New-York tribune., 1918-12-25
Britain Blocks
Gable Seizure
Says Deegan
Postal Secretary Tells Of
Order Received That Null.
i6es BurIeson's Author;,v
'ssilly,'' Carlton Repl;e.
London Granted Full pe,
mission for joint One,,
tion, Official ID eclars.

William J. Deegan, secretarv ,t =,
Mackay companies, issued a stat.r'
yesterday in which he declared .t.
Postmaster General Burleson's co,.-.,
of the cables has been knocked abist..
than a kite" by a message rece;vss
the Commercial Gable Company f,or
It's London Office, stating that the Rr;,
ish government is wiling tba. .s
Commercial Cable Company ass;s, !.
Western Union in the handling Of c.s
traffic from Great Britain on copd;t;..
that no control be exercised fro~
America 4tVa
He declared that the stand t.k..
the British government nulliSe. ~ y
Burieson's control of the kti..s'. ~.
cables, and that the cable sS comnsn;..
must ignore any instructions from III ws
burleson or his representative ;ra. ~
far as the operation of cables lsnd;s- ,Ss..
IN Great Britain is concerned As
Carlton Calls 1t Silly
ITS silly statement and tbe,. !.
nothing to It," declared Newcomb r.rj
ton. Federal Director of Cables IN sS,,'
shown Mr.. Deegans statement 'A'S
Mr.. Deegan's statement follows.
ne Commercial Cable ComnanvL..
TO- day received a message from i,
London Office, stating that the Rr;t.s
government is willing that the cnw r.,A
merclai Cab e Company assist 4.
western Union In the handling o.
cable traftlc from Great Britain =.
that company has four cables ints-
rupted, on condition that no control /.
exercised from America. Therofo,,
the cable companies must ignore .,r
instructions from Mr.. Burleson or h.,
representatives, insofar as the onors
ton Of the cables landing in Gres
Britain is concerned.
his message nocks Mr.. Burleson,
cable control higher than kite Tbs
British government refuses. and rightly
refuses, to allow the American Post
master General to invade Great Britain
Just as the American government woujj
OBJECT to any attempt of the Brjtis,
postmaster General to dictate the ou.,.
alton of the American ends of Ii.
cables. Mr.. Burleson's cable controI
therefore, sa far as the Atlantic cable,
are concerned, is nullihed and the ri.
tempt of Burleson, Vail Theodore X.
Nall) and Carlton TO get control Of
the commercial company's cables is
defeated and IS failure.
Mr.. Deegan Wonders
We wonder how Burleson feels now
about turning out our president, gen
eral manager and general counsel. An
parently these officials still continue
to act in those capacities in Canada,
Newfoundland, the Azores, Great Brit
am and France, but are not president
general manager and general counsel
as far as opertions are concerned in
New York. We are wondering when
we are at"
Mr.. Deegsn also called attention 10
the following appointments made by Mr.
Burleson, and declared that thsy
seemed to indicate the Postmaster Cen
erals policy to be continue to put
Western Union and American Tele-
phone and Telegraph Company off
cials in charge:
Telegraph and Telephone Service Or
der No. 2450.
Washington, December 9. 1918
IN c. Kingsbury, vicepresidenb
American Telephone and Telegraph
! Company; A. T. Adams, president
Kansas City Home Telephone Com
pany. Kansas City. No. and ". N.
Fashbaugh, vice president, Western
Union eTlegraph Company, are hereby
appointed a committee on organization
and directed to submit a report at the
earliest possible date, on the plan Of
organization and the personnel of the
same for conducting the governmental
operation of the telegraph and tele-
phone systems.
"A. s. BURLESON.
Postmaster General
Branding Mr.. Deegan's statement as
not based on fact. an official Of the
Postotfice Department declared tina;
Inc cable administration had received
the unconditional permission OF the
BRITISH government TO handle the trai-
nc Of the combined cables.
Great Britain's Requirements
The British government, he stated
before granting unconditional pernlls-
SION made known its requirements as
follows:
81. That government messages De
sent as routed. and that any delay sris'
ing from interchanges be reported 10
the Postoffice Department.
"2. That there be no interference
with censorship arrangements.
"3. That mutual arrangements DC.
tween the two companies involve NJ
question of direct or indirect contrO
of oone company by the other BY
person acting on behalf of the United
States government
Assured by the Administration ths'
these requirements would be observed
the officials said, the British govern
ment gave its unconditional perius'
sion TO carry out cable control.
The official declared that the go.,
ernment is connecting up the Wes'eln
Union and Commercial systems 70 oG.
tain the best results He said pnys..
cal connections between the respec'nss
Offices in London were being made snu
that also the stations IN NewiouhO'
land, are being connected.