St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-07-30
WESTERN union Wall
Continued From First Page

lions. A message handed in at Wash,
iGgtop is received, counted and checked
by the clerk at the window. 1t Is then
sent to the operating room, where the
circuit manager routes and numbers 1T,
and sends it to the proper instruments.
After its transmission 1t 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 ten-word message, and
probably more than two cents, which
would be the price of twenty-word
message at the rate named. Messages
from New York or Washington to
points on the Pacific coast pass through
the hands of from six to nine operators.
To Oregon it requires three more oper-
atorS. This company transmitted dur
ing the last fiscal year 81, 1863, 955 mes
sages. The average cost of delivery
per message was about two and fifth
cents. You may answer that the gov
eminent sends letters a thousand
miles and delivers them for
two cents, but neither the gov
eminent nor any other patron
of the telegraph would submit to the
class of deliveries made by the letter
carriers. In fact, the government it
self, In this city, charges 10 cents per
letter for special deliveries, and every
telegraph message requires special de-
livery. Over more than half the area Of
this city we pay cents per message for
delivery. In respect to the cost of
gathering up the business and making
up the accounts for collection, at many
OF our small stations they have but one
government message during a month.
The war department requires that
the messages themselves be rem
dered as vouchers. Ii an agent or
employe of any of the departments is
detained at a small station by railroad
interruption and sends message of ten
words, the manager of that station finds
IL his duty to inclOSe that message by
mail to the auditor of the company here
for collection. That would cost this
company tWo-cent postage stamp.
Then we shall have sent the message,
paid each operator engaged on it two
and half cents for delivering it and
two cents to the government to forward
the original message as voucher,
and when the account is made up we
get one cent back. We have been al
ways ready TO serve the government in
the promptest and best manner in our
line of business, and have done great
deal for the government without charge,
giving it the use of wires on special Oc-
casions, and opening new stations at
considerable expense, for signal and as
Economical observations. We have
HAD OUR ACCOUNTS TIED UP
for considerable portion of our service
upon technical rulings, upon which
we have been unable to pro-
cure trial and decision OK
the courts until the arrears have
reached the neighborhOod of 100000.
As instructed by the executive commit
tee of the board of directors. I most re-
Spectfully make this protest of the
Western Union Telegraph company,
and OF the subordinate telegraph COM
panies which 1t controls, against any
further reduction below the rates in
operation during the last few years of
tolls to be paid by the government for
the transmission of its messages, as a
wrong and injustice to this company.
to its $500 stockholders, and to its mill
ions of other customers. l have the
honor to remain mostrespectfully yours,
NORVIN GREEN. President.