Arizona republican., 1912-01-16
The Hitchcock Plan


II remains TO he seen whether the
proposal by Postmaster General
| Hitchcock that the government take
| over the telegraph lines and operate
them for the benefit Of the public
will create that degree of enthusiasm
which Mr. Hitchcock probably antici-
pates.
Mr.. Hitchcock believes his plan
will effect a saving to the people.
Well, it may and it may not. The
! telegraph lines in England are pub
licly owned while those in the United
States are privately owned. England
is a small. compact. dcnscly popu-
lated country. with towns and cities
at almost every cross roads In the
United States we have an area of
more than three and half million
square miles. with almost every con-
ceivable kind Of country and eli
mate Yet it is said on the highest
authority that telegraph tolls are
higher in England than in the United
States
1t is the plan to make the telc-
graph part Of the postal service;
but it is doubtful if that proposition
Will awaken any wild enthusiasm.
The postal department is the one
business department of the govern
mcnt; and for the past thirtyfive
years. with the exception of Il single
twclve-mouth. it has been financial
failure.
Then. here is the fact: The gov
crnmcnt can. Of course. reduce the
telegraph rates if it takes over the
lines and feels inclined to make the
reduction. 1t can charge half of the
amount charged now. it can. if i'll
wishes. make merely nominal
charge. or it can make no charge at
all. But that doesn't prove there
would be saving. because the ser
vice has to be paid for one way or
another And it is by no means
certain that with an army of paid
officials and employees. with the
usual expensive method of doing
everything the government has ever
undertaken. with the additional jobs
that would have L. be created for
noIiticaI haugers-on. and with the
cost of the usual government red
tape-it is 10y no means certain a
government-owued telegraph would
would not bc an extremely expensive
luxury.
Only the other day Representative |
Norris. one of the insurgcnt leaders.
said the postorficc is merely 4 poIiti-
cal machine l. there Ice truth in that
charge. how much more deadly would
the machine become with thousands |
Of additional employees, and with |
every one appointed through political
influence.
II the government should own the |
telegraph lines. why not the tclc-
phone lines?
If the government OWNS the tcle-
phone lines. why not the railroads?
If the government owns the rail-
roads. why not the mines?
If the government owns the mines
why not the factories?
II the government owns the fac
tories. why lot the stores and the
farms?
1t is said to be simply question
Of saving money. Then why shouldn't
the government start grocery store
in Phoenix? 1t might be able to re-
ducc the prices of groceries ma
tcriaIly. Or why shouldn't it start
a clothing store. or a millinery store.
or tailoring shop. or j CONNECTION
cry. or a cigar stand?
The telegraph is part of the equip
mcnt of every business man. IT the
is to own part Of that
why not all OF it? And
if il is to own the equipment, why
not the business itself?
These are not affirmations nor
denials. They are merely questions.
And here is another question,-the
most important of all: Is it good
thing to strike down private enter
prise-the enterprise that has made
This country what it is-fOr the sake
IF a supposed benefit when we do
not even know that that benefit
Exists?