Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1883-09-01
THELABOR COMMITTEE.
a Tallor's Views Monopoly and ITS
Eviis-D Green on the stand.


Evils Dr. Green on the stand.
New York, August So Before the
senate-sub committee on labor and ed
ucation to-day, Robt. Blissart, tailor
who has taken an active part in the la
Dor movement, testified that the condi-
ton of the laborlng man was pretty
much the same the world over. Coal
miners in England were better Off than
in this country; their homes were
peasanter and hours OF labor
shorter. Witness thought the
general intelligence skilled workmen
was greater abroad than here The
only thought of workmen in this
country was TO get money enough TO
pay his rent and get enough to live.
Witness insisted that { II blow was
not struck at monopoly before the *.
piration OF ten years, one of the bloodi-
EFT revolutions that can occur would
happen. Ther. seemed to be a grow
lug tendency to encourage monopoly
and lie predicted that unless some
action is taken to check it, the country
will be ruined
The next witness was DR.. Norviu
Green. He testified that he had been
president of the Western Union for
about five years. He became CON
nected with the company In 1858. He
alluded to an appropriation of 100000
made by congress for experiments.
The first attempt was made by an un-
derground line from Baltimore 20 Wash
ington, but the knowledge OF insula-
ton was not very good and the
current was lost. 1t escaped
through the rubber insulators. DR..
Green held that whenever they were
compelled to put their wires under
ground it would result detrimentally
TO the public service. He had seen a
talementin some paper that wires In
England were all underground, but he
noticed when there not long ago upon
looking out of his window perfect
network Of wires overhead. There was
as much complaint against wires there
as here. Many of the government wires
there were underground, but poles be-
gan long before you got out Of the
city. The Western Union had 40
sorbed large number of smaller com
panies. In respect to the telegraph
service, witness said there was no
such telegraph service in the world as
In the United States. In giving thu
history OF the development of the tel
egraph, DIR. Green said that the Morse
invention was brought before the
public in 1887, and an appropriation
was made by congress for experiments
the following year. In alluding to the
difficulty of laying underground wires,
witness said communication was had
fora long distance under water. There
was great trouble experienced in the
experiment of laying wires under
ground between Washington and Bal
timore, and the plan was abandoned.
The pole system was adopted IN place
of the underground plan. At the time
witness went into the business, the
lines had been extended into the South
and West. but not one of these lines
had paid dividend. The New York,
Albany and Buffalo was paying three
per cent. per annum, and one or two
other of the Northern lines were
paying small percentage
The New Orleans d Ohio company
was entirely sunk TO its owners. Many
OF the SIN II companies had been alb
sorbeG 10y larger companies. Tele-
graph property in 1886 began to yield
dividends. Heavy expenses were in
cured in running their offices and in
caring for their lines. The public,
witness added, seemed slo,s i'm
approaching the difficulties under
which the telegraph company labored.
In every instance where there was a
consolidation of companies, it had
been in every instance positive gain
to the public. The Western Union
company in 1866 bad absorbed the
United States telegraph company
which had extended Its wires to- Salt
Lake and the Northwest; also the
American telegraph company. The
capital of the Western Union company
at that time was SAL ,0GlDG0. The Bell
telephone company has to-day a, CAPT.
! tai of about $2l ,000, 900. 1t was neces-
sary years ago to buy up right of way
along railroads, and the Company
now owned about six hundred The
capital portion of the Western Union
witness said, was $4,000 mile
| but to-day II was less than $1,000.
The lines of the wire in this country
had been increased from $4,000
to over 100000 miles during
the last five years. The
number of miles of poles have been In
creased from 81, 900 to l3l ,060r the
miles of wire from BOG, 100 To 51l, 36S
the officers from S,lO4 to- LOGS mes.
sages from 2S,0ls,S94 to 3S,Si2, 2iJ
! witness stated the capacity OF the
company was double what il WAS tiv,
years ago. Witness asserted they
would do their business u great
deal cheaper if they adopted
the English post-ofhoe system
and took their own tinae to it
He WAS satisfied there was no tele
graph service in the world as perfect
as that of the Western onion com
pany. The capital stock OF the Western
| Union company WAS $S0,0oO,uo0. In
the course OF his testimony, DIR. Greer
spoke .of the franchises they owned
4 on railroads along which
they had the right of way
4 and explained the prices paiC
for such franchises. The railroads la,
their own operators, but used the com
pany's wire or had Il seperate wire be
tween various points for starting an,
management of trains. Witness sal,
that their line paid eight per cent. OF
the capital of eighty million. Thei
contracts with the railroad ran from
twenty To sixty years. The servlc,
they do, said DR.. Green
was of great utility to us but OF SINAI
pecuniary benefit to the railroads. TIL
Bell patent was once offered TO tn
. J \ f,.r ON