The Washington times., 1913-12-21
THE TELEPHONE DIVORCE.

eSAS @HSAS AAS4NEs A1VON\>Cs
Ii the sem-partnershp between the America,
Telephone and Telegraph Company and the West
ern Union was against the law, the Administratio,
is not to be blamed for wishing to divorce the tw,
properties and services, and the managers of tn.
companies are to be commended for volunteerin,
to accept the divorce without legal action Yet there
may De thousands OF persons using the telephons
ana the telegraph to question whether this restored
competition as the Administration calls it, is exactl,
the best possible thing, under the circumstances fo
the public and whether this socalled restored com
Peuuon VIII begin to return to- the public the yer,
direct and emphatic benefits which they have hac
since the management of the Western Union be-
came associated with the management of the Bel
Telephone -
II previously there was competition that com
petition did not give the American people Ions
nignt-leter messages at the cost of short day mes
sage; 1t did not give business men long day
leuer message at greatly reduced rate 1t did
not give the public the privilege of going to the
telephone and delivering an immediate telegraph
message TO be taken care of by the telephone and
telegraph people working togcthef, with not even
any payment made for the service until the tele.
pnone bill should come in at the end of the month
mat was convenience privilege and benefit which
meant more than words can describe to hundreds of
OF Americans absent from their families
sending messages of sympathy to those in affection
making inquiries about their sick and distressed
lhe old competition between two telegraph com.
pames and between each of those telegraph COM
panies and the telephone companies never gave the
panies anything like that 1t was the great genius
Tor business management and the burning passion
Tor economic development of Vail that gave the
night letter and the day letter and many other natural
of the telegraph service alone, the
telephone service alone and the two combined. And
after that combination of services brought benefits
which the socalled competition never had .iven then
there did come competition, very live competition,
very urgent rivalry, to do the same thing by the
other telegraph company which hadn't become asso.
ciated with the telephone company
While this genius of organization and manage
ment was working out those big advances in service
for the public, at the same time State and Federal
supervision and regulation were able to prevent the
wire companies from abusing-if they wished to
abuse-those new powers. There was more service.
there was better service, and it was cheaper than
anything the public had had before, than any,
thing the public had dreamed it was likely to get
in half dozen generations
The Government says not going any further
INTO the matter, that 1t has restored the old competi.
hon. Well, if it has restored the old conditions that
went with the old competition it will have done
very poor days work for the American people. But
Vail feels justified in saying that in
spite Of the divorce is to say in spite Of the
restoration of the old compehton-he believes the
Improvements and advantages which have been given
% the public can still be preserved. 1t would be
sorry day, we say, if they couldn't. 1t would be
something to make us all gasp if modern govern.
nent seeking to do US good, were merely driving US
back into the Dark Ages
But that isn't all the question. Even if there
:an be preserved the benefits which were bestowed,
lpon the public in spite of the Government, there
till remains the question of whether-now-there
an come any more. None of those benefits achieved
anne from or were suggested by the Government. II
{ is possible that the most the Government can do
n this matter is to enjon, in effect any more such
improvements and advantages for the public-en-
dining them by making it impossible for the genius
VI management to work them out as those Others
we're worked out-why then we guess that the great
'ictory' of the Administration wasn't such heart
breaking blow to the telephone monopoly, but was
very bad black eye to the American public
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