Show the president of alio llio western union objects to the rates prescribed by steil cpr lie quotes I 1 he law anil ahe on the W declares HE HILL tafv less linn iha actual cost or of the atway othar Bat leri associated pres to TUB STANDARD ine squiB BiE the IV V babes a lenstet ce the amral IS KW YORK anly 26 following is the substance of the protest 0 the western union telegraph company against the great cut of the rate to bo paid for telegraph service la the transmission and delivery 0 government messages alie rate in force forthe past alve leare has not been a uniform rate oi one cent per feord as many papers have assumed but increasing on a scale of distances abobo ona onilea with a of twenty cents per fand a maximum of two and a halt cents per word the telegraph telee raph companies bold and are so legally advised that the language of the act does not give the postmaster general absolute power to fix any rate be may deem fit that the power is qualified by constitutional restrictions the old scheme was justified by the ground that the goi eminent bad no right to take existing telegraph proper liea except at prices and on terms acceptable to the companies that owned them and the scheme was objected to by the telegraph companies then existing on the ground that the government entering upon tho telegraph business at rates that would cot pay expenses would sim simply destroy existing telegraph properties it resulted in a compromise between the telegraph companies and the committee of congress fat I 1 believe ba lieve the lamented Garfield was chairman giving to the telegraph companies certain franchises and privileges and to the government certain ad vantages and ledes including the priority of her vice at the rates to be annually by the postmaster general and hat were deemed at the time of the moat importance to the government the right to tale existing telegraph telee raph properties of the companies who accepted the provision of alie act at an appraised value to ba ascertained by arbitrators as described in section this compromise agreement was enacted into law subject to the cormal acceptance by the telegraph compau iea and their acceptance filed with the government tendered it to all intents and purposes a compact between the government and alie telegraph corn panics the operation of which a as intended to bo that the should have the right to take all telegraph properties and that if it should egeit to establish a government telegraph it should take existing ties on terms to be ascertained as the law directs tho fixing of rates by hie postmaster beneral does not appear to leave been considered an imperative duty for no action seems to have been taken by that officer in the directory in fixing rates dettl anly ast 1st of 1871 when aba necessity tor it was alleged to have arisen by leason of the complicated character ot the service in transmitting signal weather reports A conference with the telegraph companies was invited by postmaster general creswell through captain the head of the abignil service and a discussion discus siou of alie subject waa had in washington william orton the western union telegraph company and the postmaster general having the assistance of assistant attorney general whiting and the bead of the signal bureau and alie rates were fixed autis to the telegraph companies 1 hey were not annually revised until some years later and in aln ost every In stanco the telegraph companies were consulted as to what they could atford to do for tho service for in two instances postmaster general jewell and postmaster geneal james at alie instance of the telegraph companies recalled and modified ordera after they had been officially cally proclaimed the language cf the act that messages between the several da ts of the government ahall bae priority oer all other business busi nesa at such rates as the postmaster general shall annually fix may be construed as contemplating the fixing of a higher rate than is paid by other patrons because 0 each priority a business certainly it never contemplated conferring the power to fix tho rates below tho actual cost of the service such action is nothing short of and expropriation of the property and sen ice of the employees to the aaa of tho govern ment jast compensation therefore the rate as last fixed for twenty words or lew for distances of 1000 miles or less and one cent for eutch additional rord and one tenth of a cent per word for each additional miles or fraction thereof is for a distance of about miles as between washington and new york and st louis and chicago scarcely one halt the rata paid by the public on current messages for distances of ZW miles and under it fa about three fourths alio rate |