Huntsville gazette., 1889-08-03
The TELEGRAPH SERVICE.

the Postmaster Generals Recent Action
IN Regard to Telegraph Tolls to be Paid
by the Government.
NEW YORK, July 30.-The following is
the substance of the protest of the West
ern Union Telegraph Company against
the postmaster Generals great cut of
the rates to be paid for telegraph service
IN the transmission aud delivery of Gov
ernment messages, giving the history of
the act or 1866, and the actions hereto
fore taken under it: A M
The rate in force for the past five years has
not been a uniform rate of one cent per word,
as many papers have assumed, but increasing
on a seGle of distances above a thousand miles,
With minimum OF twenty cents per message
ana a maximum of two and half cents per
word. The telegraph companies hold, and are
SO legally advised, that the language Of the act
does not give the Postmaster-General absolute
power to fix any rate he may deem fit. That
power is qualified by constitutional restric-
tions. In article is the language: Nor shall
private property be taken for public use with
out just compensation" The power depends,
therefore, on the question: Is one mill per
word a just compensation?
After relating the circumstances lead
ing to the enactment OF the acts of 1865
and 1872, giving to the telegraph compa-
MES certain franchises and privileges,
and to the Government certain advant-
ages and privileges, including priority Of
service at rates to be annually fixed by
the Postmast ter General, the letter pro-
ceeds:
The fixing Of rates does not appear to have
been considered an imperative duty OF the Post
mastcr-General, for no action seems to have
Deen taken by that officer in the direction of
fixing rates until July /, of 1871, when the ne
cessity for it was alleged to have arisen by rea
son of the complicated character of the
service in transmitting the signal wealth
er reports. The rates were then fixed
satisfactorily to the Telegraph companies.
They were not annually revised until some
years later, and in almost every instance the
telegraph companies were consulted as to what
they could afford to do the service for. In two
instances Postmaster-General Jewell and
Postmaster-Genera james, at the instance Of
the telegraph companies, recalled and modi-
fed their orders after they had been officially
proclaimed.
The language OF tho act that messages
between the several departments of the Gov
erment shall have priority over all other busi-
ness at such rates as the Postmaster-General
shall annually fix, may be construed con
templating the fixing of q higher rate than is
paid by other patrons, because of such prior
ity in transmission over all other business.
power to fix the rates below the actual cost of
the service Such action is nothing short Of
confiscation and appropriation OF the prop
erty and service of the employees to the use Of
the Government without just compensation
therefor. Twenty cents for twenty words or
less for distances Of one thousand miles or
less, ana one cent for each additional word
and one-tenth. of . cent per word for each adj
dluonal one hundred miles or fraction thereof,
is. for distances of nbOut one thOuS1ud miles
(as between Washington and New York and
St. Louis Chicago scarcely one-half the
rate paid by the public on current messages.
For distances Of three hundred miles and un-
der it is about three-fourths the commercial
rate. The working expenses OF the company
without any retNrn for any part of the capital
employed, cost within II fraction Of seventy
five per cent. of The total earnings. IT. there
fore, the Government rate averages less than
seventy-tiye per cent. of the rate to the public
Gas it undoubtedly does) then the Government
business is now done at loss. The average
cost to the company of handling messages is
| 23.3 cents per message. II the Government
business does not pay something more than
this average, then it must be done at loss, for
the messages, in order to yield such an aver
| age must be considerably above the average
| length of business messages (about seventeen
| words); and it is a very eXact1ng service, nav
| ing precedence over all other business, and re-
| curing prompt and often long-distance mes
| senger deliveries or rewriting in some cases to
| deliver by special wires.
| These exhibits demonstrate that the rate as
fixed for the past year is a great injustice to
the telegraph companies. and not on fair
business basis OF living profits, awarded to rail-
road companies AM other corporations for
| services rendered. The rates ought, there
| fore, to be increased rather than diminished.
| BY the present rate the Government is saw
| ing q large sum-probably 800, 0,00j-annually, by
| the reduced cost Of its telegraph service below
what other patrons have to pay. and that saw
! ing is necessarily made up from other custom
| ers. In all justice and fair dealing, the ex-
| tstng rate should, therefore, be increased. To
| do the Government service for nothing neces-
sarly imposes heavier burdens on the people
| who sustain the telegraph. The Government
| is able to pay, ana every business consideration
demands that it shall pay q fair and reasonable
| consideration for whatever service it may re-
! quire.
AS to the rate named for the ensuing fiscal
| year in your official circular to the telegraph
! companies of June 20 ultimO, which, you say,
| twill be one mill word, irrespective OF dis
| tance, for all messages day or night" 1 have
| only to say that it would not reimburse what
this company has to pay for the clerical service
| in receiving counting, checking, routing, num-
| berfng and 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
| would be engaged in the transmission Of a
| message from Washington to Portland, Ore ;
| that message of the ordinary length would
| not reimburse what we have to pay for its de-
| livery by messenger after it has reached its
| destination, to say nothing Of any part Of the
| cost Of maintaining the lines, battery supplies,
| stationery, experimenting, office and other in
| clental expenses; and, finally, it would not
reimburse the cost to this company of gather
| ing up business, making up the accounts ana
making the collections.
| message handed in at Washington IS re-
| ceived, counted and checked by the clerk at the
window. 1t is then sent to the operating room,
| where the circulating manager routes and num-
bers it. and sends it TO the proper instruments
| Alter its transmission It goes to the book-keep-
| er to be entered What we have to pay for the
| time of these several employees is certainly
| more than one cent, The value OF ten-"ord
| message, and probably more than two Genus,
| which would be the price OF twenty-Woro
| message at the rate named Messages from
| New York or Washington to points on the "a
| fic coast pass through the hands OF from SIX
| to nine operators. To Oregon it requires three
! more operators. This company TRANSMITTED
| during the last fiscal year 81, ,4639 995 messages
! The average cost of delivery per message was