however, as the Telegraphic Department has failed to meet the interest on the debt so incurred. The telegraph companies were very liberally treated, and in certain cases excessive prices were undoubtedly paid. Probably the most important reason for the financial failure of the telegraphs under government ownership and control has been the influence of forces productive of good in themselves, but quite different from those which had previously been dominant when the telegraphs were under private control and during the early years of government management. The effect of these forces is clearly seen in the reduction of the tariff in 1885, the extension of facilities under inadequate guarantee, and the increase in the pay of the staff.[824] Mr. Buxton is of the opinion that the worst feature of the postal business is the telegraph service. "It has never been profitable and now the telephone system has so largely taken its place that the revenue is falling off," while the "Economist" considers that "it is obvious that both in the Savings Bank and the Telegraph branches reforms are urgently needed in order to place matters on a sound financial basis."[825] [823] Between 1870, when the telegraphs were taken over by the state, and 1873, the number of employees was more than doubled, although, during the same period, the number of messages--not including news messages--increased only from ten to fifteen millions (_Rep. Com._, 1876, xiii, 357, pp. 18, 90, 232, 240). [824] _Rep. P. G._, 1895, pp. 37-38. The proportion of the amount spent on salaries and wages which in 1881, before Mr. Fawcett's revision, stood at about 55 per cent, increased, as a result of that revision and Mr. Raikes' revision in 1890, to about 65 per cent. [825] _Parl. Deb._, 4th ser., clix, col. 389; _Economist_, Sept. 21, 1907, p. 1576. CHAPTER XI THE POST OFFICE AND THE TELEPHONE COMPANIES