New-York tribune., 1907-11-29
More Light on Government O7cnfr4
ship IN Great Britain.


ship in Great Britain.
TIL. BEGIIsIE STATE TELEGRAPH 4 2tudy
II the FTol!em Of Large Eody Of Civil Se~-
Meyer. 1cmo. Tp. xvii lo5. The MacmiiiaH
Comu~ny.
FURIIc .0wNERs!:IP, AND TIE TELEPHONE
d&IstIy o, o5 the state and the Municipalities .Bv
me Macmillan Company.
amid TIE ianglirg voices that utter praise
ba5 protest on tie subjec. o5 government own
crsl.io the words Of IL. Meyer are spoken v,i.h
unusual clarity and calnness. The reason why
becomes apparent 20 everybody Who picks up
2u~ &C ,ais Students vommcs on this great
'ou!c Mr.. Meyers pages give instant evidence
of tie wide extent of his research his unbiased
mind and his power Of judging political and
economic situations The two volumes before
US are not fervid Arguments against govern
mont ownership Of public utilities; they are
really histories of modern England contain
ing little more than records Of the actions OF
business firms labor organizations municipali-
iios and Parliament in connection with the alb
Eorption by city ard state OF the telegraphs and
telephones. After having perused the vast ar
rav of facts marshalled by MI Meyer his
torisn. one cannot blame Mr., Meyer, the critic,
when he comes TO this conclusion:
To the writer. the experience Of Great Britain
under the experiment Of the extension Of the func-
once more the essential soundness of the doc
the Ills that appear under the policy of lqisscs
,zrs seeks refuge from such ills in the appar-
changing The form Of its political institutions and
~ tie ins from which II suffers.
Beginning with the campaign for government
ownership Of the telegraphs in 1856. under the
r,f
Edinburgh, Mr. Meyer traces in detail the
Efforts Of the rcformers from that day 10 the
present. He devotes particular attention TO
aualyzing the arguments advanced by the gov
crnment ownership advocates. showing. among
other things. the numerous statistical juggleries
INDUCED in to prove that private ownership was
detrimental TO the nation. The alleged waste
fulness Of competition could not be shown to
be alarming enough to warrant naturalization
of the huge industry: the most enthusiastic
champions Of naturalization could only prove
that under the worst form of competition. where
The rival companies had made virtually no effort
to work in harmony, not more than 1000 miles
Of telegraph lines out of 1906 could by any
courtesy or discourtesy Of language be called
redundant, and 300 to $50 offices out Of 2o4o
likewise designated After having purchased
the properties and goodwill of the telegraph
companies I'm 1862 at prices far in excess of all
official estimates. the state endeavored to extend
and perfect the service, again at A cost about
ten times as great as that confidently predicted
by experts" In spite Of the vast amount of
free advertising the telegraphs received through
the change Of ownership; in spite, too, Of
duced rates and the great increase in the num-
Der Of stations under the administration;
IN spite finally. Of the enormous increase of
efficiency OF the plant due to the discovery Of
multiplex telegraphy, the department up
huge deficit. In the creation of this undesirable
monster there entered several factors. with the
description of which Mr.. Meyer is chiefly con-
cerned
Two classes Of causes appear: Those entangled
with the sudden lengthening of Civil Service
payrells and those involved in the effort Of the
government 10 make the telegraphs as useful
as possible TO society at large, regardless of
direct cost Without dissenting from Mr. Meyers
main conclusions regarding the dangers of gov
ernment ownership, the reader might we'll feel
justified in protesting vehementy against the
writer's obvious neglect of this second class
Mr.. Meyer recounts with admirable funess and
Eobrietv the tremendous pressure brought to
bear by the teegraphers upon Parliament in
their search for all manners Of favors; but ~he
IS silent with reference to the economic signifl-
cance OF the enorrlous increase in the popular
use of the telegraph He merely admits the fact
cf increase adding that Mr.. Stanley Jevons OBJ
served that a large part OF the increased use
IS Of such a nature that the state could have no
motive for encouraging it Men have been
known 10 telegraph for a pocket handkerchief -
he quotes from Mr. Jevons. This is an unhappy
argument. II indeed IL deserves at all the name
RI argument The worthy economist may have
mistaken a cipher dispatch for this triyiality;
er the foolish telegram may really have been
more important than an abstract thinker might
suspect. or. finally. even if trivial il cannot be
ied up an implication that the increas sed use
- the telegraph has been, the whole, un-
worthy ~ encouragement.
Tho political corruption bred by the telegra-