The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1889-11-14
DON'T LIKE THE RATES
President Greene Of the Western Union
Replies TO UanamakeP's Circular.


~r0i, Washington. ID. q.
DEAR SIR: I have your favor Of De-
tobcr :Dth enclosing your official order OF
the same date purporting To FIX the rates
for the government telegraph service for
ttle fiscal year. The order has had all the
careful attention and consideration TINT
nm official document from such high
source Is entitled to receive, and after
such full consideration the executive conn
mittec Of the baard Of directors
has Expressed itself unanimously in .
preamble and resolutions, n copy of which
/ cncloss. to yoi herewith. From the rates
fixed last year. which were not reuiuncrn-
tive, your present order makes an aver
agc reduction of n fraction over ~ per
cent. On messages transmitted a less than
four. hundred mlils,s. which embrace the
large number of government messages,
continental nlcssaxes the reduction is
from 80 to 10 cents each of the minimum
message. or 10 per cent. On the signal
service of the war Department.. commonly
known the ''wcathcr REPORTS, the re-
sitictiou is onc-sixth. or soulthinG over six
teen per cent.
The. statement upon which you presume
that no questions can arise as To the
fairness of these reductions IL that ''the
reduced rates hereby determined are prac-
tically the same those upon which one
of the divisions departments of your
coIli,.tiIorr transacted business for the
public generally for q consideraDie time.
The fac, that the Mutual Union Ieic-
graph company, small organization bc-
longing to this company: did for a time
meet the Baltimore & Ohio Telegraph
tamccs and betwcen very few points at ten
cents is no evidence that NO loss of money
was Involved. If these companies had
hnswec" ,a, as you All fr"pp, no,mts ~ less M -" than
four hundred miles distant from
each other. the Baitimorc ONO
| out by the Baltimore Il Ohio railroad COM
pany as :, bad investments long before il
| ti,,ccd the earnings of the wes,ern Union
| telegraph company below its expenses in
that impo, tant department Of our b,'si;
ness. If the entire message business OF
| this company for the fiscal year just
closed had been sent at the rates named
that source would have been about
| four millions of dollars less than tue
hS."i u;n eoTs III, to ,,,a M oi nv 'ra~s fn. ww..r.
| ment were equal in number for the sew
| eral distances the rate named i'm your cir
| culaar would average Is cents for the min
| imun, message of ten body words. .cstirnat-
| ing ten words free for address and sigma
ture but as very much the greater number
| would he sent distances under 400 miles.
| and at the lowest rate established. IL Is
| prs,ibs,t,ie that am average of II cents would
words in each message. If the whole of
| the 81. los i2j messages sent the last fiscal
| year had paid us but an average of Ii
cents. the aggregate revenue Tor trans
| mitiing messages would have been
s1l6.2is.aD. Our total expenses were sii,.
| After dctlucting from the expenses the
amount paid other lines, the refunded
and uiicollcctt.si items, the rental and ope
cables. the cost of maintaining leased
wires aud the rental for and expenses oi
4 the gold and stock and commercial news
department, there are still left expcnd
itiires pertaining to- the handling OF mes
saRcs 81. 2.llS.56.l1, which the entire rcve
| niie at the rates yOt name would lack Over
| four millions of meeting.
Even il the government messages were
much larger than the estimate. and sho,l,
they yieldI-which is scarcely possible-au
average of 10 cents each and all our bust
ness We're done at that rate, there woult
| still be deficit of about two millions in
| that department of our service. Comrno
dorc Vanderbilt once met the attack of /;
ing n passenger rate of 10 cents betweeI
New York and Albany. Nobody supposed
that 10 cents was u reinunerative rate To
| SD long passage, but the move provcs
effective beca,Ise il enabled the Conrno
tlorc to buy the competing line though
course is sometimes entaiied by circun,
| stances and upon this company. Compel
J ing companys are often formed, not To-
business profits, but to force us to bu.
J them out or to retire from the field. WhcI
such competition occurs IL is a transieII
To seize upon one such feature and so fa
your office an umpire may control
to make that the basis of rate to b
: | charged on governments business, seem
| to us, not judicial. but vintlictive. 1t ]
this view yo.l have taken that we especial
rehension. but aSs statute under whicI
| you ARE acting is judicial and not penal.
The award made annually by you
y predecessors has subjected us to- injustice
hut we could ascribe tn erroneous jutiR
| nent the fixing of rate designed To b
| remunerative for the service hut which II
fact imposed q loss upon us. We hav
borne the loss in such cases with CON
plaitlt. Even yielding to the wish OF tin
| departments To have the messages sent b
!. | them not confined to the definition of tn
statute, but to- include all the official bus
ness. Upon the present action a course
pursued which gives your high officia
sanction To AN attitude toward
- us which we consider 50 unjus
SO well calculated to operate prejt
eiicially to our general telegraph b,Isincs
that we feel compelled to enter our carr
. est protest against it,
The course you suggest OF board q
arbitration is within what we have alway
preferred. We have stood ready alway
to submit tn the incumbent of your Ollie
the fullest opportunity for search into I'll
= cost s.f the telegraphic business. and
= accept freely his impartial Judgment.
you prefer to delegate that Judgment to
board composed as you suggest. leavir
the rates for this year to he governed t
that result. we shall he gla
to meet it. Respecting the ~.
sonal interview referred to
your letter regret that there was "A mi
L. understanding as to any positive engag