Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1889-11-16
DR.. GREEN TALKS BACK.
The President of the Western
Union Tells Wanamaker
About Rates.
The Company Willing to Leave
the Matter to Arbi-
tration.
From Thursdays Daily.

N" ANhh1 4NoNs LIZ, 1oO0.
HON JOHN WANAMAKER, Postmaster
General, Washington, d. C.-DEAR SIR:
have your favor OF Oct. 81, enclosing you
on1cial order OF the same date, purport
ing to fix the rates for the government tele
graph service for the fiscal year. The or
der has had all the careful and deliberat.
consideration that an official document
from such a high source is entitled to re
ceive, and after such full consideration tn,
executive committee OF the board OF di
rectors has expressed itself unanimously
in preamble and resolutions, copy o
which enc ose to you herewith, from
the rates fixed last year which were not
remunerative. Your present order makes
an average reduction OF fraction over
40 per cent. On O message transmitted
less than 400 miles, which embraces the
lighter number eli government messages
the reduction is 30 per cent; and on trans.
continental messages the reduction Is from
message or go per cent; on the signal
service Of the war department, commonly
known as the weather reports, the reduc-
tion is one-sixth or seventh over, sixteen
per cent. The statement upon which you
presume that no questions can arise as to
the fairness of these reductions is that
"The reduction rates hereby determined
are practically the same as those upon
which one Of the divisions or departments
OF your company, as well as one OF it's
principal competitors transacted business
for the public generally for a considerable
time" The fact that the Mutual Union
Telegraph company. a small organization,
belonging to this company did, for q time,
meet the Baltimore & Ohio Telegraph COM
pany in sending messages q short distance
and between q very few points at ten cents
money involved. Ii these companies had
made, as you propose, a rate Of 10 cents
between all points less than 400 miles dis
tant from each other, the Baltimore & Ohio
telegraph system would have been sold out
by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad COM
pany as q bad investment long before it
was sold, and that the rate
ings OF the Western Union Telegraph
COMPANY below it's actual expenses in that
important department OF our business, the
entire message business OF This company
for the fiscal year just closed had been sent
at the rates named in your circular, our
total reports from that source would have
been about 81, ,OOO, 900 less than the actual
CObU 10 US OI UTHubACIluS UnhU Uubluoeb. Ii
the messages sent by the government were
equal in number for the several distances,
the rate named in your circular should
average 16 cents for the minimum mes.
sage of ten body words, estimating ten
words free for the address and signature;
but as very much the greater number
would be sent distances under 400
miles, and at the lowest rates estab- |
lished it is probable that an average OF
ID cents would allow for two or three
additional body words in each message. II
the whole OF the 81, los, 1926 mes
ssages sent the last fiscal year
had paid US an average OF but 15
cents, the aggregate revenue Tor transmit
ting messages would have been $S,116,-
248.90. Our total expenses were $l4,-
545, ,152.61, and after deducting from the
extenses the amount paid other lines, the
refunded nd uncolected items, the rental
and operating cost OF our Atlantic and
Cuba cables, the cost OF maintaining leased
wires and the rental for and the expenses
OF the gold and stock and commercial news
department, there are still left as expendi- |
lures, strictly pertaining to the handing
of messages, $12,11S. .561.17, which the
entire revenue Of the rates you name would |
lack over four million dollars OF meeting.
Even il the government messages were
much longer than the estimate and should |
yield (which is scarcely possible, an average
OF 20 cents each and all our business were
done at that rate) there would |
ustill be a deficit of about two
million dollars in that department. |
OF the service. Commodore Vanderbilt |
ssace met the attack of a competing line OF |
steamers by establishing a passenger rate |
OF 10 cents between New York and Albany. |
NOBODY supposed that 10 cents was O re- |
munerative rate for so long passage, but
the move proved effectual, because it en- |
sbled the commodore to buy the competing |
line without paying a speculative price Tor /
it. Such q course is sometimes entaied bY |
circumstances and are open to this com
pany. Competing companies are often
formed, not for business profit, but TO !
force us to buy them out or retire rom tne |
field. When such competition occurs IL
ia a transient and isolated feature OF our
message business. To seize upon one such |
feature, and, 80 far as your ONCE as an
umnire NAV control, to make that the basis |
of q rate to be charged on government bGsi' |
ness, seems to us not judicial, hut vindlc- |
tive. II is this view you have taken that
we especially regret. We may seem to de- |
,serye reprehension, but the position under |
which you are ,cting is judicial.
The award made annually by your prede- |
cesNors has seemingly subjected us 60 ln!u =
tice, but we could ascribe to the erroneous
iudgment the fixing OF a rate designed TO
remunsrate us for the service, but which,
in fact. imposed loss upon us. we nave
borne the loss on such cases without com
pIaint. and even yielding to the "lsn Oh 1'e
denartmeuts to have the messages sent
by them not confined to the dehnitlon OF
the statue, but to include all the onciai
business. Upon the present occasion .
course is pursued which gives you nlgI om
c;aI sanct;on to an attitude towards US
which we consider 80 unjust and 80 wen
calculated to operate preiudicialiy 20 our
general telegraph business that we teel com.
Deled to enter our earnest protest
against it. hord
The further cause you suggest OF board
OF arbitration is within what we nave a.,
ways proffered. We have stood reaoy a.
ways to supply to the incumpen! s oi sesrch arch
Office the fullest opportunity Tor a sealca
into the cost OF telegraphic business anu
to accept freely his impartial Judgment.
II YOU prefer to delegate that luogmeno
to a board composed as you Suggest, leav
ing the rates for this year to De govefneu
by that result, we shall be glad TO meet IL;
Respecting the personalinterview reIerreo
to in your letter, regret that there was
misunderstanding as to any posio,ve, ,est eS
Conferences. When we separated ou askeo
ifyou should see me again, answered tnas
I did not know OF any good that couid
.coms N a further conference, but IL found
tina IN tbe forenoon OF the next DAY
%ouId S%I ~ make uas you a short call. The next
morn;no 7 had some business at the tele.
orsnb oftice and on returning to my hotel
learned that you had called and expressed
regrets at my being out. II had then nao
the least intimation that you intenoeo 70
call on me, / should certainly have ea"ai'eo
your arrival.
Ihaye the honor to remain
Very respectfully yours,
NoRvIN GREEN,
n..,;ao.k ~ tha Uo.tarp IJniou TeleQraDh