The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-07-31

full conformity to the Sherman law they
have been informed by the governments.
national and state. that this was some-
thins which they must discover for them
selves
The result has been that the corpora
ton has been put into sort of impasse.
Must il go ahead establishing step by
step through litigations instituted by the
federal and state government what are
lawful and what are unlawful methods
foi the corporation to adopt? There is ne
doubt that the managers of the corpora
tion are sincerely desirous to conform not
only TO the letter, but 10 the spirit of
federal and state laws.
The Great Issue
The litigation which has just begun in
which the government charges that the
American Telephone and Telegraph COM
pany has established monopoly in the
states of oregon, Washington, Montana
and Idaho may, before il is finished, go te
the very root of the economic principles
upon which telephone and teegraphie
business, it Is believed by those who are
of expert authority in it, may be 50 car
/ ried on as to be of the highest advantage
to the public.
1t has been characteristic of the admin
istratlon of President Vail that he has
heen anxious to gain the support of the
full to avoid arbitrary or harsh measures
such as were characteristic of some cor
porations in the era which is now passing
away.
The economic principle upon which the
consolidation of telegraph and telephone
lines is based rests upon the conviction
that the highest possible and therefore the
most economical and inexpensive service
to the public and the most beneficial ser
vice to the corporation can only be OBJ
tanned through the operation of our or
ganic system. The Western Union Tele-
graph company represents in its present
organization the buying up and merging
of the large number of telegraph com
panies which at one time were independ-
ent and which were operated to some
extent in competition with the Western
Union The combination out of which
grew the Western Union Telegraph COM
pany was made before the Sherman anti
trust law became effective but it is be-
lieved to be beyond the power of reason
able denial that the American public as
a whole was better served after this COM
bination was made Certainly the tolls
charged for messages were reduced from
time to time.
Today by reason of combinations and
close alliances between the telegraph and
telephone companies it is possible for
man living, say, at Denver to take up IN
the evening his telephone, and while sit
ting in his library send a message which
within a few hours has been carried
around the globe Combination and the
practical utilization of an organic system
make that possible. 1t means a saving
in time which is often a most important
saving to business men.
The night and day letter system, both
domestic and foreign, the institution OF
which is one of the achievements of Presr
ident Vail, has been accepted to an amaz-
ing degree by business men all over this
country President Vail is quoted as hav-
ing said that when his corporation learns
what it can do without violation of the
spirit or letter of the law, knowledge
which now seems impossible to secure
only through litigation and judicial in
terpretation-it will be shown that the
economics which the utilization of tele-
phone and telegraph systems working as
one can effect are immeasurably greater
than those which have already been Sc
cured through the night and day letter
methods.
President Vail is also further quoted as
having said that the time is surely COM
ing when practically all of the commercial
business of the United States and much
of the commercial business between the
United States and Europe, will be carried
on over wires instead of by the mail.
This means, of course, the utilizing OF