Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1882-12-01
An Extraordinary Statement.
n, Y. Herald.

MIR. Garrett, president of the Balti-
more and Ohio RraiIroad Company, in
an address to the Baltimore chamber of
commerce, made a statement which
deserves, and no doubt will have, the
attention of business men all over the
country who have occasion to telegraph
across the Atlantic. He asserted on
evidence of which he spoke, and which
doubtless he can produce, that since
the establishment of the cable pool
under the control of the Western
Union Telegraph Company, the mana
gers of the Western Union company
claim the right to read cable messages
to see if they contain anything affect
ing the company"
SO extraordinary charge would per
haps be received with incredulity by
the community if it had been made by
less well known or less responsible
man than Mr.. John w. Garrett.
OF course, in order to ascertain
whether or no cablegrans contain
anything affecting the Western Union
in any way" all such dispatches must
be examined by the company's spies,
and thus the privacy of such commu.
nlcatlons is destroyed, and whatever
any merchant or other business man
sends or receives is subjected to the in
spectlon of the managers of the West
ern Union Company, whose controlling
spirit is Mr.. Jay Gould.
The Eueaing Post rightly remarks on
this:-'It would seem that the West
ern Union company, or rather that its
ruling spirit, Mr.. Jay Gould, is cleverly
using his monopoly to keep himself in
formed about all business transactions
that pass over the transatlantic cables.
For 1t Is evident that all sorts of bust
ness dispatches must be closely in
spected for the purpose of of finding
out whether they contain anything af-
fecting the Western Union company in
any way 1t is not unchartiable to as
sumo that Mr.. Jay Gould might some
times be tempted to take advantage of
such extraordinary facilities of infor-
nation for his own benefit"
To understand the full bearing of
this grave accusation the public must
remember that this systematic viola
ton of the sacredness of cable dispatch
es Is charged to occur not merely on
the two American cables of which Mr..
Jay Gould was the originator. The
question OF MIR. Garrett concerned the
use of one of the English cables, and
If seems that these also, as they are
now controlled by Western Union, are
forced to submit to the ex-
traordinary espionage. Who
ever sends cable by any line now
laid to Europe, or receives one tt enoe,
must know that the communication,
for the sending of which an extortion-
ate price is charged, is also examined
by the Western Union company to see
If it contains anything affecting its
interests" The public would like to
know whether Mr.. Fender and other
English stockholders in the Anglo, Di-
rect and French cables knew, when
they entered into the pooling arrange
ment which gives Western Union the
control OF these as well as the Jay
Gould cables, that the dispa ches sent
thereafter would he subject to the spies
of Mr.. Gould?
But this charge of system atically
violating the privacy of cable core
spondence, made by a man like Mr..
Garrett, cannot be allowed to rest. Mr..
Gould may choose to pass 1t by; but
ne has managed to associate with him.
self in the directory of the Western
Union gentlemen who cannot afford TO
remain connected with that corpora
ton if it even lies under reasonable
suspicion ofso gross an abuse.