It is true that many telegraph offices are connected with the railroad system in this country, as well as abroad. Indeed, no railroad would be considered complete without such a connection, but it is not true that a large proportion of the offices are at the railroad stations.
We have shown on page [8] that the telegraph system of Europe is not specially connected with the Post-Office Department. In some countries the telegraph, post-office, and railway systems are under one department, but there is no particular connection between them. The post-offices are merely offices of deposit for telegrams, and not for transmission. But supposing they were united, why should the expenses of operators, clerks, and managers be necessarily much less than when the telegraph is worked separately? We presume he does not propose to dispense with the operators, and put the telegrams in the mail-bag; or does he propose that when the government gets control of the telegraph that the salaries will be reduced? If this is his idea, we think he is reckoning on a false hope, for if there was an attempt of this nature, the operators would seek some other employment.
AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN TELEGRAPH TARIFFS COMPARED.
Mr. Hubbard says:—
“The lowest American rates are higher than the average foreign rates, and the average rates several times higher than the foreign. These high rates retard the development of the system, which was more rapid in its early growth in this than in any other country. What are the reasons assigned for these high rates? Are they well founded, and if not, how can they be obviated?”
These assertions are entirely erroneous, and the facts quite the reverse. The highest American rates are lower than the highest foreign rates; the average American rates are lower than the average foreign rates; and the lowest American rates are lower than the lowest foreign rates. The lowest rate given in Europe is half a franc, about equal to 14⅘ cents in currency, while our rate between Baltimore and Washington is only 10 cents. In Paris the tariff on city messages is half a franc (14⅘ cents), and in London, for city messages, 6d. sterling, equal to 18 cents in our currency; while the rates for New York, from the Battery to Harlem River, are only 10 cents.
In order that a fair comparison may be made between the American and European systems of telegraphy, so far as the rate of charges is concerned, we present a list of sixty of the principal stations in Europe, and the same number in the United States, with the tariffs and distances in air lines from London and New York respectively, together with the rules and regulations of each system.
RULES OF THE EUROPEAN TELEGRAPHS.
The minimum charge is for a message of twenty words, including the address and signature, and half price is charged for each ten or fraction of ten words above twenty.
Words of seven or less syllables count as one word. In words containing more than seven, the overplus counts as one word; each word underlined counts as three words.