New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-02-09
POSTAL TELEGRAPHY.
Alignment BY GARDINER G. HUBBARD.

WHY HE THINKS THE WESTERN UNION has TOO
MUCH PowER-rHE TELEGRAPH bUsiNh09 M
WAYS MONOPOLY.
WASHINGTON, Feb. S.-Gardiner ". iu
hard made An argument before the Senate Com"'ee "
Pos, oe,es and Post Roads to-day upon the generai SUI
a., =, a POSTAL telegraph set forth wnat IN Els
ou,nion had given rise to the agitation upon u'
When he nrst began the discussion Oh 'no Po 49,.
e-ranl IN 1863 he had shown that the r"'es WOO w
high and that the Western Union Company pens NJ
oolv did not avail itself Of the modern inventions LUG
e., bad at first been secuted absurd but under the
,rcssire OF the discussion the western Cuon
Comoany had according to the admission OF us
beor forced TO begin the work OF reducing ts r@tes anu
,,,,r,y3nc its methods Between the years 1868 and
ISIS the average rates had been reduced from II Va 10
so 800 per message Under this reduction the number OF
,oleoran,s had increased from 100000 TO 24OOO'oOo
nor annuIn ard the urofts from 81 100000 10 $500
600 Then change had taken place in the policy OF inc
Western Union Company IN 1877 that company hau
purchased 20 shares q controlling INTEREST," IN Ihe
Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company for so snare
and I'm 1881 purchased the remainder OF the STOCK a'
SEQ share Al the time Of the latter purchase II Issued
its own stock at $50 share for the 1000 shares
then Ia its treasury making stock dividend OF th's 10
its own Stockholders The second purchase OF STOCK az
$50 was largely held by Western Union HocKhouers'
and the buyers and sellers the same individuals
The Western Union had ceased to- reduce rS'eS'
From 1878 to the present time reductions were only
tbiItynine mills per average message. About the TINE
OF this change the American Union Company was poi
chased for 900 OOO its stock being also largely heu
by the Western Union The price was liked at sum upon
which &c was supposed the public would enable theSm
panv to pay dividends wonder it ceased to reduce
rates.
CABLES LEASED AND NEW LINES PURCHASED
The company was not yet content Cables were lhn
across the Atlantic. They had no connection on the
other side and only poor connections on this Ihey coud
have no value they were leased to the western
Union Company Mr. Could was largely interested In
them The Western Union leased them at a rate which
would pay per cent on property OF Sl3'pooooo the
original cost having been 81 900 600 or $3oOooOV 10y
system OF pooling arrangements the cable rates were
then kept up The necessary result OF I tls ~ The
competition. The Mutual Cmoh AZ '1 NO
the Western Union capital stock upon which the Inoic
was expected pay dividends The stock OF the N0rt-
ern Union leased the lines az the doubled value was
this the to treat the pabhci Dd h3t Ine ~eseI
bought QUIT The whole history Of the company Win the
his IN was ts course OF the Union that had
led public 70 ask II the stockholders had hOt ~
we'll enough aud If the public had not some rights IN
T Tbe teieeraph business Mr. Hubbard said. bound
10 he a monopoly whether carried on Dy the western
Union Company or not II was te Inat we now n1u
mttee and that he does not propose to be
bought SO he said in ISIS, when ne dad ID bat
aferward sold them to the Western Union for $4,000
600 49,
this was Incorrect Mr. Garrett allied his lines with me
American Union but when the American Union sold
10 the Western Union Mr. Garrett refused TO allow tie
Baltimore aid ONO lines TO be transferred aud they re-
main intact TO day
IuE TELEGRAPH BUSINESS WILL ALWAYS BE
MONOPOLY.
Mr.. Hubbard said that the telegraph business had
always been and would always be a monopoly. II
not for the OF the companies Of the public that
there should be competition II lines built aud
managed az proposed the bill by the chairman OF the
committee Senator HID, there would be an annual dc
fct winch the Treasury woald pay, and private lines
would be swept away. The passage Of the act Of 1865
was procured by the companies WHO secured certain
PRIVILEGES and in turn conceded tLe IshI Oh tLe Govern
meni 70 purchase thelf nt NiI u.5 ltu
It purchased existing lines This he tMr Hubbard would
trbutOu Of the stockholders But this not the
In 1866 the western Union had 1000 miles OF
money had been contributed. All paid for
by the public in addition 20 dividends the stock
holders.
bard said he supposed the stockholders the
Union actually contributed In money about $500
600; that the contribution OF Western Dl9n STOCK
holders and Of others VINO had pun competing mes no"
part the Western Union, was altogether about go
Senator Hill asked what ground the speaker had for
asserting that under his CNr HIsl bu there would be
sn annual deficit. Mr. Hubbard said in reply that the
cost OF sendng tclegrim was - cents fOu-
teen cents this for operators, instruments etc.
distance while the remming IL cents for messengers
and office expenses, IN respect to when distance was not
nils, a mesa ybile for distance Of more than 400
miles the expense OF handling was above the sum
named. Now uniform rate would not increase
would he entirely messages for long distances. The
true policy under such bill would be 70 nave two rates
each for short and long distances Nj HubOard dd
not agree with Mr. Evarts respecting The economy OF
business Of the magnitude OF the postal service or OF that
transacted 10y the Treasury Department was ever man
aged economically aud with so little loss by private
parties How was II with the great railroad c0npanesI
We're they able 70 take care OF themselves No. They
had have dictator; Albert Fink Tor example, IN
Eew-York
no INNOCENT STOCKHOLDERS TO BE PROTECTED.
Senator Palmer referred to what might be termed the
moral aspect of the questionable dcut feature
he said the whole question Innocent purchasers had
invested their money this stock. How he asked,
should that matter be dealt with
Mr. Hubbard said in reply, that when the innocent lay
down with guilty they suffer the consequences.
These purchase had associated Themselves with the
guilty. The western UuOn fifteen years ago had SAID
that neither the callth STOCK nor te pohuu "eo ahouu
b. increased except consent twOtns OF the stock
holders This pledge 81 the country. That pledge
was kept for a time and rates reduced This policy
changed in le-l No would object 70 pay for this
stock before these cancellations. Was u supposed these
nnoeeut sto kh0lders did not get their share OF this
W tered stpckt There were no innocent stockholders.
senator Hin remarked that one would venture to
not disregard these Stockholders and establish telegraph
system for the convenience o. te Whole people there
and man owned more than half the stock
cent Of people Of the United states used the
graph, because the rates too high They
high in proportion 10 amount Of business and cost o.
transacting 1t to-day they The business
community well served but the people al large
rcaped benefits from the telegraph Mr. Ev1rts hal
SAID that the Western Union forwarded messages |
IA the which they received. This Only
theoretically true II he lMr. HubDaIdl wished to plr
chase hundred barrels OF Oil could be 20 the OIL Ex
change send his order by the direct that
poutI No. lie must GO the Office and pay a |
higher rate and his would take its place with
miscellaneous business. A few years started
news bureau IN Cincinnati. correspondent in New |
York filed the market reports each mOruing |
irfpr-
nation 10 customers. The Western Union
asked him u sell out them aud he refused Therep0n
his messages taken away from the through wire
and sent by way" wire. The difference In time was
al hour and the ruined lie (Mr Hubpardl mad |
occasion the wires years ago Tor Nall an hour