Iditarod pioneer., 1914-03-07
(Denver Post)

started m congress shortly. It Will pfoOaply have the backing of the administration.
 What is understood to be the first step in this new departure has already been taken by making arrangements for the transfer to the postof1ice department of the government owned telegraph and cable sys- tenn covering Alaska and connecting that Arctic province with the United States, which hitherto has been under the manage ment and control of the army. This sys- tenn has been conducted with an efficiency so admirable as to afford the best imagna ble illustration of what Uncle Sam Is able to do as a manager of telegraph business.
 An act of congress will be required to ac- complish the transfer in question, but be yond doubt it will be passed. The Wash 1 ington Alaska system, as it IS called, will then become a part of the regular postal service And, after while, when the gov ernment shall have taken over all the tele- graphs in this country, 1t will become as much a matter of course to transmit mes sages by wire through the postotfices as to send letters.
 The resulting advantages to the people will be enormous For one thing, it will mean cheap messages Telegraph service will cost half or less than half, what it now does. In addition, it will be much more reliable.
 Every civilized country in the world ex cept the United States owns and controls its own telegraphs- first government to ac quire such ownership having been that of Belgium in 1862 All over Europe the cost of teegraphing is less than half what 1t is here, and the service in some instances IS incomparably better In any instance where it may happen to be unsatisfactory, some body may be called to account for the fault. In our country it is uncommonly unreliable, and the person who suffers has no redress. He may complain but he gets no satlsfac- tlOn.
 Take England for example. In London the wire service is so cheap that if a person is to be asked to dinner the invitation IS as likely as not to be sent by telegraph. The cost of the message is only sixpence for l2 words. In England nearly 50 per cent of all the messages dispatched by wire are soclal to use the term in its broad sense mean ing non on-commercial But in the United States people cannot afford to use the tele- graph much in such ways 1t Is too expen- sive. Less than per cent of the messages in this country are social and more than 50 per cent relate to the stock market and racing.
 It should be explained, however, that this small rate does not apply merely to the city of London One may send a telegram for sixpense (12 centsj to any part of England, Scotland or Wales-a message, that is to say, of l2 words
 If the government takes over our own telegraphs we shall soon have l0-cent mes sages in all likelihood for such distances as are covered today by the 25-cent rate. This will make the wire service an every day con venence to the people generally, instead of luxury to be used only once in while or when necessity compeIs. Quite possibly telegraph operators may be picked out for appointment as postmasters in small places.
 The Washington Alaska system was built 1 by the United States government few years ago for the purpose of establishing and maintaining communication between military posts. It has 2,62l miles of sub marine cable 1064 miles of land telegraph and 10 radio" stations. The cable, which connects Seattle with Sitka and Valdez, cost over &. COG, coo A branch runs from Sitka to principal points in Southeast Alaska. At Cordova the cable connects with the navy chain of radio" stations.
 In order to provide against possible breaks in the overland telegraph across Alaska, chain of radio" stations Is maintained from Cape Nome on the short of Boring sea, to Fort Egbert, on the Canadia boundary, where the wire service connects with the telegraph system of the Canadian govern ment. Thus practically the whole of the Arctic province is in electric touch with the rest of the world.
 The Washington Alaska system of tele- graphs compares favorably with any in the United States All of its lines are we'll built and erected on right of way owned by the government Its total receipts for commer- cial and private messages are about Slo0,- 900 year, and, in addition, s200,000 worth of official messages pass over its lines in a twelvemonth. The system transmits money and performs all other functions of fully equipped telegraph service. The messages it handles are not cheaper than in the Unit ed States, but this is because the expense of maintaining the service in that remote and relatively inaccessible region is so much