The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1895-06-06
the TELEGRAPH IN ENGLAND.
Hon. walter Ciark sorcis,y Shows the
Great Bssent OF Goseramsat o. nsr.hip
Of Monopolis>s

Of Monopolis>.
As taxes upon the diffusion of in
tellIgenee among then and deficieu-
cies in the postal service affect every
one, | condense the following from
the Official report Of the workings Of
the Government Telegraph in Eng
land made 10 our government by the
United States consul at SoutL amp
ton Eng, and printed in the last
number of the Consular Reports. -
He says:
"On January %. 1870. all the tele-
graphs in the United Kingdom, were
acquired by the government from
the corporations which had previous
ly operated them and thenceforward
became an integral part of the post
office. The English people owed this
great measure IN their inter ests. Ink,
SO many others, to Mr.. Glads,ou-,
who bore down all opposition from
the comps MES who were making big
profits. Till then the districts pay
ing best had ample service, though
at high rates las is till the case with
u.s. while whole sections off the lines
of railway were destitute of tele
graphic facilities. The Government
at once extended the telegraph TO all
sections and reduced the rate 10 one
cent word. The following is the
result. In 1870. under private own
ership, seven millions individual mes
sages and twenty-five millions words
of press dispatches were annually
sent. Now that the telegraph Is OPP
Grated by the Post Office, the annual
number of individual messages sent
is seventy millions, (ten times as
many and over 600 millions words of
press dispatches GO times as many
are used. This, at glance, demon
strates the overwhelming benefit to
the public of the change and their
appreciation of it.
The pressratos have been reduced
SO low that every weekly country
paper can afford to print the latest
telegraphic dispatches as it goes to
press, and telegraph or telephone
is at every country postoffice. In
London the telegraph has largely su.
perseded the mail for all the small
and necessary details Of life-to an.
nOunce that you are going to dine al
certain house, or TO inform YOU
wife that you are detained on bust
ness, and not to keep dinner waiting
and the like.-over 30, 900 telegram.
being sent daily in that city alone
The following is quoted from tn,
consul verbatim: 1.-The service i
performed with the most perfec
punctuality. 1t is calculated that tn
average tim employed to-day in tn,
transmission of a telegram between
two commercial cities in Englan
varies from Z to 8 minutes, while i
1870 (under private ownership tw
to three hours were necessary"
The rate of one cent a word In
cludes delivery within the posta
llmi of any town or within on
J mile of the pOstoffice in the country
. Beyond that limit the charge
IL cents per mile for delivery of
message. The telegraph being or
Grated as constituent part of til
postal service, it is not possible {
STATE how much profit the govern
ment receives from it, but the Ems
llsh government does not conside
that it should be treated as sourc
of revenue. 1t regards it as NEAR
of information and education for tn
masses, and gives facilities of a
kinds for its use and Its extension !
. all directions"
This unbiased and impartial r,
port, officially made to our govern
ment is worthy of thought and col
sideration. 1t may be added that i
every civilized country, except thi
the telegraph has long since bee
adopted as one of the indispensab
agencies of an up-tO date Post Offit
!, Department. Even In half civilize
Paraguay Gas We deem it, they ha,
better postal facilities than we, ft
the post Office there transmits tel
grams at one cent word and rem
out telephones at ST per month.
At present, owing to high rate
46 per cent of all kilograms in tn
country are sent by spectators (wf
: thus get an advantage over prOdu
ers) and only s per cent are social {
ordinary business messages. In Be
! GUM, where the governmer
{ rate is less than one eel
: per word. the social ar
ordinary business messages b
tween man and man are g p,
1 cent of the whole. Figures cou
not be more eloquent as to the vs.
: benefit this confers upon the gre
y mass of the people who bear Il
a bulk of the burdens of any Cover
8 ment, and receive so few of its ben
fits. With the telegraphs and tel
phones operated by our Post Office,
g moderate rates-say 5 or even
y cents per message-a similar cham
;, would take place here. Individu
: and news messages would incred
l. 10 to 80 fold as elsewhere-andp pro
ably more-and the monopoly nc
s held by spectators would cease.
3. The average telegraph rates NJ
d charged in this country average,
the reports to Congress, 81 cents p
:. message-three times the avera
~ rates in all other countries under PG
: Office telegraph service--and expel
e. say that our Government cou
probably afford, with the vast
q. crease of business, a uniform rate
D. 5 cents, as the average cost of NJ,
" sage is much less than that. 7
=. telegraph plants now in use COT
" be superseded by the governmel
- according to experts, with a super,
- plant at a cost of $15. O00, 900, VIII
the present corporations are strar
ling commerce to earn heavy di
dends on a watered stock of o,
: $15O, 100000. According to Engli
q, experience the transfer of the te
~ graph to the Post Office DEPARTING
- would result: ID In uniform n
~ of ten cents for ten words, betwe
III all points, or possibly less. (2.)
increase in individual messages
at least 10 for every one now Sc
(3.) An increase in press dispatci