St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-01-21
GOVERNMENT TELEGRAPH.
Norvin Green, President Of the Western
Union, Talks in Opposition to
the Scheme.
BE Seems Greatly Worked Up and Has
Prepared Bill in Opposition
Thereto. ..........
A Comparison of the Western Union
System With That of Other
Countries.

committee, called his committee to order
at IL o'clock this morning and DR.. Nor
vim Green, president of the Western
Union Telegraph company, addressed
the committee in opposition to the gov
crnment telegraph bill. He devoted
himself first, though briefly, to the con-
StitutiOnal questions to which the meas
ure gave rise. he quoted decision of
the supreme court in effect that the
telegraph is necessary to commerce, and
that the telegraph business is in itself
commerce. WAS the government" he
asked, empowered by the constitution
10 enter into interstate commerce."
He touched upon this constitutional
point, he said, merely because he did
not wish the committee to understand
the company waived it, but without at
tempting TO elaborate it as lawyers
would. No people of the earth, he
maintained, enjoyed as perfect Sys-
TEN of telegraph as Americans. as any
person who had experience with tele-
graphs abroad would testify. He read
a letter from James Mclean. agent of
the Associated Press in London, to his
employers, which was as follows:
The Geographic communication be-
tween France and England is disgrace
fully bad. 1t is an actual fact that Lon
don merchants send their messages to
llaVre by way of New York, and they
reach Havre quicker than if they were
sent from London to Havre direct"
This fact. DR.. Green said, was cOrrob-
grated by the knowledge which came
10 the company through the transaction
of their own business. He showed that
the English rate of l. cents for twelve
words, including date, address and sig
nature. would in a large number of
eases If applied to messages sent i'll the
United States amount TO more than the
current 25-cent rate charged by his COM
pany. The address and signature in
English messages were very much
shorter, as a rule. The British system
had 29.S00 miles of line carrying I13, 900
miles OF wire and cable, covering an en-
tire area in the united kingdom of. 121,-
600 square miles. and the most distant
offices were separated from each other
by less than 600 miles. 1t had 6,514 pub
lie telegraph offices. The salaries of
operators and other employees averaged
about One-half those paid in this cOun-
try. This system does a business of
50. 243, $50 messages per annum. Now
TO handle a business of about 5000, 900
more messages in year the telegraph
lines in the United States have Ito, 600
miles of line. carrying $4,000 miles of
wire and cables, maintaining 1900
offices and covering an area twenty five
times as great as that of the British. AS
To long distance rates there was no part
of the world in which messages were ham
died so cheaply as here. The maximum
rate of 81 for the maximum distance of
from + 800 to 1850 miles is cheaper than
any other long distance rate, except
from France to AlgierS, which is over a
French government line. 1t was in
sisted. he said, that the Western Union
Telegraph company is monopoly.
What, he asked, is monopoly? The
Western Union had no exclusive fran
chiSeS, or legislative grants, The ele-
mentary patents of the telegraph had
expired, and the field was open to any
body who might choose to enter it. The
Western Union was no more monopoly
than any great commercial business. 1t
had come to be maxim in commerce
that an aggregation of capital in large
enterprises cheapenS production, and
therefore tends to the public welfare.
1t was this aggregation which had en-
abled the Western Union to reduce its
rates. as he would show by tables which
he would submit, to
LESS THAN ONE-HALF
the average cost to the company of
doing the business nineteen years ago.
The old rates looked very absurd at this
day. but if one were to go to Europe
and undertake to send message across
the continent he would find very much
similar rates prevailing there at this
time. In 1867 the cost of handling mes
sages averaged 63.4 cents, and the rate
to the public was 104.7. The public
rates had been reduced until in 1882 the
20 n
while the cost to the company was 35.S
and last year the rates to the public
were 30.4 cents, while the cost to the
company was % cents. Now, it might
be asked. would that rate not be
reduced during the present year? To
this he answered unheSitatingly that
the rate would not be reduced to the
public during the present year. A great
deal had been said about the increase
of rates. The Western Union had in
creased its rates in only two or three
instances. The rate of the Mutual
Union had been increased and the Ba l.
timore IL Ohio rates had been abolished
when that company was over. The
Baltimore IL Ohio had begun its. COM
petition by war of rates. 1t could be
well established that that company was
projected and built to be sold to the
Western Union as speculation. That
that was TO be accomplished on the
bases of the damage it could do to the
Western Union and not Oh the basis of
actual value. The matter of rates, he
maintained, was of far less consequence
to the public than the question of time.
rates had done business during last
year of 81 $4,000 against over 5000. 900
done by the Western Union, nOtWith-
standing the higher rates of the latter,
and the Baltimore & Ohio covering
nearly all the paying territory of the
country. The history of government
telegraphs was noted only for
TARDY AND LAUNDERING SERVICE,
and especially were government sys-
TENS Indifferent to- prompt deliveries.
They deliver at their leisure. The
French commissioner general of tele-
graph said to his Dr. Green's) prede-
ceSsOr: You make one grand mistake :;
you links zee telegraph is made for zee
people. We links zee people is made
for zee telegraph" 1t was not reason
able to hope or expect that the govern
ment would be more watchful or Wig
liant in keeping every employee down t o
his work than men who were imme-
diately interested in the profits of the
company. The doctrine of the Western
Union was that its greatest competitor
is time, and just as far as it could over
come time could it increase its revenues.
1t was this which had compelled it to
build "a, 900 miles of line last year, not
including the purchase of the Baltimore
d Ohio. Would the government OBJ
serve any greater degree of secrecy than
private corporation, especially as to
messages involving heads of the govern
ment who were the immediate employers
of the subordinates who handle the mes
sages? No government administration
would, of course, demand betrayal of
the secrets of the telegraph, but he pre-
sumed that most government admins
tratiOns would fail to punish such be-
trayal adequately, if it resulted
i'm great service To itself