The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1884-05-23
The Postal Telegraph.

i 9th eTWjse. and ssys that tn
capital stock Of SS0.000,00l
has ari en- nearly the whoi'
OF it from stock dividends and fro1
purchases made OF lines Of othel
companies which were paid for by
Issues OF stock. sit is evident" The
report continues shat the price
VIII Oh the Western Union paid il
stock for competing lines were
vastly in excess Of either the cost OF
earning capacity of the property &C
CURED. It was claimed be'ore the
COMMITTEES byI the president Of the
Western Union that 1t had from
time to time expended out Of its
current earnings considerable
money On the construction account.
That is to says IL addition to
It's liaes and equipm ents ever and
above their maintenance. This may
be true to some extent, hut EcGnn0t
be true to the extent of j1stifying
the enormous stock dividends which
the company has made, nor was the
spprOk riati0n Of current income to
the construction account go flicient to
prevent the payment Of munifcent
cash dividends to shareholders
who received in that way
from 1867 to 1888, (both inclusive),
$34, O0000O in addition to stock div
idends, $25, S07.19G. AS the prices
paid by the Western Union in its
own stock do not furnish even an
approximate idea OF the cost of lines
which it has purchased from other
companies, and as the Representa-
tives of the Western Union, which
alone possess information, have
given no definite o. detailed &C.
count of amounts Of money it has
itself expended in the construction
of lines, the COMMITTEES have en-.
deavored to ascertain what it would
now cost TO produce lines in every
respect equal to those which the
Western Union has acquired in all
ways. The committee believe it to
be large estimate to assume that
the number OF miles Of wire actually
used and necessary to its business
Of transmitting messages is $4,000. |
The committee believe, also, the
average cost of wires, including
poles, construction, and the instru-
nents necessary for telegraphing, |
would not exceed $40 par mile,
which would make a total cost of |
s24, 500, 900. The exact excess OF
of Western Union |
beyond the actual cost of its lines,
md beyond Whist it would now cost
% reproduce similar lines, cannot be
That it is enormous is
plain and undisputed. In
eference to the inquiry whether
his excess of capitalization, arising
rom stock dividends and from pHr-
hases Of other lines at inflated
prices, paid in stock, has operated
in the way of increasing
he charges of Western Union for
Of kilograms, the
ommittee deem it sufficient to say
hat their own conclusions CORES
ond with the opinions of the coun-
~ that its effect in that direction
annOt be a matter of doubt, and
hat it has been very great. The
wollen capitalization Of the West
n Union has created at one and
ne same time Inducements, and in
ONE senses, the necessity for ex-
essive charges for telegrame. so long
=, and so far as the public
ad been made to believe the nomi-
al capital was a real one it has
ended to cause acQuiescence in the :
Xcessive charges, while an expo
ure Ofthe actual nature Of the nomi.
al capital does not diminish the
ressure OF motives, which impel
ne managers of the company to :
eep up charges which are essen
al to the maintenance Of ,
resent dividends upon the .,
immense mass Of lis watered stock i,
or the purpose OF relieving the 9
1untry from the burden of charges :
" kilograms which are too high, of :
laRing these charges more equal as !
etween different localities, and diff :
rent classes of telegrams, and of -
harding against mischief and dan.
FRS Of leaving the control Of the
business of the coun-
y in the hands of a private
which enjoys a practical q
the committee have re t
orted the accompanying bill, sec. !
or. The report says the consti- i
ltional right Of government to es. t
blish postal telegraph is undoubted {
Id that there are obvious and sufi- r
ent answers to the objection that b
lch line will operate injur- o
usly upon private telegraphs. t
he report asserts that the passage Y
the postal telegraph bill viii re- o
ice the average charge per tele. n
am from 3Sc. to 25c. Immediately. r
Id zoe. in five years, and secure t,
1iformity Of charges irrespective t.
amount Of business in different Il
aces for kilograms to newspapers, Y
Id to commercial news ase0cia- b
Ons; and continues ss follows: s.
Under the present telegraphic
stem the possibility of species of T.
nsorship, which is one most U
IDgerous to the commerce OF
ie country, arlFes in two
slnct way, each IF which | Y
qulres separate consideration. | \
inst is the power which telegraph il
themselves have of -
snipulstiEg news for sinister Dur. Fl
)ses; and the second is the same {"
)W6r possessed bV the associated ! =