have been using OF the "best Englishu 10, 600 miles
per for several years past 1t proper to say
however, that wire Is now made by several parties
IN the United States Of quality equal to the best
all are-D 1t is not always possible to procure
domestic wire IN sufcient quantities supply our
wants. and ~ we are generally able to buy English
wire little cheaper than American notwith:
standing the duty OF about sixty per cent ad
valorem. As regards Instruments those Of
American manufacture are superior In efficiency
to the more cumbersome and more expensive
apparatus used abroad. Another TACT is worthy OF
mention In this connection. American operators
using American instruments perform much more
telegraphic work in the same time on the lines in
the United states than Is performed by the same
number Of operators in Europe. The telegraph
once In London employs more than three times as
many clerks and operators as are employed by the
western Union Company In New York to handle
about the same number Of messages daily.
The relations oil the telegraph 10 the public are so
important, and with the press are SO Intimate, as
70 justify the expectation that the press will not
give currency currency to erroneous statements concerning
the telegraph which may prejudice the latter in
the public mind. The facts hereinbefore stated 40
not rest merely upon my assertion They are COM
pietely established By the ofncial reports OF the
Sy oy which the business Is carried on
united states, and TO deny them n the ace OF the
~ ~svidsnce wbicn ls now accessible would seem to
imply an lndlspositon TO do Justice 10 the Ameri-
d,eersp9ic system which cannot actuatc the
can enterprise as the NEW YORK Usn.Sn Vcrv