10 THE OMAHA DAILY B.EE : SUNDAY , DECEMBER 20. 1801-SIXTJflEN PAGES.
SHOULD THE S FATE CON HIOL ?
An Interesting DiBCtmion Upon tin O.vern-
m n'al Ownership of tha Telegraph ,
IDEAS OF EMINENT ELECTRICIANS ,
M hit HIP Kxpwionts nml Antuuonlnfj
or tlie Question Snlil nt tli llcocnt
MeetliiK nl' tlio New Vorlc
IMcotriunl < . 'lul > .
The mldrc-u delivered by Mr. R. Ko -
wntor on "I'ostnl Telegraphs of Kuropo , " before -
fore tlio Now York Eluctrio club , was fol
lowed by n dtscjmlon of povernraont lolo-
Kraphs , iinrtlclpntod In by several men of
prent , proininouco In the olcotrlcal Hold ,
The first publication of thU discussion np-
pcarod In the Now Yorlt Kloctrlcnl Hevlow of
December 12 ns written from the verbatim
notes of the club stenographer. This discus-
slon throws fullv na much light on the postal
telegraph question as did the address , and
will bo found vnry instructive by all parties
who may bo Interested In the subject. Fol
lowing Is the debate. Mr. Kosowntcr snld !
Uoforo concluding , I want to say that In
advocating the transformation of our system
of telegraph to the postal system I Imvo no
porsonul interest whatever beyond that of a
citizen of the United States. I have no
grievance against any telegraph oillcl.il. I
am on the very best of terms with all too
Western Union oHlchih so far as I know , and
with the Postal telegraph ollloials , so far
as I know. I have always been on good
terms with them. The paper , of which I
own the router part Is a member of the
Associated I'ross , Wo have leased wires
and wo pay the WoHorn Union , probably ,
from $15,000 to $20,000 a year for special
sorvlco ; so Unit , I huvo no grlovanco what
ever , personal or political. I have nothing
to redress. But for moro Ulan twonty-llvo
years I have been convinced tlmt sooner
or later the government , as a matter of mili
tary necessity , and as a matter of commer
cial necessity , and In the Interest of the
social Intercourse of the common people
of the United States , must own
the telegraph and operate it ;
and this conclusion all disinterested par
ties must reach when they oxomlno impar
tially the figures and the records that are
presented by the reports of ttio Western
Union Tolngr.ipli company and ether com
panies of tills country , and the reports that
have been mailo abroad by the different gov.
ornmontal postal telegraph ofllclals. There
Is no doubt whotnvor that our wiie system is
enormously overloaded. Wo have moro
wires than wo need and wo have thorn In the
wrong p.aco , and wo do not servo one-half
the people with tulographtc facilities that
ought to have thorn and nt a lower price than
they now are ; and wo cannot lower the
prices so long as the present system prevails.
Competition Is always followed by combin
ations end one company springs up and declare -
clare , llko all the newspapers tlmt spring
up , that they are hero to stay , but in a short
time they are swallowed by the great
American anaconda. I do not blnmo
tbo anaconda for swallowing thorn.
Ihoy are not very desirable morsels ,
As n matter of fact , they have congested the
anaconda very badly. ( Laughter. ) Uut it
Is ono of those laws of necessity. Now , how
much longer Is this to continue ? The pres
ent telegraphic system of this country is
stocked for about § 100OOtOJO , a llttlo moro
than that. Upon that the pooplc1 of the
United Statestho patrons of these telegraphs ,
are paying , Independent of the excessive cost
of maintaining and operating , $13,000,000 or
moro as dividends. Now , 50,000,000 on the
British basis , or upon the basis that wo can
establish , for our credit is Just as good as
that of Great Britain , represents a capital
ization of $ . ' 00,000,000 , and ivo could bettor
afford today to pay $300,000,000 for the Amor-
Icon telegraph systems , and wipe them out of
existence and place them under the control
of the government , than wo can to continue
this system and keep on , llko a snow ball ,
rolling and rolling and enlarging , and
making it utterly impossible In the future to
deal with the problem that must sooner or
later meet us again I speak of the problem
of handling tologranh dispatches during time
of war. It Is all well in time of peace. Hut
these who have been where I was uurlng the
rebellion realize , perhaps as fully ns anyone
can , that a government that docs not control
the arteries of communication nr.d the system
which is equivalent to the nervous system of
the body , cannot possibly sustain itself in
time of war without serious disaster and
without an enormous increase of expense nml
a prolongation of the war costing millions of
dollars and many'hundreds atul thou
sands of lives. I have said It and
I can repeat It tonight , that I am
fully convinced , If the government of the
United Statas had owned the wires at the
outbrents of the rebellion In 1S01 , the war
would not huvo lasted more than two years.
But I cannot digress In this way now , and I
will leave It to other gentlemen , for I would
llko to have this matter thoroughly discussed.
There are two sides to It , as has boon said
before , and 1 would be pleased to hour from
these who differ with mo on this question.
I thank you very much for your kind atten
tion. ( Applause ) .
The chairman ( Mr. Erustus Wlnmn ) Inin
sure the club Is very much Indebted to Mr.
Kosowntcr for the very admirable address
that ho has presented , and I am delighted to
lee tonight so many practical telegraphers
and electrical men In the room talk on this
Hiujoet. It does not become mo , as the wo-
Ullng olllcor , to criticize In any decree the
very excellent address that has been pro-
tented , especially ns being In the position of
i director of the great American anaconda ho
has spoken Of and as president of ono of the
llttlo annexes away olT In the northwestern
land. But I cannot take my sent wll houtox-
presslng a sense of surprise and disappoint
ment that the arguments In favor of a gov
ernment telegraph are so few and so Imrna-
turo In the mind of the gentleman who has
road the address. It scorns tlmt the pnou-
nutlo system of London is the strongest
claim for government telegraphy , I cannot
Imagine that wo cannot have the pnoumutlo
lystom 1 Now Yortt , Bouon and
I'hlladelphia , und oven Omaha , as
complete as they huvo > t In London ,
If wo wont to , und why It Is uocos-
lory that wo nhould have a government con
trol for that Is beyond my comprehension.
