Morning journal and courier., 1884-11-26
THE EwEsrERN UNION sERvIoE
Not Responsible for the Delay i'm Send- ing Election Returns-A Gard From President Green.

President Green.
 EXECUTIVE OFFICE,
 WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH Co.,, NEW YORK, Nov 25.
 To the public:
 Now since the presidential election is set tied and the excitement incident to 8 close political contest has abated it is proper to say that we are prepared to show most con- clusively the utter groundlessness of all charges against the Western Union Tele- graph company of partiality in reporting or withholding the election returns of the State of New York. deny in the most emphatic manner that the Western Union company delayed, altered or withheld the election re- turns of this State or any other State or tam pered with them in any way It had noth- ing 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 Associated Press. All the returns of the State were collected by the Associated Press. All the compiling was done in it's offices by it's own agents and bulletins were prepared by it and copies were simply delivered to Mir. Somerville, superintendent of our newspaper service, for general distribution to the pub AAN' AAAo Adu GO do with making up the bulletins nor did any officer or agent or other person connected with or interested in the company, except the operators who transmitted the returns, have access to or see any of them until bulletins had been made up therefrom in the Associated Press office and handed to us for public distribution, and I have no reason to believe that the Associated Press acted otherwise than in an impartial man ner. Ordinarily many of our offices are not kept open for business after o'clock p. m. To assist us in meeting the extraordinary expense of the extra employment of several thousand night operators we have had for many years arrangements with the press as- sociations giving us the privilege of selling bulletins to political and social clubs and other subscribing customers. We simply took the Associated Press bulletins as that association had made them up and delivered them as heretofore to customers who had subscribed for them; nothing more.
 The charge that returns were purposely withheld or that there was unusual delay in reporting them is entirely false. Instead of such delay there was extraordinary prompt ness. Never before have reports from so many election districts been received within so short time. Within forty-eight hours after the count of ballots began returns were received from ninety-eight precincts of the three thousand election districts in the State. Although the night of the election was stormy and there was some trouble in working the wires no delay occurred in any reports handed to our offices outside the city of New York. Within the city the telegraph ser vice was as nearly perfect as it was possi- ble to make it and the only trouble was with some of the short wires hastily erected for temporary use. It is here to be noted that heretofore the majorities reported from the most populous and therefore the most accessi ble counties have been so decisive that the popular mind has been set at rest respecting the result of elections on the first night, and there being no hope fear of a change in the result, subsequent returns more or less tardy have struggled in unheeded. In two instances in this State I have been informed that the county canvassers, who met one week after the election this year, had to adjourn over because the coun- ty clerks had up to that time been unable to get in the vote of their coun- ties. The only other returns complained of were those of Indiana, where at the request of the political committees and the press in the absence of any agent of the Associated Press the reports came through and were sent out by superintendent, MT. J. F. Wal lick, who insists that he used every effort to obtain all the returns as speedily as possible. l consider the demand TOT an 1nVeStlgdJ1On of that service made by the Indianapolis Sentinel and also by MT. Wallick himself reasonable and proper, and I have asked the chairman of the Indiana State committee to take part in the investigation or to name a representative to do so.
 The management of this company in it's business relations to the public is strictly non-political and non-partisan. The employees represent every shade of political opinion and are in the company's service solely by virtue 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 been canvassed or ascertained. But of those with whom I per sonally come in contact I know that there are quite as many Democrats as Republicans. It is therefore manifestly absurd to charge that the service of the company could be converted into a party machine or could in any way distort or stihe the facts when such attempted conspiracy could only have been made by the aid of large number of members of the political party which it was designed to injure.
 (Signed) NoRvIN GREEN,
 President.