People's Pilot, Volume 4, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 April 1895 — THE ENGLISH PLAN. [ARTICLE]

THE ENGLISH PLAN.

GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP IN OPERATION. Reduced Kates for Telegraphy —Greater Content! uce—lncreased Service —How the System Is Conducted —We Are Far Behind. A late report of the practical operation of the telegraph system in England will be read with Interest. It proves that under government ownership the public is served with greater satisfaction and it is a strong argument for its adoption in this country. The improvement in service and increased convenience in every way is so satisfactory that the public would be very reluctant to permit a return to the old system. An abbreviated extract from the report is given in the following dispatch: “Washington, D. C. —A sketch showing the great development of the telegraph in Great Britain since it passed under government control in 1870 is given in a report to the state department from Consular Clerk Martin. He shows that all of the separate companies’ lines were taken by the government in 1870 for £11,000,000 and that in the year succceeding the government built 15,* 00 milei of wire to connect tho various systems. The reports show that while in 1870 the total number of telegrams handled by all offices was from 128,000 to 215,000 per week in 1893 the number exceeded 1,000,000 per week and the number sent annually exceeds 70,000,000. In 1869 the English press service was 22,000,000 words; now it amounts to 600,000,000 words, thirty-six times more than formerly. The present press rate is small compared with the tariff prior to 1870 and in place of sending seventy-five words per minute one way the wires now carry 500 words a minute, and six messages are sent simultaneously on one wire. The service is performed with perfect punctuality, the average time of. transmission of a message being about seventy-nine minutes, against two or three hours in 1870. The rate is 12 cents for twelve words, paid by stamps.”