Vor the present moment the single argument
In favor of the postal 'telegraph system of n
toveriimeutal character is the pneumatic sys
tem In London. There are many other points
lu the address , however , that it Is not now
necessary to go into. But there lj just ono t
would llko to mention , and that is the revela
tion again of the fact that tlio government
were fools enough to refuse for 100,000 tuo
itupondous means ot Instantaneous com
munication that now throbs through UiU
country. If they wore fools enough nt that
day to refuse that great gitt for that small
turn , what sense has the Koverumont since
not that tt will not bu as foolish again under
ilmllur circumstances ) [ Applause. ! 1 am
rory much disappointed , I am almost
lorry that my friend has given us so much
Information und BO llttlo argument. I
confess 1 da not sco one single thing on
ivhlch a thread of an argument can
rest In favor of government telegraphy ,
incept It bo that tuo business of the newspapers -
papers Is all sent to the intelligence ofllco lu
London. Now , at ttio tlmo ot an election ,
ivnon Boss 1'latt is on one side of the road
Mid Boss Croker-on the other , and nil the In
formation for the newspapers Is sent to the
Intelligence oflluo , I should bo very sorry to
bo * director in the \Vwtorn Union under
lucu circumstances , because it would scorn
to mo ifvo did not have the informa
tion to suit Hess Platt ho would dismiss us
all the next morning , or If It did
not suit Mr. Croker ho would dUmlss us
the next morning. The conditions that
prevail on the other side art ) o entirely dif
ferent. The principles of self-government
are so developed hero that every umn Is a
ovorelgn. himself and there is no relation at
all at to the transmission of Information , and
upeclully as to the press reports between
what would occur In Kng'.nml ' or fJormatiy
or Austria , and what would occur In Now
Yoric. I do not BOO , in nil the information
our friend has given us about the lowest
r.Ucs and splondld service thor render ,
what protection they would have If the doc-
trlnu which underlies our government ,
nnmclr , to the victor belongs the spoils , pre
vails In telegraphy as It does In postofllcos
and every other part of our government sys
tem.
tt has always been a matter of surprise tome
mo that these who say that tba government
should go Into any business should want to
liuvo It go Into electricity. It seems to mo tt
would bo bolter to go Into oil. If the gov
ernment wants to do the people good and exercise -
erciso paternalism over them , oil would bo
very much more adapted to Its purpose. The
objection against the present system of tele-
gruptiy Is that It Is n monopoly. It is not
nearly the monopoly that oil Is. There is a
Brent , deal more monopoly today In the
Standard Oil company than there 'is In the
Western Union company. There is only one
oil company and thcro nro forty telegraph
companies. A man can go to Wall street and
buy a slmro at about SO or & ) In tlio Western
Union company. To snvo his soul ho can not
buy a share in tbo Standard Oil company.
Tt Is a fact that not il per cent of the
population of the United States use the
telegraph ; while I belluvo 97 par cent use
oil. In Knglnnd , it is said , that nearly
every post oillco has a telegraph , and If In
America every post ofllco worn to have n tele
graph , the deficiency , with our 00,000 post-
olllcos , would bo so great that the entire
surplus , with which we nro so much bur
dened Just now , notwithstanding tlio great
pension systemwould bocntirely obliterated.
I marvel what would have become of this
country If the govornmc.it had acquired tlio
telegraph. Compare it with the navy , until
the last throe years , until Mr. Whitney , u
good democrat , ot hold of it , who was suc
ceeded by Mr. Tracy , a good republican.
What has boon the cxpcndltmo on the navy
slnco Mr. Mono was refused his § 100,0001
Millions and millions ; and yet Wo did not
have n C"uft on which wo could place the
slightest reliance. Look at the War depict-
mout , the most complete that wo have and
the least Influenced by political considera
tion. Go to Staten Island and to Governor's '
Island and look at the miserable system of
dolonso that there Is. See a great War de
partment and a great Navy department
spending millions and millions of dollnra
and yet remaining In a most Inolll-
clont condition. I marvel what would
have happened to this country If
the means of instantaneous com
munication over Its broad expanse were in
the hands of Mr. Wanamakor , who is a good
man for the bargain counter , I am sure , but
who might not succeed bovond that. I mar
vel at the fact that such a thorough going
man as my good friend Hosewator should for
a moment .stand up and argua In favor of n
government telegraph. J fool sorry , in a cer
tain sense , that JDV friend has not given a
bettor argument. Still , at tbo sumo time , I
feel sure that mv good friend Mr. Footo ,
whom I will call upon , will glvo us something
on the ether side.
Mr. Allen IT. Footo-I think that Mr. Hoso-
watornnd Mr. Wlmau have both lost sight of
the fact that whoever operates the telegraph ,
whether It Is done uiidur the ownership of a
corporation or unuor governmental owner
ship , must employ pcoplo to do the
work. These people. In this country ,
are bound to bo politicians. Wo have
politics on both sides oporatini ; the telegraph
and there bus navar been nnv complaint from
cither political party that they were badly
treated under thu present sjstcm ; but how
thov would got along under government own
ership I do not know. Mr. Kosowater closed
nis p.ipor with the statement that It was nec
essary for the safety of this country that the
government should own the telegraph. Wo
have supposed that It was nccissary for the
safety of this country that thn government
should own Its anny. When the civil war
broke out in 1801 , the men who were loyal
handled the telegraph keys loyally. The men
who wore disloyal did the other thing. Wo
had in our government men who wo educated
at West Point , and ono of them became pres
ident of the southern confederacy. The gov
ernment owned West Point , und owns Ityot.
