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Show I; THEODORE VAIL RECOMMENDS . POOLING OF TELEPHONE AND I WASHINGTON, Dec S Pooling of the telephone and telegraph facilities of the country on one hand and thn i marine cable lines on the other, each with a comprehensive operating organization or-ganization under a single executive head, is recommended to Postmaster General Burleson by Theodore. N. Vail, I president of the American Telegraph 1 and Telephone company. In his letter, made public today, Mr. Vail said the pooling arrangement would be brought about without dis- ! memberment of the properties and In ' such a manner that they could be ' turned back to private owners at the i expiration of the period of govern ment control. "What should be done to create an' ideal system," said Mr." Vail, "cannot be done because of existing laws, nor would complete consolidation bo jus-' jus-' tificd since to undo such a consoli- dated system into its former units would lead to unwarranted waste. "There are. however, many tilings ' which can be done which would not ! produce waste, and which might, by( improvement of service, help to furth- j j er educate the public and create an j actively favorable attitude towards i some co-relation or co-ordination ofj ( operation and service with the con-i trol and regulation and restriction, through some combination of govern-j mental authority and private owner- j shin or oneration. retaining all the Ij advantages and incentives of both.'' j Mr. Vail, who is acting as confidential confi-dential adviser to Postmaster General Burleson in the control of the wire communications systems taken over by the government, discussed the land and marine wire organizations separ- ately. If the United States, he said, j is to become a commercial and in-I in-I dustrial world center an American ca-1 ca-1 ble system consonant with the obli-i obli-i gations and opportunities of the coun-j coun-j try must be organized, j o "There must be a United States sys-tern sys-tern which will place this country di-j di-j rectly In communication with every country with which we have, or hope to have important commercial relations," rela-tions," declared Mr. Vail. "As it now is we are on one side of the world system. We must be made one of the centers of the world system If we ex-pect ex-pect to compete on even terms with the world or be properly considered by the countries we wish to reach. "The immediate and pressing necessity neces-sity is for the east coast-South Amer- ican cable to give this country and the river Platte countries direct cable. communication. I . "Of what use in commerce will be 1 our investment of billions in ships to j carry commerce if we do not give them j and the business agents of all com-I com-I mer.ee direct communication with their home ports and home business houses?" "Congress has authorized combina- : z e r i . Ii uuu in luieiyn uummerciai enterprises. If the advantages and necessities were I properly presented it should be pos- 1 slble to obtain promptly such authori- 8 j zation or legislation as would give, j under the agencies of the government, authority for combination, and operation opera-tion of all electric inter-communicating systems, in direct connection and co-ordination with the national wire system, between this countrv and all II foreign countries. A "There is one thing that calls for immediate action. The cable situation is and has been grave. Congestion Is j now the rule and accumulation of bus- I iness is at times serious and when the activities of the peace conference are really commenced in Europe, it will be greatly increased. "By one traffic head controlling cable ca-ble operation and a few slight changes in the physical property which could centralize the cable terminals, as it were, the efficiency can be somewhat increased. "If it were lawful or if it could be brought about by consent of the proprietors pro-prietors it would be a great feature for the .commercial and political interest in-terest of the United States and of great advantage to every country reached by direct communication if the cable systems could be consH-i dated into one system and the cable I systems re-arranged and extended j more or less. i "Such a combination would at once bring about an important saving in cost of operation. ! "A broader, cheaper and more abundant abun-dant service will be a most effectual adjunct to our own commercial agents in securing business for the United J States industries. There is already an i active movement being inaugurated particularly in South America by German Ger-man commercial agents to recover their pre-war conditions, and which must be. promptly met if the United! Statos is to get any advantage from! the present situation." For the unification of the land wires, I Mr. Vail suggested creation of three I operating divisions, each embracing the distinctive operation of "telephone service" and "telegraph service" and "the maintenance and manipulation of wires of systems" as distlnce from traffic operations. Below those divisions divis-ions the organization could be amplified ampli-fied and arranged to meet the necessities, neces-sities, he said, and the whole should operate under one executive head. oo |