The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-07-30
WESTERN UNIONS PROTEST
The Telegraph Company's Reasons fer
Resisting a Reduction in Rates.
Government Business Cannot Be Carried at the
Terms offered by the POstmaster-General
Without Loss-COst of Service.

substance of the protest of the Western
Union Telegraph Company against the
Postmaster-generaps great cut of the rates
to be paid for telegraph service in the
transmission and delivery of government
messages, giving the history and objects of
the act of 1886, and the actions heretofore
taken under it. The rates in force for the
past five years have not been uniform of
1 cent per word, as many papers have as
sumed, but increasing on scale of dis
tances abovs one thousand miles, with a
minimum of 20 cents per message. and a
maximum of 212 cents per word.
The telegraph companies hold, and are so
legally advised, that the language of the
act does not give the Postmaster-g general
absolute power to fix any rate he may
deem fit. That. power is qualified
by constitutional restrictions. In Arti-
Gle is the language: Nor shall
private property be taken for public use
depends therefore, on the question. Is one
mill per word just compensation After
relating the circumstances leading to the
enactment of the acts of 1886 and 1872, CIV
ing to the telegraph companies certain
eminent certain advantages and privileges,
including priority of service at rates to be
annually fixed by the POstmaster-general.
the letter proceeds;
The fixing of rates does not appear to have
been considered an imperative duty of the Post
master general, for no action seems to have been
taken by that officer in the direction OF fixing
rates until July 1, 1871, when the necessity for
it was alleged to have arisen by reason of the
complicated character of the service in trans
uniting the signal weather reports. The rates
were then fixed satisfactorily to the telegraph
companies They were not annually revised I'M
til some years later, and in almostevery instance
what they could afford to do the service for. In
two instances Postmaster-general Jewell and
Postmaster general James, at the instance Of the
orders after they had been officially proclaimed.
The language of the act that messages be-
ment shall have priority over all other business
at such rates as the POstmaster-general shall
annually fix" may be construed as contemplating
patrons, because OF such priority in transmission
over all other business. Certainly it never con-
templated comforting the power TO TX the rates
below actual cost of the service. Such action Is
nothing short of confiscation and appropriation
of the propertyand service OF employees to the
use of the government without just c0mpensa-
ton therefor Twenty cents for twenty words
less for distances of 900 miles or less and 1
cent for each additional word, and Ito of cent
or traction thereof for distances of about one
thousand, as between Washington and New
York and St Louis or Chicago, Is scarcely one
half the rate paid by the public on current mes
sages. For distances of three hundred miles aAd
under it Is about three-fourths the commercial
rate. The working expenses OF the company
employed cost within a fraction Of 75 per cent.
of the total earnings. IT, therefore, the govern
ment rate averages less than rs per cent. Of the
rate to the public, as it undoubtedly does. then
the government business is now done at a loss.
The average cost to the company of handling
messages Is 23 2-1O cents per message. Ii the
government business does not pay something
more than this average then 1t must be done al
loss for the messages, in order to yield such an
average must be considerably above the average
length OF business messages (abOut seventeen
wordsl, and it is very exacting service, having
ing prompt and often long distance messenger
deliveries, or rewriting, in some cases. to deliver
by special wires.
These exhibits demonstrate that the rate as
fixed for the past year. Is great injustice to the
telegraph companies, and not on fair business
panies and other corporations for services
rendered. The rates ought, therefore, to be in
creased rather than diminished. BY the present
rate the government Is saving large sum, prob
its telegraph service below what other patrons
up from other, customers. In all JUS
| tee and fair dealing the existing rate
should therefore be increased. To do the gov.
ernment service for nothing necessarily imposes
heavier burdens on the people who sustain the
telegraph. The government is able to pay, and
| every business consideration demands that IT
shall pay a fair and reasonable consideration for
whatever service it may require.
| AS to the rate named for the ensuing fiscal
l Ill
companies, of June 20 uItimo. which you say say
twill be mill word, irrespective of distance,
| for all messages day or night" l have only to
say that it would not reimburse what this COM
| pany has to pay for the clerical service in re-
ceiving, counting, checking routing, numbering
| aud booking the message before its transmission;
that it would not reimburse what this company
| has to pay for the time of any one of
| from seven to eleven operators that
sage from Washington to Portland. Ore, that a
| message of the ordinary length would not reim-
/ burse what we have to pay for its delivery by
| messenger after it has reached its destination,
to say nothing of any part of the cost of main
tanning the lines, battery supplies. stationery,
| experimenting and other incidental expenses,
| this company of gathering up business, making
the accounts, and making the collections
A message nanaeo IN at ashington Is received,
1t is then sent to the operating room, where the
| circuit manager routes and numbers It. and sends
| sion it goes to the bOokkeeper to be entered
What we have to pay for the time of these sew
| eral employees is certainly more than one cent
| the value of a ten-wOrd message, and probably
| more than two cents, which would be the price
of twenty-word message at the rate named
points on then the Pacific coast pass throarH the
hands of from six to nine operators. To Oregon
| it requires three more operators. This company
transmitted during the last fiscal year 81 ,463,
955 messages The average cost OF delivery pe,
| message was about two and one fifth cents. You
may answer that the government
for two cents; but neither the government,
nor any other patron of the tele
graph would submit to the class OF
| deliveries made by the letter-carrers. In fact
| the government itself, in this city, charges IL
cents per letter for special deliveries and every
telegraph message requires a special delivery
| Over more than half the area of this city we pay
cents Der message for delivery.
Mn respect to the cost of gathering up the bust
ness, and making up the accounts for collection
| at many Of our small stations, they have but on,
government message during month. The Wa
| Department requires that the messages them
selves be rendered as vouchers. IL an agent OF
empiOye of any of the departments is detained
at the local station by railroad interruption. ans
sends a message of ten words, the manager O
that station finds that it is his duty {,
inclOse the message to the auditor o
the company here for collection Tha
would cost this company two-cen
postage stamp Then we shall have sent tn,
message, paid each operator engaged on it 2I
ment to forward the original message az vouche
and when the account is made up we get cen
back.
We have been always ready to serve the gov
eminent in the promptest and best manner IL
| our line of business, and have done a great dea
for the government without charge, giving Ii tn,
use of wires on special occasions and opening
new stations at considerable expense for sigma
and astronomical observations. We have ha,
our accounts tied up for a considerable portion
| of our service upon technical rules upon which
| we have been unable to procure a trial and de
csion of the courts until the arrears reache,
the neighborhood of 100000.
| AS instructed by the executive committee o
the board Of directors, most respectfully max
this the protest of the Western Union Telegraph
| Company, and of the subordinate telegraph com
| panies which Ii controls, against further reduc