The Washington herald., 1918-07-23
ASK
TOSERVE?
Wonders Who viii
Run Phone System for
Government.

o. the seventy-fifth birthday Of
Ih>odore N. Vail who has been for
cI<<en years president of the Ameri-
c4n Telegraph and Telephone Com
pa1< President Wilson signed the
bui which gives him authority to
t1k1 over the telegraph and telephone
s>s<1us OF the United States when
ever y his discretion action Of that
kI11 y deemed expedient.
Or course there was none other
t14n Sentimental significance in the
Folrcidence that the seventy-hfth
erthday Of the man who has accom-
plished 50 much in expanding the
teiephone system of the United States
secured on the day when President
Wilson approved the bill which will
make it possible for him to eliminate
Mr.. Vail. as for instance under the
railroad control act some railroad
Presidents have been eliminated.
Yet Is IL difiicult to see how there
can be adequate management even
under the authority of the govern
nent Of the telephone system of the
United States unless President Vail
retained In authority. He has. IL
. true, developed some very able sub
ordinates-and IL has been one of the
distinguishing characteristics of his
management Of the telephone system
that he has made wise choice of sub
I ordinates. selecting always the right
man for the right place.
Not Surpassed.
He has built up an operating and
directing force which. as a whole
has RlnaFUfafnn thA anffFo
United States. and is not surpassed
by the operating force of any other
public utility or any railroad OF
any great industry,
Already under President Vail, the
government has received all of the
assistance of which IL has stood in
need The domestic or private
business Of the telephone company
has been subordinated so that the
requirements of the government
could be met great deal of money
has been expended to the end that
telephone communication from
Washington. and especially long
distance communication. can be sc
perfected as to enable the govern.
ment to make satisfactory use ol
this service.
What can be gained by the taking
over Of the telephone system of the
United States by the government
10 difficult to understand, unless II
is felt that government control
would eliminate the danger Of re.
fusaf of employees to work. unless
demands for increased wages and
reduced time were met
A Second Experience.
When President Wilson takes over
the telephone system. President Vail
will have had a second experiences
with government authorities, his FIRST
one having occurred several years ago
When working out plans that were
far reaching in scope, which had for
their purpose the utilization of these
telegraph and telephone wires for
facilitating Communication Of intelIi-
renee. President Vail was informed
that the steps he had already taken
wers in the opinion of the Department
Of Justice at Washington in violation
OF the antitrust statute. The appre-
Bfnsion at Washington was that a
skeat monopoly of the wires. both
telephone and telegraph. was about to
oe established
Disagreeing With this opinion as
President Vail did. he nevertheless
yielded to the view OF the Department
of Justice. tore his plans to pieces,
gave up his purpose of so perfecting
telephone and telegraph communica-
tions that a unit could be formed
which could bring about economy in
the operation OF the wires, gradual
reduction in the cost of using them.
and. in addition. the building up OF
very large expansion of telephone ser
vice. especially in the west
Now the very thing which the gov
ernnent authorities a few years ago
objected to is to be established when
ever President Wilson takes over the
telephone and telegraph Companies.
He can through the direction of the
subordinate whom he will appoint, as
he appointed Secretary McAdoo Direc-
tor General of the railroads, practic-
ally unity the telephone and telegraph
service of the country. thereby estab-
lIshing the very kind of monopoly OF
which complaint was made a few
years ago to President Vail Oh
course it will be said that this is due
to the exigencies of the war.
A DImeuIt Proposition.
iyhere are to be some obstacles
which seem to stand in the way oi
the cable. telegraph and telephone
and these are obstacles that musi
he removed. How does the case
stand with respect to ocean cables
owned by foreign capital which
have terminals upon the coast oi
the United States? How will it b
when by utilization of foreign own
ed cable, and domestic telegraph
and telephone service, there can be
a single communication from Lon
don or Paris flashed under the ocean
and then telephoned or .telegra phed
across the United States to the Pa
cific Coast?
Although the law by which Presi-
dent Wilson Is authorized to take
over the telegraph and telephons
operation of the country provide.
that this authority shall be continu-
ed only until the war is ended
nevertheless there SENS to be q
70 support government ownership Of
, the frst step towards permanent
government ownership Of the tele-
phone and telegraph lines.
People May Net Accept.
Yet the public may not be disposed
To support government ownership oi
the telephone. in view of the fact
that in other countries where the
! ktelephone service is under the owner.
ship Of the government, 1t has beer
found woefully inferior to telephone
service in the United States. 1t was
due chiefly to President Vail that the