The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1881-11-17


like other civilized nations, part u the
postal service That belhg 40 used Ivy The
government tho tariff rates will wonderfully
decrease, Just as has been the experience
In the matter Of constant reduction Oflettor
postage That system through which
the most important news and business
secrets Of the world are transmitted, should
not be allowed to be possessed by any one
man or ring. That such system by means
of which the slightest variation In It's mar
ket reports, for instance, might make or
lose fortunes to thousands Of men, Is sub
ject Of the highest consideration. That
made q monopoly of, the wires can be used
at the right moments in the interest Of the
one man or more who might happen to
own them-to the great detriment and SER
ious injury of the country politically as
well as commercially. For these and other
equally potent reasons, say they, the tele-
graphic system of the country should be
under the control of the government just as
with the postal the letters, the newspa-
pers, ETC.. just as with the money-order de-
II Viz navy thS
power and right to transmit messages over
mile or ten thousand miles of iron or steel
rail , why should it not have equally the
power and right to transmit them over n
mile on ten thousand miles of iron or steel
wire? 1t is only matter of the size
of the iron or steel and the
speed of conveyance. The question
of secrecy cuts no figure in the argument
for cypher codes and other things may be
used the postal card was at first objected to
on account of its openness, but that feeling
has died away and people now see that
postof1ice clerks have neither the time nor
the disposition to be reading thou
sands of the postal cards daily
received in or sent out from
their Offices. Per contra, it is contended
| that by taking possession of the telegraph
the government will exceed its consttu-
tional power, and that such act
will be only stepping-stone to
other unwarranted stretches and in
reference That this accomplished the
next step will be to buy up all the railroads,
anu So vi Illut III llo pOSSco-
sion the party in power can put in success
full operation q system of espionage that
will so place at the mercy of a few the great
bulk of the people that the republic would
soon be removed but one degree from mon
archy, and could perpetuate its power for
eyer. All this would seem to be true,
but the indentical objections were urged
against the use of envelopes when they
came into fashion some years ago. The
custom had been to fold up letter, full
sheet, and then to seal it with wax bear
ing an impression, so as to guard it against
opening. The universally of the objcr,
ton to the envelope was remarkable, an.
for years after their introductioa
the older merchants would not
use them, as they insisted that by
the application of little water or dampen-
ing it could be opened iheEontents of the
letter thereby easily land the en-
velope could then be p, and no one'
any the wiser save till that purloined
the news. In eras of al Importance
cypher dispatches c6dld be en-
ployed. Mr.. Tiiden's nephew's
experience might then serve a
useful purpose. In view of these things we
are inclined to favor the ownership by the
government of the telegraph system, al
though we are not of those who believe in
government omnipotence, that government
can create anything, or that it can ever
alter the total amount of injustice COM
mitted. We believe, as has been somewhere
expressed that government cannot by
any ingenious artifice make men
avoid the consequences of their own ma
lures. To the careless eye and untaught
mind it seems to do what the juggler does,
performs miracles, impossible transforma-
tons. 1t is impossible, says philos-
opher, for man to create force. There is
Just so much in this world, no more, no less.
He can only alter the mode of its mani
festations, its direction, its distri-
button. Nature cannot be cheated.
Politics, as are all other things,
is like mechanics, increase the number Of
pulleys and we may decrease the amount of
force in exact ratio. A deep bucket
OF gallon capacity cannot be
made to hold any more by making
it of shallow shape, OF the same amount of
material. So with government, newspapers,
the stage they are neither worse nor bet
than than the people make them, is
the rule. And yet we are of the
opinion that inasmncb as government here,
everywhere, handles so efficiently the |
mail service, the postal money order depart
ment, in the face, too, of the hue and
cry once set up against them, that it will
largely benefit the masses and preserve
healthier condition of things by |
making the telegraphic system
a part and parcel of its postal service. At
any rate the time is at hand when its dis
cussion should be begun.