The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1907-04-11
ELLSWHYWESTER
UNION RAISED
RATES
Statement is Issued By Col.
clowry in Which Official
Explanation is Made.

SclSeu ny MdudSer hanson or the To-
cal Western Union offices, explaining
In detail the reasons for the increase
IN private message rates which went
into effect the first of the month, as
announced in the Evening Times at
that time. The statement was issued
from the Office of President and Cen
eral Manager Robert C. Lowry.
The company lays special emphasis
on the statement that the increase
was made in the interests of its $4,000
stockholders, many of whom, the state
ment says, are widows and estates,
and in order that the company might
maintain and continue to pay the reg
ular five per cent dividend. The state
ment says:
The purpose of this statement is to
reply to certain statements that have
appeared in the newspapers since the
order to increase the rates went into
effect. 1t has been said that modern
improvements ought to enable the
company to transmit more messages
and at smaller cost than formerly.
The truth of the matter is that 80 per
cent of the messages transmitted now
are transmitted in the same old way
that was in operation in the days of
Morse. The system is not changed ex-
cept that the output per operator is
not nearly SO great as it used to be.
On through circuits the number of
ten-word messages sent by one operat-
or is on. an average about seventeen,
while in former years it was twenty
five. Why this is We can not say, but
it is true.
Expense In Wear and Tear.
Again, it has been said that there is
no deterioration in telegraph property
like there is with railroad and express
company property. This is not true.
There is no other property SO subject
to deterioration as telegraph property.
Another point that has been raised
was that the telegraph companies must
have profited largely from the large
increase In communication necessitat-
ed by the unprecedented prosperity.
The fact is the telephone companies
have largely absorbed the growth, to
the exclusion of the telegraph.
1T has been set forth that the in
crease has been from 33 to &C per
cent. This is not fair way to look
at it. The cost of handling night mes
sages is greater than day messages,
because the operators, who are paid
by the month, work less number of
hours at night than do those who work
by day.
Cost of Material.
The increase in the cost of material
has been very great. Copper wire that
used to cost II cents a pound now
costs 80 cents. Poles which used to
cost $1.30 apiece now cost 81. 1t has
hppn tn IL
ries of our operators. There has been
a gradual increase all along the line.
even before the horizontal increase of
10 per cent went into effect on March
l. Messenger boys used to cost be-
tween IS and IS month. Now on
the Pacific slope they cost from SIS TO
500 a month. Here in New York they
cost $40 month, and even then we
can not get enough boys. So we are
employing 1hen at day labor prices to
deliver messages. Some of them are
receiving $3.50 day, others 50.
Our company has been paying a
regular annual dividend. On account
of this regularity the stock has been
very largely acquired by widows and
estates. In fact, the company is known
en- the street as the Widows and Or
phans' company The management
feels an obligation to get reasonable
returns on its service, in order to
maintain the moderate. but regular,
dividend it has been paying for many
years, a dividend of five per cent So
failure of the management to secure
sufficient profit from its business to
pay those dividends would be a great
hardship on the $4,000 stockholders.
The management feels an obligation
toward them"
The dividend has stood at five per
cent for a number of years past, and
the amount paid out in dividends has
been about $4,S5S,OS0 annually on
capital stock of $97,370,0OO. On the
basis of last years earnings the sur
plus this year, allowing for 100000
additional interest on the recently is
sued bonds for $1O.00O.OOO, would be
reduced to about $474,0O0, relatively
narrow margin when compared with
the company's gross earnings of $780,
100000.