The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1874-02-28
telegraph.
From The New York Daily Graphic.


Mr. Orion, in his recent review o.
the report of the Postmaster General
upon governmental telegraph, makes
three points
l. That the plan for a postal tele
graph has been rejected by Congress.
2. That the governmental telegraphs
abroad have been a constant drain up.
on the public treasury.
3. That the rates here are but little
higher than abroad, while the telegraph
| is as freely used here as there.
| Two propositions for the transmits
sion of correspondence have been pre-
sented to Congress one by Mr.. Ores.
well, who favors Il purely governmental
system, with lines purchased, owned,
and operated by the Postoffice Depart
ment. This plan has never been APP
proved by any committee Of Congress.
The other is the postal telegraph sys-
tenn, advocated by Mr.. Hubbard.
This proposes to have Geographic, like
other correspondence, received and dis
tributed through the postoffice, and
transmitted by telegraph between
postal telegraph offices, by parties
running and operating the lines, under
contract with the Postoffice Depart
ment, at rates fixed by Congress
about 33B per cent. less than those now
charged. This plan was first recon-
mended by Postmaster-G General Ran
dali to Congress. In two different seq.
sions favorable reports accompanied by
bills have been made in the Senate
The Committee on Appropriation in
the House, instead of ignoring the
matter, as intimated by Mr.. Orion,
made 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 a constant loss to the Euro
pean 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 a pri
vate corporation, but to make them
so low that they shall barely pay the ex-
penses. With this end In view, fire.
quent 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 Bel
GUM and Switzerland the telegraph
has paid, not only all operating ex-
penses, but the cost of construction.
The latest statistics for the European
states show that the receipts little
exceed the operating expenses.
Mr.. orion arrives at a different re-
suit by including the cost of construc-
ton of new lines as a part of the
oltho,,nh ha
cludes them when computing the ex-
penseS of his own business. Mr..
Orion says the rates here are Gas low
as the average rates in European coun-
tries, ;" and that the rates here are fifty
cents. His report for the year ended
the Both of June last, published in
October, shows that the average rate
paid by the public for telegraphic
messages for the year was sixty-seven
cents. 1t has been somewhat reduced
since then, and is now about sixty.
Mr.. Orion includes the dead-heads
with the paid messages, 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, were 81,
100000. The gross receipts We're 49,
28S, 462, which gives the average rate
at thirty-six cents. The rates for in
land messages average twenty-nine
cents, one-half the rates charged by
the Western Union Telegraph Company.
The use of the telegraph, in proper
ton to population, is greater abroad
than with us, and is increasing in
Great Britain, Switzerland and Bel
GUM much more rapidly than here,
where it does not keep pace with other