THE PROPOSED UNION OF THE TELEGRAPH AND POSTAL SYSTEMS. STATEMENT OF THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY. CAMBRIDGE: WELCH, BIGELOW, AND COMPANY, PRINTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY. 1869. CONTENTS. REVIEW OF HON. E. B. WASHBURNE’S PAPER ON THE UNION OF THE TELEGRAPH AND POSTAL SYSTEMS. Page A merited Compliment to Professor Morse 1 Congressional Aid 2 Erroneous Charges against the American Telegraph System 3 Brief Statement of Facts 4 Statistics of the Telegraph in Europe and America for the year 1866, from Official Reports 5 The Complaint of Indifference to Public Convenience without Foundation 5 Official Statistics of the Telegraphs in Europe for the year 1866 7 Statistics of the Western Union Telegraph Company, of the United States, and of the Montreal Telegraph Company, Dominion of Canada, for the year ending June 30, 1867 7 The asserted Union of the Postal and Telegraph Systems in Europe an Error 8 The Shortcomings of British Telegraphs 9 The Telegraph System of the United States Unparalleled for its Extent and Efficiency 10 Asserted Effect of Governmental Control on Belgian Telegraphs 11 Early Belgian Rates contrasted with American 12 Natural Increase in Telegraphy 13 Unfortunate Effects of Low Rates and Competition 15 American and European Rates compared 15 The Peculiarities of the Belgian Telegraph Service 17 Belgian Officials acknowledge the Imperfections of their System 18 Instructive History of Belgian Telegraphs 19 Singular Idea that a Small Telegraph System is more Difficult to Manage than a Large One 20 Necessity for the Unification of the Telegraph System 22 Estimate of the Cost of Building Telegraph Lines 24 Doubts regarding the Estimates of Telegraph Experts as to Cost of Constructing Lines 27