If government ownership were a security
acainst disloyalty thcro should have
linen no disloyal men In the southern army
who were educated at West Point. Will
Mr. Hosowater say to this audience or to his
association of Old Tlmo Telegraphers or to
the Military Telegrapher's association , that
the sorvlco was not safe in tholr hands dur
ing the warl Was not that service done
well and loyally ! Mr. Hosowntor paid a com
pliment to the operators la America by say
ing that ono operator in America would do
about twice the work that an operator in
England would do two to ono. My obser
vation of the way clerks work In the city of
Washington Is , that the clerks in your of
fices ! n your private business do twice the
work that the c-lorks in Washington do two
to one. I do not sea in that any reason why
the government should own the telegraph
( Ap'plauso. ) I understood Mr. Uosowater to
say that the countries in Europe where the
government owns the telegraph nro ns quick
to taltc up inventions and utilize them as
they nro In this country. I understood him
to say , also , that in three out of four coun
tries that ho visited , messages were rocotvod
by the recording Morse instrument ; that
the only exception was England , whore they
worked by sound. I may have misunder
stood , but that Is the way I understood htm.
I nm somewhat disappointed that Air. Uosc-
water told us so much about the detail
the mechanism of the telegraph and so
llttlo of the argument of government own
ership. I am not clear now , from what ho has
stated , whether he mean" to advocate gov
ernment ownership or government control.
There is quito a broad difforeaco botwnui the
two. Not knowing what Mr. Kosowator waste
to say this nvonlng , 1 took a reported Inter
view with him , which appears lu thu Elec
trical Review.
Wo are under the impression that a postal
telegraph system means an olllco at each
postnfllce. That is the impression given out.
Wo find that is not the case in England , ac
cording to the best statistics I can got. In
England , in 18119 , there were 17,829 postonlces
and 7,021 telegraph olllces , being ono tele
graph olllco for every two and ana-half
postofllcos. In the United States for 1891 ,
I bollove these statistics are from
the World Almanac , tnore ara 00,000
postolllccs and ! ! 5r , > 91 telegraph olllcos ,
being ono telosrnpu olllco for every
'J 1-1L ! postotttcos , so that the percentage of
telegraph olllcoj to poatofllcos In this country
is a little greater than It , Is In England. In
England thu increase in tlio number of tolo-
gruph otllces for two years from 1837 to 1839
was SIT. There were li,5H , ofllco * In 1857 and
7oil ; in lob' ) . In the United States the lu-
crea-,0 tor the sumo tlmo was . ' 1,110 , the otllces
being In 18b7 , 15,87(1 ( , and in ISS'J , 18.00J. Tno
Increase for lOngland on flr , > l I oflicos Is but 8
per cent , while ttio increase for the United
States on I."ib7(5 ( ofllcus Is about -0 per cont.
Thu increase for the United States , Ulit !
oftlces , on that number of olllcos In England ,
Is nearly IS per cent , against the English In
crease of but 8 per cont. Mr. liosowatordld
say that wo bad too many wires hero and th.it
thu country was doing about one-half thu
business it ought to dj. We may look to the
explanation of that in this llttlo detailed
stutomont of toloqrah ofllco * per population.
In England , taking thu census of 1SS1 , and
adding 10 per cent to bring It up to date ,
there Is one oftlco for every 5,500 population ,
In thu United States , there is ono otllca for
every 13,400 population , I wonder why Mr.
Hosewuter did not stay in England and gel
the pcoplo to extend the > honotits of the tele
graph , so that the paoplo in lulu bo served in
equal proportion to the United States. The
slzo of the country has something to do with
the problem telegraph otllces to England ,
In England there is ono olllco to 17 47 square
miles , In the United States there is one
olllco to Kll square mllos. The population to
the square miio has something to do with it.
In England there are 1)20 ) to one square mile ,
In the United States thcro are 17,93 to ono
square mile.
The area aud population to telegraph ot-
llcos compare. ! ns follows :
England , area , 17.-7 anuuro mlles ; popula
tion. 5f-U
United States , area , 131 square mlles ; pop.
latlon , LVIIO.
A short tlmo ago it bou&mo my duty to
make n schedule for cor root Ing statistics of
telegraph companies for the eleventh census
of thu United ( Statos. In a circular report
which I culled for from the companies they
wanted to enter commercial messages , press
messages , nto. I uald no ; what I want Is a
report that will ahow what the farm
er und the wage workers of this
country are paying for the service
you are rendering m comparison with what
the same class of people pay for the service
rendered thorn by governments thutoxvn and
operate the tolugraph system in foreign
countries. For this reason I would admit to
thu report full rnto.nlgUt rate and the money
transfer messages only , aud at the rate now
being paid over the country by anyone who
may have occasion to use the tolograph. I have
made up the figures on S.B53 full rate mes
sages , OH ulKDt < rate messages and six money
transfer messages. I find that those messages
sages contained 195,91I words , counting al
words In the address , body and signature o
tbo message , making an average of "US'
words per message. The reason for count
ing the words In hls way Is that the govern
tnrnts owning ntul operating n tolegrapl
system count and uhargo for every won
transmitted. The English rate would bo 2
cents pnr message. Thu tolls paid for thosi
messages lu the United States average 41' :
cants. So that on the face of the showlnj
thus far timilo It would appear that the rati
In this country Is double that of England ,
find , however , that the average mileage o
those messages was 540 miles , and thi
average distance from Now York to thi
pUcos to which they were sent is 003 miles
On nu account of distance the ofllco In trans
mlttlng 3,073 message * repeated over 11,001
mcssago In the same period of tlmo. A :
the biggest distance in England Is not ovoi
000 miles It Is reasonable to nssumo that tin
average mileage of 8,973 mossasroi sonl on
from London will not exceed one-half tin
nvorago mileage of the messages son
out from Now York. Therefore , message :
from Now York averaging fi 10 miles nt 41'4 '
cents uro as cheap ns messages from London
uvai'ugltiir ona-half the dlstanco nt 21 cent ;
each. This , however , Is not the whole story
Messages were sent at the rate given In ah )
direction desired from Mow York. Englaiu
Is not large enough to make a comparhoi
with the United States. Wo are compellcc
to take Europe for such a purnoso. If tin
citizen of London wlshns to send his mes
sages 500 or 000 mlloj from London ho inusi
go into other countries , ns tlio American citi
zen L'OCS from state la state. Let this bo trioi
andlhcn mnka a comparison of Europcui :
rates with United States rates.
