The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1884-11-27
DR.. NORVIN GREEN, PRESIDENT OF
THE COMPANY, RISES SUD-
DENLY TO EXPLAIN.
Denial that the Company Had
Any Hand in Suppressing
Election Returns.
Throws the Responsibility on
the Associated Press,
but Defends it.
He Claims the Employees of the
Company to be Composed
Of Both Parties.

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF w. U
| TELEGRAPH Co., NEW YORK, No
vember %. 1SS4.-To the Public: Now
since the presidential election is set
tied, and the excitement incident to a
close political contest has abated, it is
proper to say that we are prepared to
show most conclusively the utter
grGundlesSness of all charges against
the Western Union telegraph COM
pany of partiality in reporting, or
withholding the election returns of
the state of New York. l deny, in
the most emphatic manner, that the
Western Union company delayed, al
tered OF withheld the election returns
of this state, or any other state, or
tampcred with them in any Way. 1t
had nothipS whatever to do with
the returns of the state of New York
except to transmit them over it's lines,
as prepared by the agents of the asso-
ciated press. All the returns of the
state were collected by the associated
press; ali Lile compiling was done in
its offices by It's own agents; all the
bulletins were prepared by it and
copies were simply delivered to Mr..
SomeryilIe, superintendent of our
newspaper service, for general distrI.
button to the public. This company
had nothing to do with making up the
bulletins, ncr did any officer, or agent.
or other person connected with, OF in
terested in this company, except the
operators who transmitted the re-
turns, have access to, or see any of
them until bulletins had been made
up therefrom, in the associated press
20 for 1NGi 10
distribution.
l have no reason to believe the
agents of the Associated Press acted
otherwise than in an impartial man
Har. Ordinarily macy of our offices
are not kept open for business after 8
o'clock p. m. To assist us in meeting
the extraordinary expense of extra
employment of several thousand night
operators, we have for many years
had arrangements with the Press as
sociation, giving US the privilege of
selling the bulletins to political and
social clubs and other subscribing
customers. We simply took the AS
sociated Press bulletins that the As
sociated Press had made them up, and
delivered them as heretofore, to Gus
toners who had subscribed for them
nothing more.
The charge that the returns were
purposely withheld, or that there was
an unusual delay in reporting them, is
entirely false. Instead of such delay,
there was an extraordinary prompt
ness. Never befCre have reports from
so many election districts been received
in so short a time. Within forty-eight
hours after the count of the ballots
began the returns had been received
from SO per cent. of the 1900 election
districts in the state.
Although the night of the election
was stormy, ,and there was some trouble
in working the wires, no delay oc-
Cured in any of the reports handed to
our officers outside the city of New
Lork. Within the city the telegraph
service was as nearly perfect as il
was possible to make it, and the only
trouble was with some of the short
wires, hastily erected for temporary
use. It is here to be hoped that here
tofore the majorIties reported from
the most populous, and therefore the
most accessible, districts, have been so
decisive that the popular mind had
been set at rest respecting the result
there being no hope of change in the
general result subsequent returns
were more or less tardv, and have
struggled in uneXdectedly, In two
instan ces in this state l have been in
formed that the CT unity canVassers,
who met one week after the election
this year, had to adjourn oyer because
the county clerks had, up to that time,
been unable to get in the vote of the
counties.
The only other returns complained
of were those of Indiana, where, at
the request of the political committee
2nd the press, IN the absence Of any
agent of the Associated Pres, the re-
ports came through and were sent out
by oar superintendent (Mr. j. T. Wal
lick), who insists that he used every
effort to obtain all the returns as
speedily as possible.
| consider the demand for an in
vestigation of the service made by
the Indianapolis Sentinel, and also
by Mr.. Wallick himself, reasonable
and proper, and 1 have asked the
chairman of the independent demo-
cratic state committee to take
part in the investigation, CT
to name a republican representative.
To do so the management of this COM
pany in its business relations to the
public, is strictly non political and
bipartisan. The employees repres
ent every shade of of political opinion
and are in the company's service sole
ly by yirtus of their proficiency as
telegraphers, What their individual
political opinions are has never been,
in any case, called into question, nor
have their votes ever bsen canvassed
or ascertained, bnt of those with
whom personally come in contact, ]
know that there are quite as many
democrats as republicans.
It is, therefore, manifestly absurd
to charge that the service of the com-
pany is converted into partymachine
or could, in any way, Gistort or stifie
the facts when such an attempted con.
spiracy could only have been made by
the aid of large number of members
of the political party, which it was de-
signed to injure.
(Signed) NoRYIN GREEN,