Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1890-08-09


cepted. This provided that after five
years the United States could buy for
postal military. or other purposes, all
the lines. property and effects ''at an
appraised value, 10 be ascertained by
five competent, disinterested persons"
two to be chosen by the Postmaster
General, two by the company interes-
ted, and one by these four. 1t was by
this act that the government secured
priority for its messages over private
business, and also the power TO pres
cribe the rates therefor, which has
caused so much contention recently be.
tween the P0stmasterGeneral and the
Western Union
Granted that the government has the
right, is it wise to do any of these things,
and if so, which is the wisest:
The arguments for postal telegraphy
come under two heads-increased eco
nomy to the people and increased eff
cheney of the service. There being an
undoubted monopoly of the telegraph
business in this country, the question is
not only whether the government can
do work of this sort cheaper than private
persons, but also whether its cost under
the government, if larger than that un
der private management, will be smaller
than the charge under private manage.
ment. In the matter of actual cost, few
argue that the government, hampered
by the lack of the incentive of COMPETE
tion and those other incentives that
enter so largely into individual effort,
could make the better showing. There
would be undoubted gain in making the
present facilities of the postal service go
farther, in the way of utilizing spare
room in government buildings and the
spare time of government employees,
especially of the postmasters in small
places, but this would he offset by many
evident losses in the way of individual
energy and the motive of making money.
The question is rather whether the gov
eminent can save the people valuable
part of private profits. The Western
Union, which is practically the tele-
graph system of our country, had, for
the year ending June 80, 1889, receipts
amounting to $50, 1914; expenses,
$14,565, 152; profits, $6.21S,041. The
practical question here is not how these
profits We're obtained, but whether the
community can be saved them by postal
telegraphy. In short, it is whether it
will cost the government half as much
again to run the telegraph business as
it costs the Western Union, and this
question only experience can answer.
Here comes in the testimony of other
countries. Of the telegraph lines of the
world 81 per cent. are owned and
operated by governments; leaving out
tho TTpifod StataS ap1 Canada OK nor
cent. The average cost, not the charge
but the cost, of sending one message in
this country under private management
is 22.4c.; in the following countries,
under government management, it is
less: Belgium 10.6c., Great Britain,
7.6c., Netherlands 1850, Switzerland
/ 1872. In most, perhaps all, of the other
countries it is larger, running up to as
high as 62,5c. in Russia. 1t must be
borne in mind, however, that geograph-
ical conditions enter into the problem,
and also that the ratio of messages to
plant is an important factor. The terri
tory covered by the telegraph lines of
Great Britain, for instance, is but little
| larger than our four middle states. Her
ratio of messages to miles of line is as
| 1855 to /, while ours is only 321 to l.
Whether the English government makes
or loses money by operating the tele-
graph is hardly as relevant a matter as
most debaters of this question seem to
| think. She has lost steadily because tolls
have been kept down, so that individual
message senders have gained at the
expense of the public purse She would
have lost less had not a bad bargain
been made in buying the lines from the
companies.
This brings to mind the strongest ar
gument against buying existing lines if
the state goes into the telegraph bust
ness. 1t is urged that no fair bargain
can be made, that we shall have to
purchase watered stock, etc. In rebuff
tai the other side say that by the act of
1866 the government need pay only for
the plant at its appraised value. In all
justice, however, the franchise must be
included, for it is in effect a franchise
that the Western Union has, and present
stockholders ought not to suffer because
their predecessors may have secured the
bulk of it by questionable methods.
But whether IL is better to hire, buy
or build need not here be discussed.
That is a matter of detail. The only
other fundamental problem, indeed,
after determining whether the postal
telegraph would be cheaper, is whether
it would be better. Testimony differs
as to what the effect has been in Eng
land. 1t is claimed, however. that more
stations have been opened than seemed
probable under private management,
that the best methods have been adopted
as soon as they were devised, and that
in general both the constructive and
the inventive faculties of the public
service have not been inferior to those
of private service here. -BradStreets
The Printers.