The rates In Now York on 8,978 message :
averaging 21.8'J words and 540 miles was
41'4 co.its. The rate from London for r
message of 21.8J words to Sweden is $1.74
United States rate for the same dlstunco II1 !
cents. To Norway , * 1.5'J. United State ;
rate for the .same distance 41 4 cents. Tc
Germany , Sl.UO , neulnst 41'i cents. Tc
Austria , St.rti , against II if. To Corlsea , 8J
cents , against 41' . To Spain , $1.74 ,
against 11 li.
1 suppose this is plain why so many people
como to this country. It must bo to enjoy
tbo privilege of telegraphing a long distance
at the low prlco charged by our grinding
monopoly. ( Applause and laughter. )
I do not know whether Mr. Hosowntor can
bo said to bn the representative of the post
master general or not ; but I do know
that we can judge of the kind of advlco thai
the postmaster general has received on tola-
giaph matters by his ofllcial utterances ,
Hero Is a government circular dated Juno 15 ,
1891 , which says , fixing the rate for govern
ment messages , ton words , exclusive of place
from , date , address und sii'iiuturo , 10 cents tc
all distances , 400 miles. As the message
actually counts twenty words , that is 11
cents for twenty words for 400 miles. Hall
a cent a word lor additional words. Half : i
cent for each word in the hodv. I would
like to have Mr. Kosowator stnte.lf ho would ,
If ho bol'ovos that a chiirce of one-half u conl
a word will pay the expense of doing the
business over n distance of 100 miles. On
June 29 , IbS'J ' , the postmaster cenorul Issued
an order fixing the rate ut 1 mill a worn ,
irrespectively , for all messages , div ; uncl
night. If 1 mill a word for all dis
tances day and night was a fair ,
honest compensation In 1839 , I would like
to know what has increased the cost of tele
graph service to bring it up to half n cent : i
word now.
There is ono point In this Ueviow article
that I want to refer to , and Mr. Kosowator
can easily sot himself right if ho is wrongly
reported. Ho suvs hero : "I would buy out
"
all the telegraph lines in America and" then
advertise ror proposals , and have them oper
ated by private companies under the con
trol of the government , llxiug the rates mid
requiring them to report their oarnincs from
tlmo to time to the government. When thu
receipts exceeded 10 per cent upon the invested -
vested capital , their Investment , being rather
small , I should insist upon their reducing
the rato. " I suppose ho meant dividends
Instead of receipts , 'lo give un idea of what
Mr. Kosowator considers a small capital , ho
is reported hero as saying that , the govern
ment ut the time , that is Februarv ' 27 , 1800 ,
when the government turned ovor'ils lines
to the private compiuies the government
at that time ovvvicd 41,211 miles of land line
and 178 miles of submarine cable. I under <
stand that to mean miles of wire instead ol
miles of lino. He is reported , to have said
that the property was worth $2,000,000 or
$3.000,000. Was it ruilos of line or in lies of
wirol
Mr. Kosowntor I presume It Is miles of
wiro.
wiro.Mr.
Mr. Footo Assuming that Mr. Kosewator
moans miles of wlro and that ho will prob
ably agree that the true valuation would bo
the average between his extremes , the state
ment may bo construed to mean that the gov
ernment owned 14,339 miles of wire worth
$ . ' ,500,000 , or about $ l7Jpormllo. At this
rate the present valuation of the combined
mileage of the Western Union and Postal
Tologrnnh-Cublo companies Is fi3,3i : ! : > ,834.
Now , if the military telegraph lines were
worth $171 a mile , it is fair to presume that
the lines that uro working now commercially
are worth us much. On that computation ,
however , the capitalization of these com
panies does not begin to reach the values
given to it by Mr. Kosowntor. That mav bo
where the watered slock is to como in. I am
of opinion that if Mr. Kosowator can Induce
the government so to HK rates that these
companies oan earn 10 per cent on tills valua
tion , that they will civo him an exclusive
contract to attend lo their stock watering
hereafter.
Government ownership is advocated by
Mr. Kosowator ns a principle. In my opinion
the principle is radically wrong. It Is op
posed , as I understand the matter , to the
underlying fundamental laws that govern all
human actions. When you separate a man
from any direct interest In his work or any
hope of having a direct interest in his work ,
you separate that man from the most active
element that can Induce him to bo thrifty ,
saving , progressive , observing and careful In
everything ho does. I do not suppose that
any of you gentlemen will admit for ono mo
ment that there has over boon a work under
taken oy government that has been executed
nt anything liKe the cost it could hu aono for
by prlvato parties. A gentleman with whom
1 was conversing In Boston not long ago a
very competontonsinoor observing the work
of government buildings , of forts and arse
nals , etc. , told me that ho did not bollove
that , with two or three exceptions in these
United States , there had been ono single in-
slanco where a Government building had
been put up at anything like the cost It could
have boon put up for by private parties.
Ho estimated that the excessive cost was
nt least 100 per cent. In ether words ,
it cost the government twice ss much to do
the work as It would prlvuto parties. Assum
ing , for the sake of argument , that the capi
talization of these telegraph companies could
bo agreed upon they hdvo accepted a law
passed bv congress In 18011 wnlch dotlnos the
wuy In which the government can acquire
possession of the telegraph companies. If
that wore to bo carried Into operation , the
capitalization aurood upon aud the interest
an the capital figured at the same rate that
the government pays on its bonds , the capi
talization question would bo out of the way.
Then comes the question of muin-
tananca and operating expenses. I do
not think any one will suppose for
an Instance that those expenses , operating
under crovoruimml control in this country ,
woultl como uaywhom within the limits that
they do under prlvato management. I do
not think that 20 per cent dilTurcnco would
bo any too largo a margin to allow for that.
Therefore , I nssumu that thu telegraphs of
this country , operated unuor prlvuto man
agement , doing u business of the same rate
that It would cost the government to do the
business , could pay at least n 10 per cent
dividend , and at the same tune bo giving the
service at what the ordinary politician calls
cost , which Is what It would cost tbo govern
ment.
