Omaha daily bee., 1889-08-09
RETURNS TO THE ENCOUNTER
Green Takes Another Whack at
Wanamaker.
POINTS OUT SOME MISTAKES.
The Doctor Says the Western Union
Telegraph Company Dossn't own
the Earth, But He Wishes
That 1t Did.
Another Enistolary Bout.

NEW YoRK, August S.-Dr. Norviu Green,
president of the Western Union company,
to-day sent to Postmaster General Wana-
maker the following response:
Hon. John Wauamaker, Postmaster Cen
eral-Dear Sir: Acknowledging the receipt
of your letter of August 2, l beg to say 1
much regret that the publication of my let
ters to you, to which you refer, was rendered
necessary by the extraordinary statements
con information furnished this" your de-
partment) contained in your letter of July 10
and extensively printed in the newspapers
on the following day. You again refer to
the privileges and benefits derived by this
this company through the acts of congress,
and especially the act Of 1885, You say:
"Under these grants the company has
claimed the right to use without compensa-
tion of any kind as a right-of-way all the
highways Of the country, on the ground Of
their being post roads. 1t is has broadened
this claim to the extent that the streets of
cities aud towns are also made post roads
AMI therefore open and free to its occupancy
and use. The courts have sustained it in
this claim"
Either you or we are very badly informed
by our respective legal advisers as to what
has been claimed by the telegraph company
and held by the court in respect to the scope
and authority Of that grant. have had oc-
casion from time to time to go through the
records in great many cases, but do not
recall any instances in which such claim has
been made and sustained by the courts.
What we understand the government did
give us in the act of 1866, was a franchise
and right TO do a telegraph business in all
the states, and this franchise was
given alike to all telegraph companies
or other parties who might accept it,
and subsequently by what was known as the
Butler amendment it was especially extended
to all railroad companies, but the act never
assumed to give us and could never give US
the right TO plant our poles on land belong
ing to the government, and that right we
have very rarely exercised except when the
government wanted us to extend our lines
for the convenience of the government into
its navy yards or military posts or stations,
or to its department quarters in the city of
Washington. Had you carefully read the
decision in the Pensacola telegraph case, to
which you refer, you would not have fell into
such grievous error upon this point. Chief
Justice Waite thus defin the scope of the
act of 1865 under consideration:
"No question arises as to the authority of
co ngress to provide for the appropriation of
private property to the uses of the telegraph,
for no such attempt has been made. The
use Of public property alone is granted. If
private property is required 1t must, so far
as the present legislation is concerned, be
obtained by private arrangement with its
owner. No compulsory proceedings are
authorized. State sovereignty under the
constitution Is not interfered with. Only
national privileges are granted"
The decision in this case, therefore, was that
the state of Florida could not prohibit West
ern Union Telegraph company from erecting
and operating its lines of telegraph in that
state after it had acquired right of way for
its plant from railroad company of that
state, but did not hold that it was exempt
from the obligation to buy or condemn, under
state statutes, the property necessary to
build its lines. The railroads are post roads,
as well as some of the highways, and if the
government gives US the right of way on
road companies for ita We have to contract
for, and obtain our rights of way from
the parties who own them, whether
railroad companies, turnpike companies or
individual land owners, and in case of streets
and highways we have to obtain license
from the city, county or state authorities, or
condemn under the authority of the states
laws.
l sincerely wish that your ideas of
the law that we are in fact occupying many
thousand miles OF post roads and are priv
lleged to all the highways IN tho United
States under the grants of that act, may
prove sound in law, but we have not relied
upon that grant and are satisfied the courts
would not sustain your views. Our
occupancy of streeLs is always by
license of the local authorities
of the state, and in the case of the Elevated
railroad company, in the city Of New York,
to which you refer, we pay the companies
who own the structure for the right to string
our wires thereupon.
The act to which you refer gives the tele-
graph companies accepting it the right to
take stone and timber from public lands and
to pre-empt and enter not exceeding forty
acres from each section. We have never
needed any stone, and since the passage Of
the act the railroads across the continent
have afforded ample facilities for transport
ing cedar for poles, which is more durable
and economical than the native timber that
might pc found accessible on unoccupied
government lands. AS to pre-empting forty
acres of land for stations, we have found that
wherever a telegraph STATEN was needed
there were no unoccupied government lands,
and If wo were to establish station on any
forty acres of unOccupied government land
it would be in a locality that would yield no
revenue. 1t is true, therefore, that we have
never taken stone or stick Of timber nor
appropriated foot of public land under that
law The franchise granted this company
in common with other parties was not sup
posed TO be solely for our benefit, but to se-
cure convenient facilities to the public.
The effect Of establishing our right to do
business in Pensacola was to wipe out u
charge OF 500 for ten-word message for a
distance of forty.five miles, the Overland
line claiming the exclusive franchise under
the state laws-and the establishment of a
branch office IN the navy yard at that port,
which to this day we are operating for the
benefit Of the government at loss. the busi-
ness Of that office not being sufficient TO pay
the salary of the operator.
Second. We seem TO be getting near to-
gether as TO the power and the duty of the
postmaster-general to name the tolls
to be paid on government mes
sages. only claim this power
and duty are limited by the constitution
to a just compensation for the service re-
quired, and that a just compensation must
cover the actual cost of the service, with
something added for the use of the facilities
necessary TO perform IL, and as you say the
government is willing TO pay just rates We
have come to quite an agreement on the
principle that must govern the fixing OF rates
10 be paid.
Third. still insist that the government
Is our most favored customer and that the
rate for government service during the past
five years, considering the character of the
service, is lower than that given TO any other
person. The government rate has been
cent per word for 1000 miles or less, You
may make up supposed message, with ad-
dress and signature OF unusual length
and twenty words in the body, sent a short
distance under our half rate contracts with
certain transportation companies, and show
that IL is little tride less than the govern
ment rate hut you forget that 10 this hal