New Orleans Republican., 1875-09-08
English TeleKraphy.

light, which seem to be apropos now that
so much has been said about the failure of
the system OF government telegraphy in
England.
In the. first place, according to this intel.
llgently written article. the telegraph in
England prior to 1868, while used exten-
siyely By stock brokers, betting men and
spectators, was very little used bv gene.
raj merchants' or by tho public.
2. The aim of the government in ,akinr
possession of the telegraph was to produL.
a radical change in this respect. BY the es-
tablishment of low, uniform and very sim
pie tariff, and by bringing the wires near TO
every rybody's door, it was proposed and in-
tended to populariza telegraphy. and put
the telegraph within the reach OF all classes.
}. The government resolutely determined
that there should be no tay yoritisra. and that
messages should be forwarded strictly in
the order of their reception, ana without
any reference to their real OF supposed i'm
portance, messages on behalf of the govern
ment being the only exception to this rule
But 1t is the arrangements in regard to
the press which prove the immense supe-
riority of the government telegraph system
over that of company mOnOpOlies, and the
facts are so interesting and convincing that
we shall give an analysis Of them as bear
i z on this important subject
Under the old companies the arrange
ments for the collection and transmission of
news were most unsatisfactory, as the news.
papers were obliged to be content with
whatever news the companies thou ght fit to
supply. inasmuch as, although rivals to one
another as far as ordinary messages were
concerned, the companies became allied in
relation to the collection and transmission
of news for the press, and thus being pos.
sessed of a monopoly of all the telegraph
wires in England, the newspaper pro-
prietors could not do otherwise than sub
nit. The postal arrangements for collect
ing and transmitting press me- VS. as defined
III the telegraph act of 1868 we're therefore
productive of the most favorable results
and seem, as far as ordinary observation is
qualified 10 Judge, to have cohdneed to a
greatly extended distribution of news
throughout the country.
There are seven associations for the col
lection of news in England, the two princi
pal ones being the Press Association and
the Central Press. The postotice, in ac-
cordance with the provisions OF the act,
must transmit the news of all press asso-
Citations on equal terms, The cOilection of
news is open to all and equal facilities tor
its transmission are secured 10 all who col.
lect it,
The Improvements that have taken place
under the postofice management Of the
telegraphs are as follows:
The telegraph companies sent news TO
only lif towns in the United Kingdom
The postotiice, acting in behalf of the press
associations, sends news ito 365 towns.
The difference is still more strikingly
shown in the summary of retra emissions.
The companies sent direct to twenty six
towns. the postoffice sends to sixty-six. The
companies sent one retransmlssion to eighty
one towns, the Postotlics sends 22i, and SO
or, doubling or distancng even to the
fourth retransmission, which the companies
never reached.
In the l44 townsto which the co,upanies
sent news there were only 306 subscribers
for news. In the 36J towns to which the
postotfice sends news there are Il06 sub.
scrihers for news. Thus there is an increase
of 22l in the number of towns 70 which
news is sent, an increase in the total num-
ber of subscribers taking news. and an ia.
crease of 29i in the number Of newspapers
taking news.
Moreover, there is vast increase IN the
quantity of news transmitted. The cnuipa-
nies used to send during the session of Par
Lament nearly 5000 words of news daily
during the remainder of the year they sent
about 1000 words daily. The postoffice
sends during the session of Parliament, on
behalf of the associations before named
eO,0O0 words of news daily; and during the
remainder of the year it sends on their be-
half nearly $4,000 words daily. The as
$ouhuAhS iuSiUoSo III tuC lltHslLtselO Ul
news for the press may be further illus
trated by the tact that the total number of
words forwarded in 1873 was 2li000, 900.
In one night alone of that year, VIII n
an unusual number of events were re-
ported from various parts of the country,
upward of 100000 words of news, or
about $50 columns of the Times, were trans
mitted from the Central Telegraph in Lon
don. The increase of revenue arising from
this increase of press business was, in 1873,
soo,OO0. The charge is twenty-five cents
tor l00 words, night rates, and twenty-five
cents for seventy-five words, day rates.
Seven newspaper proprietOrs rent special
wires for night work, for which the post
office charges uniform rate OF $2500 per
annum. This system of special wires is
likely to be very much extended. 1t seems
pretty certain that the postotfice will OBJ
tain large revenue from this source as
soon as additional wires have been erected
large portion of every leading proviu-
cial journal in England now consists of
news received by telegraph. One journalist
states that he has seen az many as twelve
columns of telegraphc news in leading pro-
vincial papers, and that he has read In a
local paper at Aberdeen several columns of
news which, if Aberdeen had been depend
ent upon London for it's news could not
have been known there until six and.thirty
hours afterward.
In regard to race meetings very striking
results are found recorded. During the
year 1873 there were in the United King
dom and Ireland altogether l35 race meet
ings. The total number of telegraph mes.
sages sent on their account was Il4,E9.
The total value of messages was 1854;
$2i,479.
The falling off in the revenue, as com.
pared with the increase in expenditure, un.
der the government ownership of the
telegraphs. is accounted for by the fact
that the government cares nothing for
profits, which, of course, was the main
thing with the private companies; and also
because the English government pays its
employees far better than private individuals
or corporations do theirs. The civil service
in Great Britain, and especially the post
office, is the most perfect service in this
world. The employees are appointed for
life and are paid fair salaries, and as
consequence they are honest, faithful
and intelligent. The government does
not pay what is here called the
market price," it pays its officials a fair
living rate. 1t is a curious conment ary on
recent discussions in this city relative to
cutting down the laborers pay to ''market
rates" that aristpcratic and kiDgly England
rejects that method of dealing with he en-
ployes, which is supposed to be the right
thing" in Democratic America.
The London Times distinctly states that
this is why the telegraph costs more than it
did, although the revenues have very greatly
increased. Not only are the employees paid
better, but greater number of offices have
been opened for the accommodation of the
public.-Nec York Graphic.
Politicians are obliged to do great deal