Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1882-12-15
1IIE POSTOFFICE AND THE TELEGRAPH.

| The arguments advanced by Postmaster
q, neral Howe. in his rcpor,. in favor of n
..,'.,,,;a,,a, n,,. ,,i,a.a,,, o,1 ,,s,oI
conso'oa''oii Vi 'H' 'V's''P' 'n" Po''"
service oil this country are powerful, ana nut
for lirc-lact that the managers of the telegraph
n, ma, wish IN olive nm The ncycr and rroft
~ 49, ...,, ,,,.a,aoI,. 90, ,ha, u.a,, h.na
oi INC great monopoly ah" 'n'' 'hcy nave
means TO exert very strong countcraclipS
| influence on public opiniop. they would he
l..,,,. c. u,.,,, ...
UNIV ,'"''' 'o'i''"'i''s' SUM VI '"''" u'o
as ioilows;
In almost all countries save this, telegraph
service is conducted by the postal authori-
ties.
The business Of the telegraph is inner
emily the same as tina, of the mail. 1t is to
transmit messages from one person TO anoth-
or. The power to establish is not limited 10
any particular modes Of transmission. The
telegraph was Lot known when tie constitu-
ton was adopted. Neither was the railway.
| The power to employ one is as clear as 10
employ the other. If the union of the two
services did not improve that of the telegraph
at all it would improve the postal service in
some important respects. 1t would ncccssi-
tate the employment of telegraph operators
| for postmasters in many offices. This would
| result in giving 10 the administration OF not
Il few offices men who have learned to do
| one thing in place OF those who have never
| learned TO do anything. If the two offices
were united whenever a mail did not arrive
on time, the public throngng the posoilicc
would learn, not merely that the train had
not arrived, but when it would arrive Again,
the mt cessity for delivering messages would
| iaciii'a'e ana draw ait'r II 'he Tree delivery
10 ; ,,ana ~ liaCe' ""''' '''' uS''cNS "seii
| But union of the two services Nould. |
believe, improve the telegraph more than it
Wouiu inc pos'ai service Admitting the
facl remains that II ;s not chean and ,n5 Sn,
corporate control it can not be cheap Rent
Tor both services would cost but little more
i ,iiii 'ie eos' ioi one 90 Oh luei anu Oh
Of mail. telegraph mcssares could he deliver.
ed at less cost by the postoiiice than by
corporation, besiues' II the business was
bc bn, q s;nr,n r,o,aoa,,,nn, 80 ,I,o , "u
The business IS now CHARGED with The cost
OF many different arrangements. One dircc-
.ioh Is cheaper tiiaii several Again. cor
only remuneration for The cost If adm,nis'
tratioD, but interest on the capital invested.
When competition becomes injurious to the
Thn nniv mro,on,in, w. 20 ,' "I ,'.
against these multiplied exac,ons is for the
Government to assume that exclusive con-
.rol over lhe transmission OF domestic mes
The slowor me,bods bw ,,o nv" o Nd Glaze
coach
These, VIC say, are strong rcasons-sttong
enough to counterbalancc all possible obicc-
tions, Indeed the main objections urged
against consolidation of the two systems, are
largely illusory One is that such cousolida-
ton would greatly increase the number of
federal officials. 1t would not increase the
number as much as is supposed, by
many. But there is no reason why tie
Government should not employ what officers
it actually needs. In the smaller Offices
the postmaster and operator would be one
10 add an operator or two to the force of
postuflicc clerks, in the larger offices, would
not practically cndangcr the liberties of the
people. Another objection is that tclcrraph.
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