The Mena weekly star., 1918-07-18
TAXES TELEGRAPH
 AND TELEPHONES
ls to 16, Authorizes President 0'"| .s,r,e Control of All Communi- cation Lines--May Order
 Merger at Once.

washington, July l3.-Power to ..,. aver the Nations telegraph, tele- 'a~ ssas radio and cable lines now rests 7 S1 tbe hands of President Wilson.
 climaxing week of stormy debate i. Senate tonight adopted unamend- I s.na bv a vote of 46 to Is, the reso- ,..;or authorizing the President to
 ..mme control of communication ". wbenever he deems it necessary.
 Gan Merge Competing Telephones
 unAsr the resolution the President
 r. rower to merge competing tele- .hSns .'s services in cities, thus doing s,.au with dual service. T W;tb adoption of the wire control .u..sure it was confidently predicted sr rongressional leaders that the p,ssident would lose no time in taking avsr the lines. Millions of miles of ,r;ro thousands of men and millions of 5ollars are involved in the proposed action
 The resolution will be signed by nresiding officers of the Senate and House and transmitted to the Presi- 8eut Monday. During the debate on tbe resolution it was said the~govern- ment would take over only trunk lines and connecting systems, leaving to their own management the thousands of rural and small independent sys- l. tens turnout the country.
 May Order Merger at Once.
 Merging of competing lines in near ly one thousand cities and towns will be one of President Wilson's first uses of power granted him in the wire con tral resolution, congressional leaders were informed today. Philadelphia and Cleveland are two of the largest cities where this order will go into ef- feet at an early date, it is said.
 A double telephone system is one of the national extravagances which must give way under war time con ditions calling for strictest economy on part of business turnout the coun- try, administration leaders feel.
 Telephone competition, they believe, does not materially better service and only serves to force the subscriber to help pay two sets of operating costs instead of one
 Postmaster General Burleson. in whose hands control may be placed, would keep the present wire organiza- tions more or less intact. developing an operating organization similar in principle to that now running the rail- roads under federal control
 Predict It Will Be Permanent.
 Friends of permanent government ownership here today pointed to the administration wire plans as one in- dieation that the lines will never go back into private hands. ''Uuseramb- ling" of the lines following the war will be impossible, they hold, if pres ent plans are carried out.
 Secretaries Baker and Daniels and Postmaster General Burleson have all come out in favor of permanent gov~ ernment ownership.
 Senators Reed, Wordsworth and Watson asserted the result of giving the government power over communi- cation lines will be the establishment ef a bureaucracy which will never be cotton rid of Wordsworth persisted that the policy of government con tfol inaugurated with respect to rail- roads and now proposed for wire sys- tems will soon lead to government ownership of these utilities.
 Fears for the Republic.
 And that, he said, twill mean, rear, the undermining of our republi- can form of government"
 Senator Watson demanded that press association wires be exempted rom government control on the ground that the press of the country ms served as one of the most potent ssents Tn the successful prosecution ', the war. He declared newspapers a,inost without exception have loyalty observed voluntary censorship, and appealed to the Senate not to permit an official gag to be clamped on them. nis pleas were not needed, however, sne Senate rejecting his amendment oy vote of 39 to 21.
 senator Reed warned the Senate la' unless it safeguarded the public's lisnts It will be possible for the gov e,,lment, thru some subordinate em- poyee' to deny telephone or telegraph as astVlee to any citizen. Reed urged suoptlon of an amendment providing .'a' uisleyaity or urgent need of the government ss should be the only cause - 1ehyIng use of telephones of tele- ' srapn to the press and public. This ... eas rejected, 33 to 2s. Senator Gore Iisu 70 have the same tax laws an p,eo p to the wire systems under gov ssnii hnent control as apply to the fed n.a'ized railroads. His amendment was also voted down.
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 hed Triangle Leagues Formed. pa1 nr |, W. B. Long organized two @eo ,s Triangle Leagues during the ~ssk. The one at Haff;ala hoe ,.,a,,.