UNION OF TELEGRAPH AND POSTAL SERVICE. 403 



munication and postal communication might be considered as coming 

 within the same category, as both provided for correspondence be- 

 tween persons at a distance, and the only difference was the mode of 

 communication. It would be admitted, as a general principle, that the 

 monopoly which had succeeded so well in regard to the conveyance of 

 letters might be expected to succeed equally as well in a more rapid 

 method of communication. He was not aware of monopoly in the one 

 case which would not hold good in the other." The reasoning of the 

 distinguished Chancellor aj^plies with greater force to this country, 

 where the rates are higher than they were at this time in Great Brit- 

 ain, and where the entire telegraph system is in the hands of a single 

 private corporation. The transfer of the telegraph business to the 

 Government in Great Britain took place February 5, 1870, and in 1872 

 there was a net revenue from this source of 159,835, which increased 

 in succeeding years. The following table exhibits the extent of tele- 

 graph business in the countries named : 



COUNTRY 



Great Britain 



France 



Russia 



Switzerland 



Belpum 



Italy 



No. of telegraph- Length of lines 

 offices. (miles). 



5,254 

 2,895 

 2,166 

 1,150 

 586 

 1,795 



115,460 

 35,445 

 59,012 







3,234 



14,750 



Eeceipts. 



1,346,892 



83,203,800 00 



3,046,539 08 



400,763 04 



426,258 84 



1,451,088 64 



Year. 



1879 

 1878 

 1874 

 1879 

 1878 

 1875 



The conclusions deduced from the foregoing facts, as applied to the 

 question of adopting such a system in this country, are : 



1. That the Government has the constitutional right to own and 

 operate lines of telegraph, as a part of the general postal system, to 

 the exclusion of all j^rivate competition ; and, further, that such action 

 is clearly a constitutional duty. 



2. That in all the leadinsj countries of the world the Government 

 exercises this right, either in whole or in part, to the great benefit of 

 the citizens of such countries, protecting them from the extortions of 

 monopolies, and guaranteeing, for a small charge, to transmit and 

 deliver their telegraphic correspondence with the privacy of sealed let- 

 ters, with greater certainty and efiiciency than can be assured by pri- 

 vate corporations. 



3. That there is no reason to doubt that the success which has 

 attended the system in other countries would obtain here, especially 

 when we consider the energy and enterprise of our countrymen, and 

 the extent and resources of our great and rapidly developing country ; 

 and that with a uniform tariff, say of twenty cents for twenty words 

 or less, it could be made in a few years to cover all expense, if not 

 (which is probable) a source of revenue to the Government. That 

 the near future will witness this realization is quite certain. 



