The Washington herald., 1913-11-16
py JAMES r. MORROW.


II the plans Of David John Lewis &c
through all the telegraph and telephone
lines in the United States soon will b
owned and operated by the national gov
eminent.
Rates, he says. will come down and
the service will be improved. Mr.. Levi:
is the legislative father of the parcel
post His bill, passed by the House OF
Representatives, was amended in the
Senate, but credit is given him for in.
itisting the law. though the idea, OF
course, was old.
Men may say that Mr.. Lewis is a So
cialist. and he will reply that he is a
Democrat Whatever is said of him will
be no answer to his arguments. nor will
it stop his efforts to attach the telegraph
and telephone business of the country
to the postofice.
II am no one-ffngered man." he told
me. Il believe in. working with both
hands And this is not a one-fingered
nation. Single ideas. ridden regardless
of common sense, have carried men and
countries to destruction The Bourbons
played on one disabled string, and the
people, growing weary OF their music
drove them out Of Europe.
Thank Cod We say. the United
States is not communistic.' Not wholly,
admit. But we tax property for roads
and bridges and all the people-the tramp
on foot and the rich man in an automo-
biIe-use the roads and bridges and pay
no toll.
Our public schools are communistie.
The children of those who pay no taxes
sit among the children Of those who pay
nearly all the taxes. Who would dare
assaiI our public schools?
But we answer, having been ar
gued down on the first point. the
United States is not Socialistic and
never will be- We forget, however,
that the greatest and most successful
SociaIistic enterprise in the world is our
postofiics Every large city supplies its
inhabitants with water at a price. That
is Socialism pure and simple.
Conservative men, hating communism
and Socialism, would not close our roads,
bridges, schools, or postoffices. All of
these agencies of civilization are now
a natural part of our daily life and
thought.
Socialism Does Not Scare Him.
.'DoctrinalIy, | am not a Socialist, but
the word Socialism does not keep me
awake at night. II a thing is good, l
believe in that thing no matter whence
il comes Our farms, as l see the fu-
ture, will always be owned by tndivi-
duals So will our retail business The
industries and enterprises, however,
which can be operated better by the
people as a whole will be taken over,
perhaps, by the people"
Including the railroads." I asked.
'I shall not discuss that subject at
this time. I am no thick and thin ad-
vocate of any governmental policy, but.
like the physician who belongs to what
is called the regular school of medicine
1 hold that any idea which promotes
the general welfare, any method or
practice which cures the ills of man.
kind, even if it originates with the
'uuacks.' ought to be adopted. Society
is feeling its way. Don't ask me to be
a prophet. My interest is entirely
with the present"
1nat Delng SO, 5dlu, lell Inc "Hdl
you mean to do with the telegraph and
telephone companies of the country"
Buy them out and turn their prop
erty and business over to the Postoffice
Department Neither am / ready to
talk with particularly on that subject.
] am getting the facts together. My
investigations began last March. hope,
however, to give the country a great
deal of information before the close of
the year"
Can a bill providing for and authoriz-
ing the purchase of the property of the
telegraph and telephone companies pass
the House of Representatives?
'T am sure of it. 1 cannot speak
with certainty about the Senate. Still
I feel safe in predicting that the meas
ure on which 1 am working will become
a law. The bill will be introduced in
the House at the next session, which
begins in December
THE government" I said. in an at
tempt to gain hint about the financing
of the project, will be called on to
spend a lot of money il ii goes into the
telegraph and telephone business"
The Logic of the Situation.
The property to be taken" Mr.. Lewis
answered, "is worth a lot of money
Ny idea is to buy out both telegraph
cOmpanieS-the Western Union and the
PostaI-the Bell telephone interests and
the Independent telephone exchanges and
long distance lines. There are many
short lines owned by farmers. 1t is not
our intention to disturb them. They
are cheapIy operated and government
control of such lines would be of no
benefit to the present owners.
Logically, the telegraph and telephone
belong to the postoffice. Each is an instru-
mentality for the Transmission of intel
ligence. The government takes our
written communications and sends them
short and long distances with wonder
full speed and accuracy and at a low
price. It is in the communication busi-
ness and has for that service the most
remarkable and efficient organization in
the world.
But letters constitute only a part
of the daily communications of the peo-
PIE. There are millions of telephones
in the country which are being used day
and night for business and social pur-
poses. The same is true with respect
TO the telegraph. There is a profit in
sending letters for cents apiece. II
our postofices were owned and oper-
ated by corporation of business men,
letter postage. 1 venture to say would
be cents instead OF cents
The telephone people have no fee that
mon price for messages inside Of VIII
lagos and cities, on this side, at least,
Of the Mississippi. A letter. on the other
hand. Is collected in New York, sent to
San Francisco and delivered TO the per-
g.. .