The absence of stallstloj in all these de
tails is ono of the weak points in the argu
ment. When wo do not huvo statistics
which both sides can agree upon as being
true and accurate , wo can tot follow our
argument through Its losrltlmato course. I
have under my hands the work of attaining
these statistics from too telegraph companies
In the United Statos. That work will bo
accomplished In thn course of .time , provided
that the government will furnish tbo funds
to do the work. Wo are now practically at a
standstill. Those .of you who want to have
the statistics muilo up In that way will have
to assist In getting the appropriation. ( Ap
plause ) .
Mr , Insull : On hearing our friend , Mr
Wlmnn talk ot commercial union , 1 never
have boon able to maku up mv mind whether
he talked as a resident of the United States
with largo Interests hero or as subject of the
queen as I bollovo ho Is today. But when
ha gets up hero to talk to us on the question ,
of government control of telegraphs , there
Is not tbo slightest doubt from whence ho
draws his experience. If ho Is afraid of Mr.
Doss Platl at ono tlmo having control ot oar
telegraph system and using tt for his owr
particular Interim , and of Tammany poli
ticians having control of it another tlmo ,
ho evidently H1 drawing upon the experience
Of his friends and follow subjects In Canada ,
where wo llnd.lAts of trouble with the tone
lu the Dominion and with the liberals hi
Quebec. I <
So far as Mtv Footo's remarks nro con
cerned , when ho first addressed you , ho referred
forred to the ftertinunt of inventors , I think ,
There Is ono ttilnV that these ut us who gc
to the other .sfi\i | ( must have noticed , thai
whilst our telegraph companies here unit out
telephone cotnpaluos here were arguing as tc
the unpo3.ilblluj-'of ' placing iholr wires under
ground , that that same work had bocn done
In London by'Um ' * postal telegraph depart
ment for years' past , nud It .vonld seem from
that that the Iclo raim companies bore con
sider not so much public convenience ns tholr
own pockets , Tno question of government
control of anything , I presume , tiopemli upon
the particular prlnclnlo of government that
wo should have tlio greatest possible
peed to the greatest number. Does il
seem reasonable that the monoor who goes
to the northwest , I will tnko Mr. Wiman'a
side of thu line , and starts to develop a coun
try , or If ho wishes to communicate with his
base of supplies , should bo taxed to the ex
tent , not of 12 cents for twenty words , butol
13 cents for a single word ) Can that load lo
thcrapid development of any now country )
If It is reasonable that the mau living In the
Kooky mountain * snail have to pay $1 for
ton words and bo without the advantage of
a night rate , why Is It not reasonable that
the snmo man , If ho requires the protection
of our military , shall pay much higher rates
of taxes than tlio people living In a city like
Now York ! The great advantage of Iho
govern men t administration of telegraphs ,
moro especially In England , where I have
had some experience , is that If you aru in
the smallest vlll o whcro there Is trans
mitted but ono message n da } ' , you pay ex
actly the same rate as you would in a larger
city , and thu business man has the sumo op
portunity there to develop his business that
the man has who lives In a larger center of
population , I piesumo that thn expenses of
the business are proportionately larger In u
small place than they are in n largo one.
These of us who run small businesses llnd
that the expenses of business are greater
under those circumstances. Docs it seem
reasonable that the merchant should bo
taxed to a much fur greater extent than
the man living In that smaller town ) I
think you will find the tendency of nil
governments Is to take control of all matters
where a business Is built up and
vested interests acquired , by taking advan
tage , not of any private rights , but of public
rights. The congress of the United States
seems to have recognized that state of affairs
so far as the railways are concerned and
they Imvo taken control to a greater or less
extent , according to the shrewdness ot rail
road olllclal" , of rates of transportation and
of passenger rates. I cannot see why the
same control cannot bo taken of the tola-
graph companies with ndvuntasro to the nub
ile at large ? . Whether that control is exor
cised by direct ownership or by so'no such
contiol as wo have in the cnso'of the Inter
state commerce law whatever way It Is done ,
1 think it would certainly be of advantage
to these of us who have to use telegraph
faoilitlos for the purpose ot running our
business. Mr. Footo drew attention to
some comparative liguros as to telegraph
otllcos ; but ho did not mention thatin a small
place of 5,000 or 10,000 Inhabitants , owing to
the oxiponcies.of competition , you will Hncl
not only a Western Union olllco , but also a
Postal olllco , and , a short time ago , a Balti
more & Ohio Qtliua , Now such a thing is not
at nil a necessity ; ono ofllcu could do the
business just as well as three , and , therefore ,
It is not lair to. taUo those comparative * fig
ures. In a couutry like the United States ,
where private ownership is the rule in tele
graph business to compare that .with a coun
try llko Great Jjrltaln , where you have gov
ernment ownomhip , and , consequently , the
necessity for o6iriootltivo ofllces removed , the
comparison is'1 riot fair. Ho also made n
comparison between the postofllces and
the lologrnply qfllccs. But If ho were
acquainted w/tli / , the English postal sys
tem , and werfl 'aware of the fact that al
most at every stvjot corner you will Hud a
postofrtco. I do not think that ho would
have used the o figures. It would , bo ab
solutely Impracticable and absolutely un
necessary , I IhuiJijTtoJittVo.a telegraph olllco
vbqrpver thero" ijja ppjitpflfuQ. f. have lived
Hi Now York a"good many yearsTind 1'l.avo
often had n great deal of trouble in finding
poitofttcos. An absolute stranger never
find * such trouble In London. I have no
decided views on this su bjcct ono way or the
other , but I tuink some of the comparisons
Mr. Forte made show some Inconsistencies ,
when you look into the details of the business
In the two countries.
On the question of the work done by opera
tors In this country and operators in Eng
land , I think such of our members present as
are posted on European telegraph service
will'tell you that the atmospheric conditions
have something to do with that. 1 think it is
a question of rapidity of operating ; but I nm
trespassing on a sublect that I am not at all
posted upon.
