The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-04-28

intend to advance the rates in view of
the business likely to be created by the Vienna
Exposition. There is no lack of present profit
to the corporations; the fat dividends still find
their way into the purses of the stockholders;
the original investors in the enterprise are still
amassing wealth out of the investment; but,
with perfection of covetousness peculiar to
great and greedy monopolies, as the bust
ness is likely to increase, and as the neces-
sity for the use of the cable becomes tenn
porarily more urgent, the gross imposition OF
raising the tariff for messages is practised by
the directors upon the public and the
press. In proportion as the people increase
their patronage of the line the company in
creases its already exorbitant charges to the
people. The more liberal the patrons the
more illiberal and exacting become the patron
lied. We can conceive of no meanness more
thoroughly contemplate than this. 1t re-
verses the accepted rule of all commercial
transactions and outrages every sentiment of
justice and propriety. 1t is peculiarly unfair
to the press which has ever been the
best and most permanent customer of the
cable company. Without the business
of the daily journals and of the
press associations the dividends Of the
monopoly would have been much smaller than
they have been from the completion of the
first cable up to the present moment. The
enterprise and iberality which induce the
leading American newspapers to make pro-
vision for ample cable reports from Vienna
have prompted this new exhibition of avarice
and injustice on the part Of the company.
The greed of the directors has taught them
the characteristics of American journalism,
and they rely upon the determination of our
press, to obtain news at any cost, to enable
them to successfully enforce their gluttonous
policy.
We desire to say that so far as the great lead
ing dailies in the United States are concerned,
q high rate of tariff is rather an advantage than
an injury. If our business morality were on
a par with that of the cable company, we
might rejoice at policy which would de-
prive the less prosperous journals Of the news,
and confne all the benefits of the cable to
few firmly established papers But we speak
in the name Of the whole American press,
whose enterprise is an honor to the nation,
when we denounce this projected imposition
by grasping monopoly. There can be only
one efficient protection against the exactions
of the cable company. We should adopt
with our inland telegraph lines the postal
telegraph system, and the English and Ameri-
can governments should, by an international
treaty. extend the system to the Atlantic
cable. The true interests of the press and Of
the people demand this reform. Opposition
might do something to remedy the existing
abuses but we have seen, time after time,
how speedily and effectually monster mo-
nopoly, once firmly established, can dispose of
opposition The security of the public can
only be rendered certain by the acquisition of
the cable by the two governments, guarded by
a suitable international treaty. Let the states
men of England and America turn their at
tention to this subject, for it's Importance to
the nations, to the people and to the press
cannot be overestimated.