Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-03-02

ilulOre ana ODIO Iete8Tdpn COul pdiy Hd0
paid on large class of business as high
as l. cents per message for commissions
aud collecting messages leaving out
operators salaries and wire mantle
nance. The. average cost of handling
their messages was % > cents and the
average charge was 1914 cents. The
acknowledgements. in his order fixing
rates for government business, had
made an order which the board of direc-
tors of the Western Union had decided
was practically an order of cOnttcation or
their business.
The doctor became somewhat excited
at this point, and looking hard at the
postmaster-general,w who steadfastlY re-
turned the gaze, he exclaimed: land
yet he says that ne is on first rate terms
with the telegraph companies. He may
| congratulate himself that he can smile
and smile, and murder while he smiles.
We propose to cOutroyert that order TX
| ing the rates for government messages IN
! the courts, and to demonstrate that II
! had not one half Of the cost of the ser
! vice. We have not received dollar on
account of government telegraph service
| since last July. We would rot accept
| the rate. One word more: I don t know
| whether I am right, but this is the way
| it looks 10 a man up tree. This Is 81
| and for the people. IN England
and other monsrchial governments,
| in Canada and N the So
| called French republic the cabinet
| ministers are members of the legislative
| departments and act as members OF 'he
| legislature. But in constitutional form
| of government, rs It is here, the execu-
! tive, legislative and judicial departments
| are made independent departments. The
| president may recommend from time TO
| time such legislation as may be needed.
| This proposed legislation has failed TO re-
| ceive his recommendation, although sub
| rnitted in the acknowledgements re-
! port before his annual message was
! sent to congress. 1 have never
| heard before that a cabinet minis
| ter may come before z committee
| to coach it and help his pet schemes
| through when they have not been recon-
| mended by the president.
At this point Representative Anderson
| of Mississippi interrupted DR.. Green 20
! call attention to the hour, and added
that the witness answers were argu-
meutative'and not responsive.
| Representative Grain Of Texas re-
| marked that so far as coach
| ing the committee was con-
| eerned the acknowledgement had
never spoken to HIM upon the subject
| When he, the postmaster general, was
| on the stand he, MIR. Grain, had cate
chised him as closely as he had DR..
| Green because he wanted to vote lnteili-
| gently upon the proposition.
DR.. Green-''The pOstmaster-generEl
| has between sixty and one hundred thou
sand civil appointments to make, aud
every member has two or three in his dis
| trict. -
n
| get none from him. My only objection
| to the posImaster-general is his politics.
Then addressing himself 10 the subject
of the pending bill, Mr.. Grain asked II
DR.. Green 5 objection was not based on
| the assumption that it provided for the
/ erection aud maintenance of government
| lines
| DR.. Green replied that that was what
! it amounted to-that would be the re-
| suit.
| Mr.. Grain asked why the Western
| Union opposed the bill and proposed an
impracticable plan?
| DR.. Green Because the fools are
| not all dead. A great many people
| would jump in to build the telegraph
! lines without assurance that they could
| make anything.
Mr.. Grain remarked that this objee-
! ton seemed to be that the Western Union
| company would not be helped, but the
| PEG pie would be.
DR.. Green replied that certain class
| of people would be benefited if they
could send messages at l cent q word or
at ! mill as originally proposed by the
| postmaster general. But the benefit
| would be confined to l per cent. or the
people and that at the cost OF the gov
| eminent.
Mr.. Grain rejoined that the bill did not
| propose that the government should meet
| the cost; the sender of the message was
to paw the entire expense.
DR. Green retorted the bill did not
| propose anything OF the sort; that was
his objection The sender would pay
fixed rate, which would be insufficient.
but, ''said Mr.. Grain cit authorizes
the government to contract wi tn the tele-
graph companies for service at a fixed
raIe. If it was losing sale, the COM
panies would be the losers, not the peo-
pie
DR.. Green replied that It was a matter
| of opinion rs to the result and the COM
mittee would see by experience that his
view was right.
Mr. Crain-''You say the English
operators receive but one-half of the
salaries paid TO your operators. Don't
they employ twice as many men TO do
the same work?''
DR.. Green-''I say it will take twice
as many in this country if the govern
ment does the work.
Chairman Ingham, addressing DR..
| Green, said II reference TO the criticism
of the postmaster-general: ''The post
master-general is here by the same invi-
tation as you are, TO discuss the half
dozen bills referred to the house for its
action. The postmester-gen has not
coached the committee, nor does the
| committee propose TO be coached by any
one.''
Mr.. Chandler, a committeeman, added
that when the committee fonnd that but
l 900 600 out of SO 900 .0o0 people were
using the telegraph, he believed il TO be
a duty to see how its use could be eX-
tended. 1t was an Improvement on the
| older system of mail communication
and the people should be offered every
opportunity to use it. 1t seemed to him