Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-02-03
GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP
An Important Question That Has Two
Sides.

Sides.
In his annual report, the postmas-
ter-general recommends that the gov
ernment buy all the telegraph and tel
ephone lines in the country, and man
age them as branches Of the postal
service. Probably neither he nor any
one else expects that the government
will make the purchase Immediately
or perhaps for a long time to come;
but 1t Is something to think about.
The suggestion itself offers abun-
dant food for reflection. In the first
place, the plan is the largest ever pro-
posed for the national. government
The capitalization of the two services
Is stupendous. The actual investment
in the telephone plants Of the country
Is close upon billion dollars. The
bare properties Of the telegraph COM
panies are worth nearly two hundred
millions more. In acquiring the two
services, the government would, con-
sequently more than double the ma
tional debt, for it could not fix its own
terms for the properties. but would
have to pay a price commensurate
with their real value.
But disregarding the magnitude Of
the scheme, and the problems involved
in financing 1t, there still remain the
two great questions whether it would
conduce to the public welfare for the
government to under take these SER
vices, and whether it would pay"
Let us consider the second question
first. Specifically, there seems to be
no reason why government manage
ment Of the telegraph and telephone
should result in loss, since under
private ownership they both pay hand
somely. Mr.. Burleson and those who
support his policy Of course believe
that they would also pay under gov
ernment management; otherwise they
would not advocate the change. Many,
however, take the opposite view. The
United Kingdom has about three
miles Of telegraph wire to the square
mile, the United States, one-half a
mile to the square mile. The United
Kingdom has only about half the pop
ulation of this country, yet it sends
virtually the same number Of tele.
grams in year that we send-some
ninety millions. The British post Of
flee is conceded to be well managed
yet it loses more than six million dol
lars a year on the telegraph. We
might do better than that, but in view
Of the way in which we select our
postmasters the contention Is not be-
yond argument.
The other question goes far deeper
than any matter Of mere money re-
suits. Between those who advocate and
those who oppose government owner
ship, there are irreconcilable differ
ences of principle One side urges with
considerable force that most govern
ments regard the telegraph and tele-
phone services as legitimate adjuncts
Of the postal system and that they
claim and exercise monopoly OF all
three methods Of communication. They
further maintain that 1t is not for the
public good that any Of the three SER
vices should be controlled by private
companies or used for private gain.
The other side points to the evils
that might follow the creation Of a
fresh army of government employees,
selected, probably, by party spoilsmen;
and to the scarcely disputed fact that
nowhere Is there government-oper-
ated telephone service so efficient as
the service in this country.
These are merely outlines OF the ar
guments that this most important
matter has called fortn.-Youth's Com
panion.