St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-12-07

Vice President and General
superintendent of the Western
Union Company.
Chicago Inter Ocean.
Some feeling has been aroused in tele-
graph circles by reason of recent pub
locations OF the chief engineer of British
telegraphs, who claimed, after visit to
this country, that the English compared
favoraDly with their American cousins.
To learn his views upon the subject.
reporter called yesterday OH Col. r. c.
ClOwry, vice president and general
superintendent of the Western Union
Telegraph company, and chairman of
the committee Oh electricity at the
worlds fair.
Col. Clowry, did you read the tele-
graphic dispatches recently published,
in which MIR. Preece, the chief engineer
of the British telegraphs. is quoted as
saying that there was only one branch
of electrical industry In which the En-
glish compared favoIably with their
American cousins, that being tele-
graphy, i'll which they were certainly
ahead?"
Yes, read the article you men,
tion.''
II suppose you also read the inter-
view with Mr.. Preece, published in the
New York Sun last August?"
''Yes, read that also"
''What is there to be said in reply to
those statements of Mr.. Preece?'
well, good deal can be said in ref
erence to the matter. In Mr.. Freezes
interview in the Sun he states that the
telegraph facilities in England are
greater than they are here, for we 20 to
every town and village, irrespective of
the fact that they pay or do not pay,
while in the States the places that pay
appear to me to be the only ones that
receive the attention of the telegraph
companies LII reply to that statement
quote from the annual report of the
British postmaster general. who says:
The department has ceased TO require
the repayment of the capital outlay for
telegraph extensions made under
guarantee. and the guarantee is
now required to cover only the
expense of working and mainte-
nance. BY act of parliament the rural.
sanitary authorities are empowered to
undertake guarantees for telegraph
offices at places within their districts
and to defray the costs out of the rates.
AS the result of this concession there
has been a considerable extension of the
will be seen by this that the telegraph
system of Great Britain is not extended
to small towns except under a guaranty
to cover the working and maintenance.
The statement of the postmaster gen.
eral is. therefore, direct contradiction
of that of MIR. Preece.
WESTERN UNION SYSTEM.
''Under the Western Union system,
the telegraph extends TO every railway
station, great and small. in the United
States, without expense to the public,
and we are only too glad to extend our
lines to other towns not connected with
railroads, where, as in Great Britain,
the expense of working and mainte-
nance is guaranteed. Notwithstanding
the statement of Mr.. Preece that the
town and village, it is a fact that there
are telegraph Offices established at less
than one-third of the posloffices.
II notice, also, that when asked by
the Sun reporter if he considered gov
eminent telegraphs success in Eng
land, Mr.. Preece said: Yes. they are
undoubtedly success in England On
the other hand. the British chancellor
of the exchequer, In laying before the
house of commons last April the annual
budget, said, in his speech thereupon,
eminent telegraphs for the fiscal yea
showed bad revenue and an excess
Of actual working expenses over receipts
OF 4l15,000 about $500, 000). to say nothing
OF the interest on the G10.000,000 (about
$50, 000, 000) of bon DIS issued for their &C
QUESTION. He also said that since the
purchase by the government of the
telegraph lines, including the moderate
interest they ought TO have paid upor
their cost, the loss on that transaction
had been 94.500.00 (about S22, 900. 00O),
which result was founded on miscal-
culation, and for anything that can be
seen to the contrary, it is revenue
Which is going from bad to worse and
not likely to improve. According to
these figures, the British government
has operated the telegraph system for
about twenty-five years at loss of
about 81, GOO, 900 year. The telegraph
is used mostly by bankers, merchants.
manufacturers, brokers and specu-
lators, so that, according to the English
plan, large majority of the people
who never use the telegraph have to
make up this yearly deficit Of 81, 0OO, 600
i'll order to afford the parties first
named low rates on their messages.
But, while for short distances the word
rates in England are lower than they
are here. still owing to the different
methods in vogue in the two countries
for counting the number of words in a
message I'm Great Britain the words in
the address and signature are counted,
while we do not count them) the cost
to the sender OIL an. average message is
about the same. The long distance
rates oil the continent, and between
England and the continent, are much
higher than those for similar distances
In the United States.
BETTING THE GLOBE.
"Regarding the statement in the Sun
article that MIR. Preece's department is
the Western Union and American Bell
Telephone companies rolled up into
one, and half dozen submarine cable
companies thrown in etc., will merely
call attention TO the fact that the Brit
ish telegraph system comprises but
about $4,000 miles of line, 10000 miles
of wire and 5000 offices, extending over
an area of about 100000 square miles;
while the Western Union telegraph sys-
tenn alone comprises about $780, 900 miles
of line, 100000 miles of wire, $500 miles
of ocean submarine cables and $4,000
offices. extending throughout an area
of more than 100000 square
miles, being, therefore, about quad
ripple the British government
telegraph sys tem,and extending over an
area twenty-fo ur times as great. The
capital account of the cost to the B ritish
government of its telegraph system is
S50.000.000. If the Western Union Tele-
graph company's capital account was in
proportion to its property liz the same
ratio it would be over $200,000,000.
''Mr. Preece in his interview says
that: In England the telegraphs be-
long to the people; they are maintained
by the people; they are supervised by
the people; for every Englishman has
the right to complain Of any delay or
anything wrong, not only through the
press, but through the houses of parlia-
ment, and every complaint of every
kind received from any member Of the