Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-06
Fifty Years Ago
In The Star

Fifty years ago a great deal Of feel
ing in this country was largely manifest
on the score of trusts
Telegraph and combinations sub
Monopoly. verSive Of competition.
The Star Of April /,
1880, says:
"The preposterous effort made by
one telegraph company to prevent, by
an Injunction, the wires Of a rival
corporation from being carried through
one Of the streets of New York occupied
by Its own lines was properly and eff
fectually sat down upon by one Of the
judges Of that city on Monday, as soon
as, the case came before him. So
monstrouS an attempt to crush out
legitimate opposition and thus hold the
public at the mercy of their greed
shows the spirit Of the monopolizing
corporations that are now strangling
nearly every material interest in the
country. Not only that, but it demon
strateS in 50 plain a manner that 1t
cannot be misunderstood by any honest
and intelligent person the need OF con-
slant and active competition in any
branch Of business that affects the
public welfare in so vital manner as
do the operations of such vast corpora
graph lines. And between these
corporations, it is to be observed, there
is little to choose. They are all alike,
under the same set Of circumstances.
Either seeks only to crush the other
out, by fair means or foul, and with
out any regard for any interest the
public may have in the issue. In fact,
as things 60, as between corporations
and the public, there appears to be no
longer middle ground Of mutual in
terest. Either they or the people must
other hope than In the assertion and
maintenance Of their supremacy. The
monopoly demands everything and con-
cedes nothing"
X r
Fifty years ago and for long time
subsequently The Star was a mine of
Stole From riches richie tor the GutvS1 o
The Star. s anS Its Tit columns crsdi fFeey
their own transmission of news and
gossip of the Capital. The Star of
April l, 1880, says in protest against
this practice:
There Is journalism and journalism.
The Washington correspondent of the
New York World, who each week sends
to that paper a column or so Of social
matter stolen from The Star, prints
Is paragraphs in its issue Of Monday
under the head Of Easter week at the
Capital Of which IL are copied almost
verbatim from the columns Of this
paper. Ten Of these are stolen bodily
that Is, without any sign Of credit
while the source Of the eleventh, which
Is little too long and easily identified
to swallow whole without detection, is
kindly indicated by saying, IAN after
noon local paper has published the
following"
In The Star of April 8, 1880, is an
account Of the trial Of case Of
Piracy" on the l Posoms ecP RiVer. as the he
the River 6SESo% IL q the s Rosic Of
Virginia over the "readjuster issue"
concerning the settlement Of the States
debts. Robert Ballenger and George
NowIand were accused Of piracy In that
they went on board ferry boat plying
between Alexandria and Washington
ON the way from this city and with
show Of pistols seized the entire edition
Of q weekly paper called the Liberal"
and threw the copies overheard. The
Liberal" was q readjuster paper and
owing to the intensity Of feeling could
not be printed in Alexandria, where it
chiefly circulated. so it was printed
on this side of the river and Ballenger
and Rowland undertook by this means
TO prevent 1t from appearing. They
were charged with piracy and brought
before Judge r. w. Hughes Of the Dis
trict Court Of the Eastern District Of
Virginia at Alexandria on a writ Of
f1abeas corpus. The court held that
inasmuch as the offense had occurred
in the District of Columbia the laws of
the United States concerning piracy
did not govern. The proper charge,
Judge Hughes indicated, was that of
robbery and should be tried within the
Jurisdiction Of the District.