The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1883-03-15

Il facts urged against the lease All
may be and doubtless Ia square and lnir,
and results from honest and patriotic bust
ne.s notions, but the business capacity
exercised On the part Of the state OF Texas
In the premises Is not 20 say the poorest NJ
least The most peculiar we have any knowl-
edge of, unless II was that of the now
famous female who killed the fowl that laid
the golden egg.
ANOTHER sPEUIES or REGULATION
The average legislator of the present day
seems to feel that his mission is to see to IT
that all the great public cOnyeniences oil
| the state are regulated" in their manage
ment by statutory enactments. AS the
railroad and telegraph companies have the
greatest amount of business and money,
and come into public service the most
prominently, these special lines OF bust
ness are those upon which the greatest
amount of legislative buncombe is ex'
pended. 1t matters not TO the ambitious
legislator, thirsting for glory, and sure OF
the applause of the .unthinking among the
|
large class, that these companies represent
vast amounts of private capital, are private
property, and entitled to such protection
as all other kinds of property receive. It's
enough if there is demagogical cry for
regulation" AS q consequence, we have
before our legislature bills for regu-
lating railroads and bill for regulating
the operations and Office work of the. West
ern Union Telegraph company. This lat
ter bill is still in the lower house, and 1t is
an open question at least whether it ought
ever to get any further towards a Iexas
statute. Viewer gratified to notice the
manly and just remarks made by the waco
Examiner in its criticisms upon this meas
ure, and we agree with it in most Oh 'ie
positions taken. In the first place, II lspei-
fectiy absurd for man who knows nothlhs
ABOUT peculiarly technical matter 10 uu'
dertake to trame..a bill and have it pecome
q law that shall declare how and wheP, anu
for what price that matter shall be useu ioi
the public service. At least it is apsuru'
unless we first agree that justice ana tne
rights of property play no figure III
legislation. But the business of the west
ern Union is peculiarly technical one
and one different from all other kids, orc
about which its, managers, operators anu
employees must have special education &c
handle, and yet there are unskilled mem
bers OF the legislature, who never spent an
hour in telegraph office and who hardy
know how message is sent or the amount
or peculiar character of work done, who
flncy that they can frame statutes "regu'
lating" even the interior working OF the va
rlous offices, and run the whole business o.
the state with ease. The absurdity OF the
claim is displayed in the presence OF two
provisions in the BILL to go 40 further. The
bill provides that all messages shall be sent
within two hours from the date OF their re-
csipt, and that messages shall be repeated
to the sending Office without extra
charge. The one provision is impracticable
and the other unjust. 1t is matter OF
small consequence to ten men out OF a
dozen whether their messages are sent IN
two hours or six, so they are sent during
the day and without unnecessary delay.
But now, with the large amount OF COM
mercial and private business in such offices
as the Dallas, Galveston ana Austin offices,
together with the large Geographic news
report to be received in time for publication
IN the morning papers, and the large mum"
Der of special newspaper kilograms, it
would be utterly impossible to comply with
such regulation without dropping the
Associated Press and special dispatches, in
which the entire public are interested, ana
devoting the time TO twenty-five
or thirty private messages that
represent an interest of forty
or fifty dollars only, perhaps, and that
might just as well be sent twelve hours af-
forwards. Private messages are the least
important of the Western Unions business,
represent smaller number and smaller
paying atrons, but this business is not
only to take precedence OF all else, but to
be done by the company under heavy
penalty just within given time. And then
add TO this the fact that this character OF
business is to be repeated, thus consuming
double time and labor. and the company
not to receive cent extra pay. Thisis
a sample of the legislation proposed by this
bill and the impracticable character thereof
may be readily seen. The general laws of
tine land protect the public against any neg
lect or mistakes by the telegraph company,
and if the patrons desire any especially safe
service they can afford to pay extra.
There is but one matter that
bill could with any reason handle
or regulate, and that is max.
imum charge for service. But both reason
and common sense teach us that the laws
OF trade will regulate such matter. If a
company charges exorbitant rates, the pub
lie patronage will be proportionately small,
and vics-yersa, and the managers Of the
company know this full well. We cannot
refrain, while on this subject, from repro
ducing a sensible extract from the Ex-
amlner: 1.-THE telegraph companies have
never asked or received any favors from the
state. Not dollar in subsidies or land has
been given them. They pay taxes on their
property as other people do, and a special
and heavy occupation tax besides. They
have strung their wires all over the state,
often years in advance of railroads, and
played an important and valuable part in
developing every commercial interest; their
rates are cheap, and they maintain large
number Of Offices simply as a public con-
yenisnoe." In short, this whole character
OF legislation Is Hnwise, ill-timed and un-
Just, and an infringement upon private
business rights, and necessarily crude and
detective because the workmanship OF men
who are acting from popular ciamor rather
than a thorough, personal and technica
knowledge Of the subject.
Wrrrr the Miurissirui valley planter II