Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1880-12-10

Agepta for tho "Tcller."
The Government Telegraph.

Saturday eve, while the storm Of snow
was falling fast outside, and Their,
learned that snow had fallen upward.
Of one foot at Walla Walla and thu
wind had been blowing most of tn,
day, and that at Colfax the snow wa.
two feet in depth and knowing thai
the Walla Walla mail and the Colfas
mail we're more than "a hours behinc
time, and a. we sat there the operator
said to us that telegram was Their
going over the wires from some point
vest OF u to Bismarck. We then
asked the price Of telegraphing from
hero to Bismarck, and he replied sew
enty five cents for ten words and one
cent per word for each additional
word. We contrasted this method OF
communication with that of the U. S
mails. Wealso contrasted the cost of a
dispatch over this government wire with
the cost of sending a similar dispatch
over the wires of any private company
now operating for the public, and even
the cost of sending as many dispatches
over the government line to Bismarck,
as there would be letters that would
go in any one mail to the same point
with the cost to Uncle Sam of carry
Ing that mail containing those letters.
We further contrasted the time re.
auired to send these dispatches by tel
sgraph with that required to send
the same in the mail, and from these
comparisons we were strengthened in
our belief that the suggestion Of the
Postmaster General that the govern
ment should own and operate all the
telegraph 6nes Of the whole country,
would he a great saving to the gov,
esnment and to the whole people. It
must he apparent to every .lose observ-
Or, that were the price of telegraphing
reduced to even the present rate of
government telagraphing all over the
Union, that the greater part of the
commercial correspondence of tho
Whole country would be conducted by
means a tho telegraph. The time
sAved to tAe trading Ne.. Of tho coun-
try would more than compensate for
the extra expense of mail communica
ton besides large share of the cor
respondence between friends at a
distance would also be done by
Telegraph. Again the rural press of
w country would use the telegraph
Tor much Of their news. BY so doing
the, metropolitan press would ba much
lcdncsd in circulation, whereby the
laAih would not DO so bulky, while in
telig.nce Of facts of Importance
would b transmitted to the whole
people with far greater rapidity than
II present. Breakages in telegraph
knes are much more easily repaired
thaA Pablio roads over which the mail,
are transpofsed can be kept in passa
Die repair and It hr less cost, Core
spondenoe by telegraph to save cost
would necessarily be much abbreviated
end yet contain al the essentials Of in
telligence clothed in much pprer and
pertinent language than that usually
contained in letters, and thus a higher
standard Of literature would be at
tanned. BY al classes Of the people.
We could name many other advant-
ages OF equal importance TO the PEG.
pie Of the Union that would follow
the system of universal government
tslsgraphing. We are Of the opinion
that such . system could be established
along the line of nearly all our public
thoroughfares connecting with at least
A. many points as we now have post
offices and for q time at least attached
70 the postal system and placed under
such stringent regulations that it would
bring revenue to the government even
at very low rates. The operators at
ell these points would have to be men
OF character for probity and trust as
oil Geographic correspondence would
necessarily he we'll known t, them
But it would be a sad reflection upon
err people if such men could not be
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