Los Angeles herald., 1907-12-01
Uncle Sam Is Success as
Am Owner and Operator
tkTT1s startling revelation that while

| (kTT is startling revelation that while
practical men have been decrying
n government ownership as some
! thing impossible in this republic. unless
| We chose to change the whole spirit and
character of the government. the federal
| hand has reached out and has either pur-
| chased or established, and is operating
transportation lines. telegraph, telephone
| and cable systems, postal savings banks.
cold storage establishments and many
ether utilities of public character" says
| Harold Bolce in Appleton's Magazine.
1.-THE government has gone quietly and
persistently ahead and is now accomplish
| ing effectively and with profit the. things
which millions of citizens have opposed as
| impracticable and a menace to individu-
| alism. Government ownership has not
| ushered in Already. But the railway fares,
| freight charges, steamship rates. tele-
| graph telephone and cable tolls. cold
storage and other prices fixed by federal
| control have been in a number of in
| stances cut down from the schedule es-
| tabished by trusts.
| Regardless of economic theories upon
| this subject, the facts are that Uncle
| Sans ownership and operation of busi-
| less have already assumed wide scope
and urdeniable significance.
Owns Telegraph and Gable System,
1.-The United States government now
owns and operates one of the longest and
most intricate commercial cable and tele-
graph systems In the world. This under
taking is the Washington-Alask cable
| and telegraph system, uniting the cities
| of the United States and the world In
general with the towns and cities of the
Alaskan coast, the Yukon valley and the
region around Behring straits.
"A study of this colossal and successful
project should satisfy the most skeptical
that Uncle Sam has the capacity to con-
struct and the ability to direct govern
| ment telegraph lines. The government
cables kept busy by the commercial inter-
ests between our cities and the communi-
ties in the remote regions of the Arctic
would reach from Newfoundland to the
Irish coast; the land lines would stretch
from the national capital to New Mexico.
Here is government owned and operated
system of communication under the very
republic within which critics eloquently
Insist that federal ownership and control
of public utilities Is chimericA policy
which no friend of the nation can espouse.
"It is frequently urged that one insur-
mountable obstacle against successful
| federal proprietorship and administration
of such undertakings is that the red tape
and inertia of the government would pre-
advantage of opportunity. and that the
| real service which the public demands
can be supplied only by individuals and
| companies prompted to enterprise by the
| promise of profit.
"As a matter of record Uncle Sans
| great cable and telegraph system has its
! .orthern ramiications through a wilder
ness, wild and trackless, over which.
many conservative engineers and men of
business declared it would be impossible
| successfully to construct and operate a
| modern system of communication. or the
| land lines in this system, 1922 miles were
built and are in successful operation In
sections devoid Of roads or trails.
at Is significant of the scientific prog
ress possible under federal management,
| that Uncle Sans new style of ocean cable
| Low in operation between Sitka and
| Seattle a distance of 1910 miles, and rest
| ing on the bed of the sea from 1000 to li0o
fathoms deep, proved to be not only
| cheaper in cost of construction tnan any
| of the commercial cables devised for pri-
yate companies, but to have transmit
| ting mower greater " 25 per cent than the
gutta-percha cables reaching under the
| Atlantic between Europe and the Western
| Hemisphere.
"The Philippines have proved a trying
| out ground for numer.ess additional gov
ernment activities which we, on our con-
| serVatlVe cOnunent, nave iildSHheo W pe
beyond the ability of federal resourceful-
ness. In those islands there are tenarts
| en- government farms. and in Manila gov
| ernmcnt tenements are rented to work
ir gmen. In Manila the government pub
fishes a newspaper in which every utter
ance is inspired. In that city it has also
| a popular monthly scientific magazine.
| 'rhe publication boasts paid subscribers
in all parts of the globe, and is using
| oil the arts of advertising to increase
| us circulation and popularity In many
| of the islands of the archipelago the gov
ernment has established trading stores.
Ambulating libraries circulate through
the islands, with Uncle Sam as librarian.
| and there are government saw mills in