| Show G Government M l ono z Ii I p I A A P T Telegraph aph andA and ref I L Lines ines U Urged rge d' d b by y Burleson B i I REPORT tS 18 MADE r Jf S' S SENATE ti Committee After Car Careful Cari i c I Investigation In- In tion Makes R c in d abon men V. V WASHINGTON Jan 31 Postmaster m r General Burleson today u tte to o the tho senate the recommendation n of tue departmental committee appointed d by i him to cst in investigate gate the practicability of government gO ownership of ot telephone no and d telegraph lines 11 i i iT T Tho To o report declared that t tho 9 only wa t to afford to the people th th the theand c and aDd modern p postal stal facilities l t h constitution makee makes i i Ui tho 4 nty government to provide is 1 1 by J carrying ou out these suggestions I 1 That i-That That congress dec declare ar a a 1 govern government mont moat monopoly over all aU telegraph t toto 1 phone and and radio communication tion a and abd such other means for the tho transmission n not of ot intelligence as may her hereafter af or dV deW 2 2 That congress congre s acquire re by pU purchase at appraised the commercial r ial tolo- tolo phone lt network ork e except t tho G far farmer lines 3 o 3 That congress tb the p pos s tn master st r general to Issue in his tibb and UD under er Bu such h T a ue pres pres prescribe ri ribe e revocable Ji e i s o the 1 e opera operation by bythe A Y i ij 2 41 tion t te 14 l t r t trI tho the teJ telegraph notice t aud and such parts of tho the a as may not Dot be acquired ac M- by the ilie go government nt After Careful Investigation The m ons were were signed bv by D Daniel 0 C. 1 p r first assistant pos pos- Dla maSter t er A general Merritt Morritt t t O. O Chan o ochief chief clerk postoffice department ana and John C. C Koons Koon superintendent division of salaries s and allowances composing tho the committee They wore accompanied l b by statistical information collected d after t r one ono of t tie the e ril most st exhaustive investigations investigations investigations und undertaken b by the postoffice e dc department The rc report oit states that the United States is is alone alono of tho leading nations which h h has s left to t pih private te o enterprise the theo o ownership and ando o of the tho telegraph telegraph tele tele- graph and telephone facilities and arid that pra practically ti ally aU of the economists who have haTe treated tho the subject are agreed that telegraph anti and telephone facilities be controlled by the Government It declared further r that Theodore N. N Vail president of tho the American Telephone Telephone Tele phone and aDd Telegraph company by his statement stat that tho the telephone business must be he under common control and sufficiently 5 strong to constitute one ODe system tem intercommunication int interdependent universal al has himself pointed out that the tho moat telephone telephone tele tele- phone service cm bo atta attained n d only under under UDder un un- der a condition of monopoly The report con continues ti Should Be Cheaper The pr private prato ato monopoly has no incentive iDeen thc live to extend its facilities to unprofitable unprofitable t. t able territory but the government mu must t servo 01 all the people lo This Ull universal or sal service fenice is accomplished by br the equalization equal of rates In fixing rates the tho policy of this government go is to superimpose super impose no char charge c for tax taxation bi but bt t only to see seo to it that the service as a whole is self supporting Tho The private mo- mo on th the thc other hand t must t make malte a profit and in jU providing for this thill tends to increase its rates to to tho highest st J price r cc that will not by bv too greatly restricting the of business impair the thc aggregate ag zig- gre te profit prot So So tar as tho the public generally Js s concerned th the entire cotiro telegraph service o e eis oIs is owned and aDd operated h by two telegraph companies Telegraph facilities have hao not Dot peen been o extended to the tho small towns townsand townsand and villages along with the n postal facilities nor has the cost COt of the service eT been bcD reduced in n tho thoin proportion pro portion that would e. e m warranted b bhe by the he in increasing volume of business trans trans traus- a acted ci Cl CI According to the best available data the capitalization of the tho long distance distance dis- dis dis Jis tance and toll lines lints represents approximately n OU and tb the capitalization liH ni tion of tb the f commercial tn network approximately Tho The cost rost to tn the government would be bc Je less IPOS S' S than the tho od d v value lur since it if would be undesirable for the government to purchase purchase pur pur- chase the real roal estate state holdings of the companies Exchanges x e could b be he leased cued until accommodations could b be provided pro in hf the Tho report was sent ent to tho in I response t 16 to 8 a rH J ti n introduced by Senator k orri i I |
