The Helena independent., 1893-12-23
OF AMERICAN TELEGRAPH.
System Of Private Ownership Conn
pared With Governmen. Owner
ship in England.
The Western Unions 10000
Miles Of Wire. Betting tho
Great Glob,.
A Talk with Col. II. G. Ciowry, Vice
President and General Superinten.
dent of tho Company.

| Some feeling has been aroused In tsle-
graph circles bv reason OF recent publica-
tions OF the chief engineer Of Bsittsh tels-
graphs. who claimed. after n visit to this
country. that the English compared favor
ably with their Anne lean cousins.
To learn his views upon this subjsst, 4
Chicago Inter Ocean reporter called on
Col. n. G. Clowry. vios-prssident and gem
| ernl superintendent of the Western Union
Telegraph company. and chairman Of the
committee on electricity at the Worlds
fair.
"Col Cowry, did you read the tsle-
graphic dispatches recently published in
which Mr.. Prssce. the chief engineer Of the
British teleRraphs 10 quoted as saying that
there was only one branch OF electrical in
dustFy IN which England compared favor
ably with their American oousinA that be-
ing telearnphy. In which they we're oer-
tainly ahead?"
'Yes. Tread the articls you mention"
Il suppose you also read the interview
with NJ. Preees published In tho New York
Sun last August?"
''Yes. I read that also"
"What is there to be said in reply TO
those statements Of Mr.. Preece?"
well. good deal can be said In refer
ence to the matter. In Mr.. Prseoe's inter
view In the Sun hs states that the tele-
graph facilities In England are greater
than they are here. for We 60 TO every town
and every 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 In reply to
that statement quote from the annual re-
port of the British postmaster-Rensral.w who
says: 'Ths department. has ceased to require
tho repay ymsnt OF the capital outlay for
telegraph extensions made under guarantee.
and tho guarantee is now required to cover
only the expense Of working and mainten-
ance. BY act Of parliament tbs rural sani-
tary authorities arc empowered to under
take guarantees for telegraph Offices at
PLACES within their districts and to defray
tho cost out Of the rates. As the result of
this concession there has been q considera-
BILE extension of the telegraph system in
rural distriots.' It will be seen by this that
ths telegr rsph system OF Great B.itsin ia
not extended to small towns excsptsunder a
10 COfoE tuo WJIkluR anu IuhlQ.
tenanos. The statements OF the Iostnas-
ter general 10, therefore. in direct CONTRA
diction Of that Of Mr.. P,eece.
Under the Western Union system, The
telegraph extends to every railway station,
great and small. in the United States. with
out expense 10 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
maintenance is guaranteed. Not withstand
| ing ths statemsnt Of Mr.. Preece that the
telegraph IN ENGLAND extends to every
town and village. it is fact shat there arc
| telegra PHI offices established ut less than
| one-thitd of the postotfices.
Il notice. also, that when asked bv tho
Sun reporter if he considered government
teleRraphs success la England. Mr..
Preece said: Yes. they arc undoubtedly a
success in England On tho other hand,
the British chancellor of the exoheuuer
in laying before tho house of comHons
last April the annual budget. said In
Lis speech thereupon. that the operations
of thu British government teleg apis fer
thu fiscal year showed bad revenue"
and an excess of actual working expenses
| over receipts of el15OOo ($5GO. 0OO). to say
nothing of the interest on the tlO, O00 900
1850. 0CO 000) of bonds issued for their ucqui-
chase by the government OF the telegraph
lines. including the moderate interest they
ought to havs paid upon their cost, tha
loss on that transaction had been G4. SOC. 900
(nbout $22. 0O0,GC0) which result was
rounded ON mlscalculatiou, and for any
thing that can bs saen to tbs cont nry it is
Il revenue which is going from bad to worss
and NOS likely to improve According to
these figures the British government has
operated the telegraph system for about
twrnty-two years at loss OF about s., ,O0O. :
0O0 a year. This telegraph is uaed
mostly by bankers mstcbantg. manufac-
Jurors. brokers. and specu ators. SO that,
according to the English pan. largo ma
lority OF the people who never use the tele-
praph have to make mp this yearly deficit of
$1,000. 900 in ordcs to afford the parties
rrst named low rates on their m msssagss.
But, while for short distances the word
rates ia England are lowe- than they are
here, still. owing to the different methods
in vogue in the two countries for counting
the number of words in message Tin
g eat Britain the wo DIS in ths address and
signature are counted, while we do not
count them), the cost to the sender on an
average message 10 about the same The
long distance rates On the codtlnent and
betwcsn England and the continent are
much higher than those for similar dis
tances in the United States.
Regarding the statement in the Sun
article that Mr.. Preeoe's department is the
Western Union and American Bell TeIe-
pone CDDipanlo6 IOlleO up INTO ono, and half
a dozen sub marine cable compa MES tn own
in etc, will merely call attention to the
fact that the b ritish telegraph systsm COM
prises but about 30, 900 miles of line, 19l OOO
miles OF wire. and 5000 offices, extsrdin q
| over an area OF Gbont 10000 square miles:
while the Western Union telegra oh system
alone comprises about 100. 600 milcs of. line.
750. GOO miles Of wire. $500 miles Of ocean
sub-marine cables, and 22.00C offices. *.
tending throughout an area of more than
100000 square miles, being. therefore,
about qundruple the British government
tsleQ ash system, and extending over an
area tweuty-fou- times az Rrent. The CAP.
ital account of the cost to the British gov
ernment of its teleRra b system 10 $50. OOO.- =
600. If the Western Union Telegraph com.
panV's capital account was in proportion to
it's prore ty in the same ration it would be
over 5000. 100000.
''Mr. Presce IN his interview SAYS that A:
In England the telegraphs belong to tho
psople; they are maintained by the people:
they hro supervised by the people; for
every Englishmnn has the right TO com
plain of any delay or anything wrong, not
only through the press. bat in the house,
of parliament. and every complaint OF
every kind received from any member OF
the public receives az much attention as
though IL came through tho houaea NJ p.r