Mr. Kosowntor : The presiding ofllcor of
this club has seen tit to pour oil upon the
troubled waters hero and pour It on very
promiscuously , for the amusement of the au
dience ; but 1 do not think it necpssary for
mo to discuss the oil question in connection
with postal telegraphy. Ho said hero that I
haa brought lorth no argument in favor of
thu postal telegraph , and had not supported
mv statement with liguros sutflcient to show
whether or not the Brltbh and foioign tele
graphs were equnl in number to postofllces ,
whether wo wanted a postofllco at every
telegraph station , aud u bother we proposed
to increase the civil sorvlco by an enormous
list. Now , I happen to bavo with mo MI few
liguros that I made up today from the
official book that I have hero , mudo up really
In tbo German language by iho Austrian gov
ernment , giving a full account of all Euro
pean postal facilities and telegraph fa-
ollttos , and I find this lo be the fact that In
Great Britain the number of ponolllces , by
the Inst report of the postmaster general was
18.3VJ , tho- number of telegraph stations
7,0i7. That Is for > the year 18b9. I have a
icport with estimates for I V.lJ. They have
only 5,01'i postal telegraph ofllcas and 1,715
railroad telegraph olllcos in Great Britain.
Franco is the only country in Europe
probably , and perhaps In tueworld , that has
more telegraph ofllces than postofllces. She
has 7,00 postolllcos and UHI3 , telegraph
olllcos , of which 0,030 aru postal and ! i , 112
are railroad.
Austria has 13,017 postofllces and 10,800
telegraph olllcoi , of which iilll , ! are postal
and 5 , l'C > are rmlro.vl ,
Germany has the lamest postal telegraph
system In Europe. She has 21,212 post
ofllcos and 10,408 telegraph ollicos , of which
12,431 are postal and : ) .il7r railroad.
Now , computing the whole thing , what do
wo soof In all these four great countries the
total number of postolllcos Is IM.IHI , and the
number of telegraph stations 4I1.I ! ! ! , You
notice that there are nearly two-thirds as
many telegraph stations as postofllcos. and
notwithstanding my frlor.d's statistics I
would venture to suv that ho is enlirolv mis
taken , unless Dr.TUroen gave wrong figures
to the povornnfcfnt last winter. AccordIng -
Ing to Ur , Gi'ou'h thura are some 18,000
telegraph sUllons" in America , including all
the railroads , illidvto the best of my knowl
edge the number of postofllcos is about
(50,000 ( or 111,000.- Now , wo have over (10,000 (
postofllcos und'only 13,000 and some odd tolt-
tfrapli ofllces , and of ihosa you llnd tlmt tno
telegraph cumpaitlns have got less than 5,000.
All the telegraph companies have got loss
than 5,000 telegraph olllcos und the balanuu
ara all railroadotHco.s. , , Now , just compare
those countries. and , sco what un absurdity.
This Is a striKlflg' argument , It seems to mo ,
In favor of postal tolgruphy , because It
enables the peomcf' m the smaller towns and
villages to got ti6 ! facilities of the telegraph ,
and while my frlddd here says that there are
only a few cloMi6j > pors out in the west that
nro entirely cut off , It seems to mo that
every citizen of the Unttod States Is ns gooi
ns every other citizen , and it doesn't matter
whether ho is on n farm or In a work shot ) .
The object of the postal system Is to facili
tate the Intor-communlcatlon of Intollt
pence. It that had boon established
lishod , no matter what disparaging state
ment ? have boon made here today as regards
the mismanagement of dlfforont branches o
the government , I defy any man here to como
forward and show where there Is n butter
system under corporate control than the post
ofllco system of the United States today
[ Applause ] . 1 defy
Mr. Sam Bryan ( of Washington ) I ac
cept that challenge with very great pleas
ure.
ure.Tho Chairman Mr. Bryan , wo will glvo
you an opportunity as soon as Mr. Kosowntor
has finished ,
Mr. Kosowator : If you can &bow that the
millions and millions of letters and thu vast
quantities of newspapers that nro trans
mitted all over thu United States for
distances covering something like 100,000
miles of railway , and traversing these rail
roads nt every hour of the day all over the
Utilted States , handled In every railway
mall car mid thrown off by fast mall trains ,
handled on the steamships as I have soon
right hero there were 100,000 letters handled
by the American postal clone , who WH.I on
the steamship and who assorted them be
tween Hamburg hud Now York and jJlnced
them In packages going all ever the United
States , including Omaha If you please , und
every other town. I say that the postal
system of the Utilted Stales Is admirably
managed , whether Mr. Wanamakor meas
ures his lotlors by iho yard or weighs them
by the pound. I have uot bocn paid by the
postoflico department and have not been
authorized to speak for it , but I will say for
Mr. Wauamaker , and I have been acquainted
with every postmaster general from the days
of Crcswoll down to today , that ho Is the
most ofllclont man In the department and has
moro business In In.n than any otnor mau
that was ever In It.
Mr. Footo has called mo to task here about
a question , and It Is n very serious ono , in
his opinion nt least , us to what the value was
of the telegraph lines turned ovor.to the vari
ous companies by the government after thu
war. It Is true that 1 churgod \\asblng- -
ton last winter , before the congressional com
mittee , that tUtor the war , without any com
pensation whatever , 15,000 miles of wire and
something like 100 or 20J miles of cable mid
nil the instruments and machinery and all
the appliances that had boon used in the mil
itary lelo < rnph service , were turned over lethe
the companies without n dollar , und I have
the audacity to say that they were worth
about ? . ' ,000,000. Well , I meant 52,000,000 ut
the tlmo they were turned over , when gold
was worth about 180 cents and ovorvtliing
was proportionately high. But , after all , it Is
very remarkable that the gentlemen should
venture to the defense of this peculiar
transaction. It was certainly a trans
action that requires explanation. It
was a transaction that I never have
boon able to explain to myself. When
1 went to Invostlgiitu it in Iho qunrtunnastor
general's ofllco , 1 thought that the government -
mont had sold out tho.se things , as I stated
then , as old junk , at bo much a pound for the
wire and so much per cord for the poles.
