Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1874-03-05
MONTHLY CALENDAR-sz,
Telegraph.

Mr.. Ortou, in his recent review of the
report of the Postmaster General upon
a governmental telegraph, makes three
! points:
| 1. That the plan for postal telegraph
has been rejected by Congress.
! :. That the governmental telegraphs
| abroad have been constant drain upon
the public treasury.
| 3. That the rates here are but little
higher than abroad, while the telegraph
is as freely used here as there
Interpretations for the transmission of
! correspondence have been presented to
Congress; one by Mr.. Creswell, who IA
vors a purely governmental system, with
lines purchased, owned and operated by
the Postofflce Department This plan
has never been approved by any commit
tee OF Congress. The other is the postal
telegraph system, advocated by Mr.. Hub.
bard. This proposes to have Geographic
like other correspondence received and
distributed through the Postoff1ce, and
transmitted by telegraph between
postal telegraph offices, by parties run
ming and operating the lines, under con-
tract with the Postoffice Department, at
rates fixed by Congress-about 80 a per
cent less than those now charged. This
plan was first recommended by Postmas-
ter General Randall to Congress. In two
different sessions favorable reports &C
companied by bills have been made in
the Senate The Committee on Appro-
priations in the House, instead of ignor-
ing the matter, as intimated by Mr.
Orion, made a report in its favor, one
year ago. The bill was not reached in
the House, and, therefore, was not acted
upon.
Mr.. Orion says the telegraph has been
constant loss to the European States,
forgetting that abroad the sole object
of the governments is not to make the
rates high enough to realize profits for
the stockholders of private corpo-
ration, but to make them so low
that they shall barely pay the ex-
penses. With this end in view frequent
reductions in rates have been made, with
the knowledge that after a year or two
the increased business would more than
compensate for any loss sustained at first
In Belgium and Switzerland the telegraph
has paid, not only all operating expenses,
but the cost of construction. The latest
statistics for the European States show
that the receipts little exceed the opera
ting expenses.
Mr.. orion arrives at q different result
by including the cost of construction Of
new lines as part of the operating ex-
penses, although he excludes them when
computing the expenses of his own bust
ness Mr.. Orion says the rates here are
as low as the average rates in European
countries" and that the rates here are fifty
cents. His report for the year ended
the 30th of June last, published IN
October, shows that the average rate
paid by the public for telegraphic mes
sages for the year was sixty-seven cents.
1t has been somewhat reduced since then,
and is now about sixty. Mr.. Orion in
cludes the dead-head with the paid mes
sages, and so makes the average appear
considerably less than it really is. The
annual number of messages transmitted
in Europe, by the latest returns we have,
was 52,400,000. The gross receipts were
SIS, 1888, 462, which gives the average ratio
at thirty-six cents. The rates for inland
messages average twenty-nine cents, one
half the rates charged by the Western
Union Telegraph Company.
The use of the telegraph, in proportion
to population, is greater abroad than with
us, and is increasing in Great Britain,
Switzerland and Belgium much more
rapidly than here, where it does not keep
pace with other business.-NeD York
Daily Graphic.