Year: 1869

ter General the telegraph property, 1t shall
be lawful for the Postmaster General to
construct new telegraph lines, and
that thereafter there shall be no claim
on the government to purchase the
lines Of such a company. Here We see, then,
that while the bill proposes to offer every
means for reasonable appraisement and to
make a fair pure hase Of the property OF the
companies, the government will act very
decisively, and leave no ground for specula-
tive hostility or obstruction to the measure.
II will leave the telegraph companies as
powerless as the old banks were left when the
National Banking act came into operation, OF
the private letter carrying companies were
when government postal systems were inaugu-
rated.


1t is unnecessary to recapitulate the various
provisions of Mr.. Washburns bill as to the
way in which the teegraphs are to be ope-
rated by the government. Our readers can
learn all that from the bill itself. But it is
worthy of remark that the proposed machinery,
so to speak, of operating the telegraphs by
government is surprisingly simple, and that,
in connection with the Post Office Department,
it can be carried on with greater facility and
at less cost than under the present system.
The people will not have to run miles to reach
telegraph office, to suffer delays, or to sub
nit to exorbitant or uncertain charges They
will be able to put the telegraph stamps in
their pockets, just as they now do postage
stamps, to pay the message in their own
homes or Offices, and to drop them in conve-
nient government boxes, as they now do their
letters. They will be sure Of no delay,
partiality or preference in transmitting
their messages; for the act provides
that every message shall be sent in
the order of its arrival. Then how
cheap, compared to the present rates. Twenty
cents for message of thirty words and one
cent for each additional word to all distances.
Only compare this with the present high rates,
and it will be seen what o great blessing the
proposed government postal telegraph will be
to the people-how it will facilitate business
and quicken intelligence. We have no doubt
that telegraphing would be increased to su ch
an extent that the postal telegraph would more
than make up the yearly deficiency Of the
Post Office Department, and that in short
time the rate Of charges even in the bill could
be reduced. To the press of the country
especially this is a most important and valua-
bic measure, and every newspaper should
urge Congress to pass it without delay.


There will be formidable lobby, no doubt.
to operate upon Congress and to resist the
passage of the bill. The gigantic telegraph
monopoly has become immensely rich and will
use abundant means and powerful influence
to defeat the measure. 1t will be a fight
between this monopoly and the public-a war
involving the interests of few individuals
as against the welfare of the community and
the progress of the age. viii there be found
men enough in Congress who are incorruptible
and sufficiently enlightened and patriotic to
pass Mr.. Washburn's bill? That is the ques-
ton. We hope there will. But should it be
rejected the present session or by the present
Congress, the time is not far off when that or a
similar measure must be passed. The govern
ment postal telegraph system is necessity Of
the age, and the people will demand its
establishment. II