Hut , as a matter of fact , the government
actually turned it all over for nothing at
the instance of the gentlomou who wore
managing the telegraph companies. Now wo
have been given hero a promiscuous line of
figures. I do not. think It is necessary for mete
to repeat the telegraph tariffs abroad.
I expect to go before thn congressional
comrnitleo. probably this winter some tiino.
If 1 appear before that committee , some of
these liiuiros might perhaps be more appro- ,
ciaied than they would bo right here tauight.
But 1 just want to call attonlion 10 a few lit-
Uo items. For instance. In 1SSO. the West
ern Union had n capital and a debt of $4 ( > , -
000,000 , and now itjias just $ ( JS,2)0.000. The
consolidations that have taken place in ton
years have almost duplicated the en the capi
tal and debt.
Mr. S. Bryan of Washington , spoke at
length of thodaloctsin our poslal system ,
claiming that It was the worst In the worlrt ,
with the exception of n few of the Latin
countries. A letter posted at Twenty-third
street. Now York , at 7 p. m. , would not
roach Washington and bo delivered until 1
o'clock the next day. Mr. Bryan also favored -
vorod Sunday delivery. Ho said the tele
graph soi-vico of England and France was
not near so prompt ns with us.
Mr. E. A. Losllo spoke of his acquaintance
with Mr. Uosowator , anil stated that under
lying all of Mr. Kosowator's arguments for
a postal telegraph was the welfare of the telegraph -
ograph operator. After tendering a vote of
thanks to Mr. Kosowator , Chairman Wiman
declared the meeting adjourned.
Mr. Footo has boon at great pains to point
out the exorbitant rates charged for dis
patches from London to places in Siberia ,
Sweden and Noaway , but if bo had taltnn
dawn his telescope and looked a llttlo nearer
homo ho might have discovered some exces
sive charges that cannot bo palliated or ex
plained away. For Instance , every steam
ship coming into New York passes by Flro
Island. A ton-word message announcing the
arrival of the steamer .s charged ? l and 'or
every duplicate of this message delivered in
the city of Now York only thirty-live miles
distant , $1 is charged. And the steamship
companies nro forbidden to post announce
ments of arrival of their steamers or to sun-
plv their patrons with the news. Would
such an autocratic thing bo submitted to
ih nnv place in Europe or Asia )
The telegrams are the property of the pcoplo
who pay for thorn. The tclopraph company
is simply a public carrier , just as the express
companies uro of letters and packages.
The opponents of postal telegraph cannot
conceive a moro glaring abu o of power than
is constantly exercised bv the managers of
telegraph companies and for mo , I should
prefer to trust the control of the telegraph in
the hands of tha men who are hold respon
sible by the people for Iho trust reposed in
thorn , than to the men who recognize no re
sponsibility excepting to the capitalists who
operate telegraphs for the prollt there is In
them. ( Applauso. ]
They had lots of wedding presents , but the
most precious was n box of Hallor's ' Aus-
trallau'salvo.
She said thoughtfully , It's so nice for the
llitlo chaps on my hands. Ho said , wo
haven.t got any "llttlo chaps" yet. She
said , Why I John , and John was squelched.
Dr. Cullimnro , oculist , Hoc. building.
A I'atlinlii ; Al > ! > 0ill.
Somebody lias boon rofusiiif , ' to pny
Brother Phnxton of tlio .liiuknon ( Gu. )
Argua for u pull" , for this ia tlio way ho
Is putting it now :
"A doctor will sit down and wrllo a
proscription ; time live miiuitos ; pnnor
and Ink , i of a cent ; and the patient
pnya $1 , $ o , $10 , as tlio case may bo. A
Itiwyor writes ton or twelve lines and
gets from S10 to $50 from bis client. An
editor writes a luilf column pulT for a
man , pays a man SO cunts or $1 lor put
ting it In typo , prints it on $7 worlli of
paper , sends it to sovoml thousand people
ple and am prises tbo ptilTud man if bo
makes any charges. "
Dr. Btrnoy cures catuiTh. Boo bdlg.
Millions in Ir.
Tbo population of China Is now esti
mated at 850,000,000. which is almost
equal to the ontlro population of Europe.
The Chinese national debt is ono of tbo
smallest , amounting to only $ : i8,600,000 ,
Queen Victoria's private secretary , Sir
Honryl'ousonbv , has a modest llttlo salary
of $10,000 and house rent froo.
PLEAKJREAD THIS.
Cents a pound for VAN HOUTEN'S
COCOA ( "Best & Coos Farthest" ) seems to bo
high. Let us compare it with the price of Coffee :
1 Ib. of good coffee costs at least GOc. , makes 31 haH.pInt cups.
" . ' 03 " "
3 " therefore 90c. ,
1 'V. IICocoalso OOc. , " 150 " " "
| W'Which is the Cheaper Drink ?
J 93 cups of Coffee ,
. .
UF.TA1I. PKIGK on .
.
cnU | > r pound yuc. | , BO < "v.H.Cocoa !
Sold by every Grocer.
What will YOU give Father , Son or Brother ?
OTHERS
are giving
Nicoll's
Mnclc-to-Orclci1
Trousers ,
Suits
unit
Overcoats ,
$5 to $50
Made in 24 hours if required. If his measures arc not on
our books bring us an old suit , trousers , or overcoat and
Santa Glaus will do the rest , and do it so well , your present
will be a pleasure and ornament when all others have ceased to
be useful.
Trousers , $ 5 to $15.
Overcoats , 18 to 60.
Suits , 20 to 50.
207 South Fifteenth Street.
CIPainless
PainlessLess Pain. No Pain.
The wonderful local nnnsthetic u = ? ed only by DR. BAILEY 19
relieving hundreds of people of the ngony usually existing In hnv-
ing teeth extracted. By the use of this harmless ritug teeth nro ex
tracted absolutely without pain or dnngor , the patient being per
fectly conscious all the time , but the sensibility of the tissue nrour.d
the place where applied being entirely gone. No extra charge for
using this wonderful drug.
