El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-11-29
TELE6RAM5 At
FIVE CENTS
PROMISED
Advocates of Government
Owned Telegraph Lines
See Vision of Low Rates.
WOULD BE PART OF
POSTOFFICE SYSTEM
BY FREDERIC J. HAsKIN.


many years the government will
decide that the telegraph business is as
much a field for government activities
as the business CT carrying letters and
printed matter. AS a matter OF fact
most of the postmasters general of
the past 80 years or more have come
out decidedly in favor of a postal tel
egrah, and those who favor il urge
that now more than ever before is 1t
advisable for the government to op-
crate telegraph system, asserting
that il will give new value to the par
Gel post system, besides bringing cheap
rapid communication to all the people.
me advocates Of government tele-
graph see the day when a man may
telegraph a % word message 100 miles
Tor five cent stamp, so that city
man may order his market basket
filled according to specified lions by
his country correspondent 100 miles
away, and shipped in to the city in
time for dinner, by special delivery
parcel post
VIII BE Hard for Telegraph Companies
The most novel feature of the whole
situation is that if the government
ever decides to establish a postal
telegraph, it will have the telegraph
companies in a rather tight place for
they have not only agreed that the
government shall have the right of ac-
QUESTION, but have admitted the bind
ing force of that agreement. 1t all
comes about as result of q law
passed in 1856 by congress, in which
ii was set forth that the telegraph
companies could have the privilege OF
extending their lines over the public
domain, along post and military roads,
and over navigable streams, with the
right to preempt certain lands and
building materials. to the extent Of 40
acres for every IS miles of line, under
three conditions: first, that the post
master general should have the right
to fix the government rates for the
use Of these lines; second, that the
government should have the right to
purchase after five years; and third,
that no telegraph company should be
permitted to exercise these rights IN
til after 1t had first signed writ
ten acceptance of the obligations and
restrictions Of the act.
United States stands Alone.
The United States is about the only
principal nation Of the earth that does
mot own and operate its telegraph
system Germany and France owned
theirs from the beginning England
tried private ownership for about
quarter Of a century, and then the
agitation became so strong in favor OF
government ownership that Gladstone
yielded TO it and made it a part of his
cOuntry's policy. When the govern
ment acquired the telegraphs there
was an immediate reduction CT 40 per
cent in the rate and an increase in the
amount of business handled amounting
to 100 per cent.
Both the advocates and the oppo-
nents of government-Owned tele-
graph look to Europe for proof OF
their position. Both sides concede that |
rates are apparently lower in Europe.
but the opponents Of the government !
telegraph assert that this cheaper ser /
vice is more evident in appearance !
than in reality, cOntending that dis I
lance for distance, and service for !
CO. 1-a =
whit more reasonable than the Amer
lean rate. In Belgium. according to a !
government investigation, the rate is I
10 cents for Is words. with two cents 4
for each additional word; IN Italy the 4
rate is 70 cents for Is words, with /
cent for each additional word. But in /
all European countries addresses and j
signatures are charged for. The rate /
In England, Germany and France IS
around cent word, with u or Is i
cents as the minimum
Has Many Opponents.
Many oppose the entrance OF the /
government into the telegraph busi-
ness not because they think 4 4 better
policy for the nations telegraphs to be /
privately operated, but because they
believe that the day of transmission of !
kilograms by wire is passing. and that /
II the government should acquire the
It would stand a good chance of find
ing itself in possession of a system of |
communication destined to become as
obsolete as the stage coach.
They urge that the thing to do Is to
wait until wireless telegraphy reaches
that state of perfection that will en-
able II to be used as the present wire
telegraph is used and then to declare
a government monopoly on the wire
less business just as it declares a
on the handling of the mails.
It is asserted by those who advocate
the acquisition OF the telegraph COM
H. ME~nN mi
talized. They point to the Western
Union as a cstse in point In 1858 its
capital stock was less than 5000 7
eight years later 1t had gone up to
s22, 600. 900. and the executive commit
tee of the national board of trade, in
1882, reported that S1S.000.000 of this
represented water in the shane OF
stock dividends. The Western Union
makes answer that the proof of the
pudding lies in the eating, and that any
fair appraisal viii show that there is
: dollar of actual value behind every
dollar Of capital the company has.
Could Easily Enjoy Monopoly.
The government has no one but It.
self to blame that it does not enjoy
/ monopoly on the telegraph business
today 1t built the first line between
Washington and Baltimore. and
turned it over to the pOstOffice de-
Dartment for operation. But in 1S46
postmaster general Cave Johnson re-
ported that it was a financial failure,
md that the government ought to get
id of it. Suiting actions to words, he
ffered to give the income of the line
10 Alfred Vail and Henry Rogers if
hey would operate it. They accepted
he proposition. and from that day
forward the telegraph became a pri-
7ate institution
That it does not profit legislators to
ittempt righteousness with inventors is
shown by the experience of a member
IF congress in the case of the tele-
sraph. When lit was proposed TO build
he line between Washington and Bal
-imOre, apprOpriating $4,000 therefor, ]