The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1885-02-24
THE TELEGRAPHlC TOPIC.
THE COMMON CARRIER THEORY
A Correspondent Who Appears to Judge
OF the Matter From a Personal
Grievance Standpoint Reviews
the Interesting Question.

CorToN GIN, Feb. 2l.-[Editor HER
ALD.l-In the HERALD OF the 10Th, under
the above caption, you urge objections
TO house bill No, ISL, which provid.
that telegraph companies shall be
deemed ccanmon carriers. l dissent
from the HERAlT~.sA views, because the
bill is evidently good 5sspe. maintain,
First: Telegraph companiesSasge, IN iact
common carriers and should be gt<As.rileo
by the law applicable to common csF'
riers. "There is no difference, in the
general nature of the legal obligation Of
The contract, between carrying mes
sage along a wire and carrying goods or
apackage along route. The physical
nature OF the agency may be different,
but the essential nature Of the contract
may be the same" Parks VS.. Alta, CAL
ilornia Telegraph Company, ID Calilor
Mia, 40. "Ene business of transmitting
messages by mealis of the electric tel
egraph Is, like that OF common carriers,
i'll the nature OF public employment"
DeButte VS.. N. 7 Il q Telegraph compa-
ny, DAILY, IN. TO 647; Parks VS.. Alta,
I'd etc, supra. The breach OF the contract
IN the one case, Common carrier or
n the other (telegraphs) is, or may be, at
ttended with the same consequences,
and the obligation TO perform
1.-The stipulated duty is the same
y in both cases. The importance of the
discharge of it in both cases is the same
lJustice Baldwin, in Parks VS.. Alta, etc,
Teleg. Co., supra.) | am aware that
Parks case is the leading, ii not the
only, case unqualiiiedly holding tele-
graph companies to b8 common carriers,
and the great current OF authority is
cOntra-rei ugod under "mai (?) intlu
ences," but the reasons adduceu in
Parks case are, to my mind, SOUND.
The nature Of the contract The same; the
Importance OF performance the same;
The breach attended with like injurious
results; everything the same, except
? The physical agency. You say common
. carriers may have guards to ''stand by
Their things" aud that telegraph cOmpd-
MES cannot. l answer, the bailmeng is
different. Goods entrusted TO the COM
mon carrier may be stolen, hence the ne
cessltY for guards; out messages pass
ing along wire, not being the subject
y Of theft, need no guard. You say: "fhe
atmosphere changes affect Geographic
y operations peculiarly aud prevent then
e perfect working answer, First: Judg-
wing from experience, and from the adju-
II dicatiOhs, not one failure results from
climatic influences where 100 result
IRON pure, unadulterated neglig9ncs;
l and, Second, Common carriers are them
II selves exempt from liability from loss
N caused by the act OF God, and if, p8r-
chance, one message ia 10000 is effected
, a by climate iuhueece, and there is no
on the part OF the company,
y itwould not be liable, such, in my Opuu.
ion, coming within the rule extmptng
carriers. The truth OF the matter Is that
telegs aph companies are, and have ever
been, 4 pet with most courts, and
fhmsy arguments run through the cases,
endeayOring 10 show that they are not
liable. To him who reads the Texas
cases, IL is patent that some statutory
regulation upon telegraph companies is
require (.
The Western Union has many ineiii-
Client and careless operators, some OF
whom seem to want dollar 10 answer
pertinent question, and many acts OF
gross neg.l s0nC4 are imposed upon the
people, SIMPLY because the courts OF
fectuaily stand between the rights of
the people and the wrongs inflicted by
pet, whose ouly crook is climatic in.
fluence. You say SENIORS may repeat.
So they may. They may hayo their
message repeated aud pay extra there
for, and even then il they are damaged,
the courts are silent, and tho opinion,
like the tenor of the average spring
poem, may be anticipated.
"Ihe science of biography IS exceed
ingly delicate" messages may be ar.
rested, misspelt, mlsdirtcted, misdelv-
cred, by magnetic and climatic inAu
ences, AMI The plaintiff IL not entitled 90
recover" Hence / think the Dill a good
one; that il, just and reasonable, and
that its passage is imperatively ce-
manded. f. M. ErHERIDGE.