A Full Set of Five Dollars a.
TEETH Sit
And a-
ON RUBBER Good Fit
For Five Dollars Every Time
Tooth Without Plates. Itnmovnblo ItrldKO Work nt prluoj llttlo more than for a rubboi
nlite. : Gold I Illina und nil work pertaining to dentistry at Ion pit niton.
R. W. BAmEiY , D. DS. .
OFFICES THIRD FLOOR PAXTON BLOCK.
TELEPHONE , 1O86. 16TH and FARNAM STS. , Entrance on 12th.
The UNPRECEDENTED SUCCESS
that the
Behr Bros. & Go's.
Have nttnhuMl , aiuHlio lii li prniso limy liavc elirite.1 from Hie nnrlil'OIOST IMS-
SOM'NKI ) ARTISTS , from HIP pros * anil from a piililio loii projmliro 1 in favor elder
dor mnkes , il Is sjxfo to assume thill Ilio iuslrumi'iil mint ho possess ) ) . ! of L'NCOM
MON ATTKIIiUTKS.
ATTKIIiUTKS.MAX MEYER & BRO. CO. ,
Sole Agents , Omaha , Nebraska.
Established 1866 ,
1316 Douglas Street , Omaha , Neb.
'J'lioomlnrnlHperlnlltt In norroiii , oirotlo prlvitti' . lilooJ akin und iirlrnry dlsouii A rn iilar nil
rcj.'htroilKrulij.itul : ninoillclri" ui dlplomis mid certillottni V > ! T In HUH tnmtln , ! wlt'i thu rirnnluit 11113-
( ( " fl cnt irrh , t [ itr unlurrltooa. lost miuiliuoil. BOiiilnnl * v iknuu nUlit I < mti4 , Itnim'mirr. Hn'liMli stria *
turo kOiiorrlii > o.i. itlcot , varlo icole. uluSo muro > ry n ail. .Vu v t out ns'it for lo i of vllil | > o fit I'aMon
unublo toviiltmumny bo tiunU'il athninulijoiirriiipoiilonio Ma llalninr Initriuninti tout bf rciai . or
cxpn 11 ftooiiroly imckod nu mirk * to Imtlrito content t or tonilor O i * lion mil uuurvluw i > ruferri > J. Con *
nulmtlon frco < ornuponocnco ilrlcliy p l/ito HooU i Mjstorlai of I.lfu ) ont frao Olluuhuin , U a ui.
o | > m Munilny , 10 n m , to I'-'m Sonil atrnp fur rojiljr
WOOD'S ' ICE TOOLS
RUN IRON , ROPE & BLOCK'S '
Send for catalogue.
Jas. Morton Son & Go 1511
. , , iJ Str\wt
A OK.VUINK MI'MU IK Kllir.KH It KIIWH IJIUIM
KIIADU'ATOU - uriHullilukuinBi liuoumi It kllln
thu mk'rntju or verm I'ut up nml rutnlluit In ii 11 und
(5 Hi/an , thu Inttur miKulldiia. Hunt anywliuru pro-
pald on rornljit if pnru orl' . t ) I ) . Wol niu > n miiir-
luilou to curu. Thu I ubllo truilo nml Jiihlii'n mii-
. .II..I l.w .1. . . li ln l..r linn * f < l ! . > l\ ft nl > n I' A
iluk'liiiV'lowurrt ' MoyurnnJ K ' ! ' . 'rijykorii , Sniitli
Uuiiiha , A I ) . Poster mill II. J. Kill * , t'ouricll Illuirs
N , M , RUDDY ,
THE ONLY PRACTICAL OPTICIAN
' 'Id South IMIi St. . KiiriiHiii St , Tliuutur.
EYES TESTED FREE
Jlaa.tos 1'IUnil to rotnody nil iltifooli nt uyti-
HlKlit. Sti'ul sptX'UicloH of ittmrantuocl < | iiillty !
I nml up.
Sollil ( iiilJ Spccl'iicltM anil Kyo lamai , * !
and upward. OcciilUt's prosurlptloiH for
KliuNUM III led correctly unino Uiiy us rucutvod ,
ARTIFICIAL HUMAN EYES INSERTED ,
WEAK
Conditions of thohtinmri form niKcvmrnlly ttuntid
to develop , ntrunvtlicii , onluruu all weak , Blunted ,
undovelopod.fvcblourKnnsanil imrls of tlio lioily
which huvo lout or nuvur ntlalnoil n proper and
natural lii ) . duo to III lioalili , abuiu. cxc'tmcs.or
unknown cunsua. Thorn U ono rinllioil nml
only our. by which lhl.1 may Im accomplUlifd.
Incremioilliow ot blood to uny iiiirt , ( iruduccd by
elinpluappuratna aclliiK automalUully.crtatuanow
tl uutonoaud vlicor by thu imnio imlunil luwnus
tliolnrrenxoor iliu and ptruniitlinf imitcU1. Don't
buprouilco"lb ] | 0ii olllll0iuaik | mji < i i | iy llly
moinn to do the nuinu. IN V I.H I'll.ATI' .
Tliurc'H no triiii ! > nrli ofour ollrrn. Our pay
will como wbMi tno inihlle known clearly clor > co
from fraud.Vrltn u tot ln triictlon . full duecrltw.
tlon , proof . rofurentoi , etc. Allicntyuu In plum
eCBli'rt letter without coil of any kind.
BBIB MEDIOAL CO. , BUFFALO , IT. Y.
UNION DEPOT HOTEL.
Corner lotti und Muson Htrouti.
Naw bulldlnjr , now furnlluru. orory thinHri
olmi ; llnoit locution In Iho olty. nil iiiodarn liu
provuiuuiili : rituiim Me/fit ; Oam tall llolU. Until
and Uurbur HUop In connections Klui trio and CnOlu
C r to any part of thn city. Try u and bo cun-
vlncud thnl wo IISYO the dust hoinu for the iiionuy
woit of ChlciiKU. IUt from I..W t o f I 'J ) per d *
