Wichita eagle., 1889-11-14
GREEN TO wAHAMAKER.
The Western Union President Again Treats
Government Telegraph Rates.

VVvo1uuouV 4OlOSAopA AsoWOo'
NEW YORK, Nov. 13.-The following
correspondence was m de public today:
NEW YORK. Nov. II. 1889.
Hon. John Wanamaker. Postmaster General. Wash
ington, d. c.:
Dear Sir-I have your favor of Octobe,
30, enclosing your official order of the
same date, purporting to fix the rates fol
government telegraph service for the fiscal
year. The order has had all the careful
and deliberate consideration that an offic-
ial document from such a high source Is
entitled to receive, and after such full con-
sideration the executive committee of the
board of directors has expressed itself
unanimously in a preamble and resolu-
lions, a copy of which I enclose 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 messages
transmitted less than four hundred miles,
which embrace the larger number OF gov
eminent messages. the reduction is 80 per
cent and on trans-continental messages
the reduction is from so to 20 cents each on
the minimum message, or 60 per cent. On
the signal service of the war department,
commonly known as the weather re-
ports" the reduction is one-sixtSS, or some
thing over 16 per cent. The sta ement
upon w ich you presume that no questions
Can arise as to the fairness OF these re-
auctions is that ''the reduced rates
hereby determined are practically the
of the divisions or Departments of
your company, rs well as one of its princi-
pal competitors, transacted business Tor
the public generally for a considerable
time" The fact that the Mutual Union
Telegraph company, small organization
belonging to this company, did for time
meet the Baltimore g. Ohio Telegraph
company's rate in sending messages short
distances, and between very few points at
10 cents, is no evidence that no loss OF
money was involved. If these companies
had made, rs you propose, rate of Ocents
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
company rs bad investment long before
it was sold, and that rate would have re-
duced the earnings OF the Western Union
Telegraph company below its actual ex-
penses in that important department OF
our business. II the e. tire message
business of this company for the tsaal
year just closed had been sent at the rates
named in your circular, our total receipts
from that source would have been about
four millions of dollars less than the act
ual cost to us of transacting that business.
If the messages sent by the government
were equal in number for the several dis
tances, the rate named in your circular
would average Is cents for the minimum
message of ten body words, estimating ten
words free for address and signature, but
as very much the greater number would
be sent distances under 400 miles and at
the 10 v est established, it is probable that
an average of Is cents would allow for two
or three additional body words in each
message. If the whole Of 81, 1858 mes
sages sent during the last fiscal year had
paid us but an average of Is cents
the aggregate revenue for transmitting
would have been SS.l16. 24S9 so.
Our total expenses were Sl4, 565. l52 oil.
After deducting from the expenses the
amount paid other lines, the refunded and
uncollected items, the rental and operating
cost of our Atlantic and Cuba cables, the
cost of maintaining leased wires and the
rental for and expenses OF the gold and
stock and commercial news department,
there are still left as expenditures strictly
pertaining to the handling of messages
sig, u.s. SOL. II, which the entire revenue at
the rates you name would lack over four
millions of meeting. Even if the govern
ment messages were much longer than
estimate and should yie.d (Which is
scarcely possible) an average of 20 cents
each and all our business were done at
that rate there would still be deficit of
about ten millions in that department of
service.
Commodore Vanderbilt once met the
attack of competing line of steamers by
a passenger rate OF 10 cents
between New York and Albany. Nobody
supposed that 10 cents was remun-
eratiye rate for so long pas
sage, but the move proved etfec-
tive because it enabled the commodore
to buy the competing line without pay
ing speculative price for it. Such
course is sometimes entailed by circum-
stances upon this company. Competing
are often formed not for BUSH
ness profits, but to force US to buy them
out or retire from the field. When such
occurs it is a transient and
isolated feature of our message business.
To seize upon such a feature and so far as
your office as an umpire may control, to
make that the basis of a rate
to be charged on government
business. seems to US not judicial
but vindctive. 1t is this view you have
taken that we especially regret. We may
seem to deserve apprehension. but the
statute under which you are acting is
judicial and not penal. The award made
by your predecessors has some
times subjected us to injustice. but we
could ascribe it 70 erroneous judgement in
the fixing of a rate designed to renumerate
us for the service, but which, in fact i'm
posed loss upon us. We have borne the
loss in such cases without COM
plant, even yielding to the
wish of the departments to have the
messages sent by them not confined to the
definition of the statute but to include All
their official business. Upon the present
occasion course is pursued which gives
your high officials an attitude towards us
vich we consider so unjust and as well
calculated to operate prejudicially to our
general telegraph business that we feel
compelled to enter our earnest protest
against it. The further course you suggest
IF board of arbitration is within what
we have always proffered. We have
stood ready always to supply to the in
,umbent of your Office the fullest oppor-
unity for search into cost of telegraphic
business and to accept freely his impartial
if you propose to delegate that
Judgment to a board composed as you
suggest, leaving the rates for this year TO
De governed by the result we shall be glad
20 meet 1t.
Respecting the personal feelings refer
red to IN your letter | regret that there
was misunderstanding as to any positive
TO see you again after our last
conference When we separated you asked
f you should see NE again. Unanswered that
did not know of any good that could
come of further conference, but that If |
found time in the loren DON of the next dsy
would make you a short call the next
l had some business at our tele-
graph offices and on returning to my
hotel learned that you had called and ex-
pressed regrets at my being out. If had
had the least intimation that you intend
ID to call on me l should certainly have
awaited your arrival. ! have the honor to
-a,pain Vary rcspactf,yliv vourS