The Telegraph Muddle
20 December 1895 The Inquirer and Commercial News, Perth
THE TELEGEAPH MUDDLE.
AND ITS EEMEDT.
(By J.)
It is beyod dispute that our modern commercial and social progress demands a quick, reliable, and cheap means of communication by rail, post and telegraph, in order that the colony may not be left behind in its commer cial enterprises, or that its social system remain at the poiiit of the 'tage coach and the bullock team. The Railway Department performs its work fairly well, but the same cannot be said of the Telegraph Department. I don'tatlribute all the blame to this Department, but in many ways it has failed to rise to the occasion. Vast sums of money have been invested in the colony from England and the Eastern colonies ; large revenues have been received at the Treasury from the use of the wires, yet investors have been unable — frequently for as lengthy a period as a week at a time — to secure promptitude in the despatch of their very important messages. In no part of the civilised world would such a state of affairs be tolerated — if by any stretch of imagination they could be supposed to exist. In England, with its tremen dous traffic at the sixpenny rate, an operator has to docket every message delayed over ten minutes ; yet in this colony we hear of bundles of five or six hundred messages beijtg seat down by post, in parcels from Coolgardie, which were charged for at the usual shilling rate, and were suppesed to be sent by wire.
The question of the morality of charging a shilling each for messages sent by train I will not touch upon. There are three causes for the paralysis of the Telegraph Department, viz:
As to the first cause, the Works Department should not have control of the erection of lines, as they are altogether ignorant of the requirements of the Telegraph Department ; and in the erection of new offices, the chief draughtsman in the Colonial Architect's Department and the Chief Post and Telegraph Inspector, should confer as to the accommodation needed, as is done in the other colonies. We would not then witness the spectacle of new offices needing enlargement after six months use. The proposal of the Works De partment to make York a repeating centre is too ridiculous to be entertained for a moment. The genius who thought out the idea seems to forget that the electric current annihilates space, and that it takes no longer to travel to Perth than it would to York. His proposal would entail the employment of an additional staff of booking clerks and divided responsibilities without any corresponding benefit. The telegraphsystem is not like a railway — distance makes no difference in time. The incompeteney of the operators lately engaged in Victoria also played a large part in the kite muddle. Mr. Wittenoom, in a recent speech, said it was impossible to get good men. This is not so. There are plenty of good men to be had if he offers good or even fair salaries. Operators in Melbourne and Sydney are paid at from £150 to £360 per annum. Instead of offering a fair salary, Mr. Sholl sent over and engaged 20 Victorian operating messengers at £100 per year. None of these were ever in a busy office, or saw a quadruplex instrument before. Some of them could not read a word, and were but indifferent senders. They were put on to send to Coolgardie, where there were men as bad as themselves, with the result that the *? stops ' w-. re so frequent that two good men could have made a better day's rate on simplex than the eight men working quadruples. Certainly there are some good operators in this Department, but they have not been treated as they should be. Good men receive no more encouragement or pay than duffers, and a strange anomaly could be witnessed at Coolgardie quadruplex a few weeks ago, where an operator of ten years' home seen receiving from r.n operator vrhv | was appointed messenger by him, four v^mh asro, snd who, although of not ?:s.:s :''.?? -.lA'iV.. ; .i'!\;i.,.; £.'?* -: Vrii ? moie tii-ou bis iuiUitc ' ivjo. i. will hardly be believed when I state that the operator ''on the cable line, who is responsible for hundreds of pounds worth of cables daily — which in themselves may represent thousands — is paid the munificent salary of £110 per annum. Instead of paying salaries corresponding with the other colonies, the highest paid here is £190, and from top to bottom there is grumbling and discontent; and it is no unusual thing to hear men say when asked to stir up, 'I am doing my money's worth.' The greatest source of delay, especially to Coolgardie, is the disinclination of the Government to incur necessary expense in the erection of a sufficient number of lines to carry the business. The commercial men of Perth are hardly aware of the fact that the Coolgardie quadruplex can be worked only for a few hours daily, as there is really no wire at all during a great portion of the day, even under the best conditions, to Lsep up communication. Thus at 8 a.m., the line is taken for Southern Cross and Boorabbin business. If Southern Cross has 60 and Perth 60 for Southern Cross, it means two and a half hours at least, and afterwards Boorabbin business has to be dealt with. The line is worked simplex to those stations, and it is generally 11 a.m. before business can be commenced quadruplex on the same line to Coolgardie. Again, at 2 p.m. the line has to be given up Southern Cross and Boorabbin, and again at 6 p.m. With the best men in the world, the Coolgardie business will be delayed, until Southern Cross and Boorabbin get a line of their own, which may be made to answer as an alternative line for other stations to be opened later on. The volume of business from Coolgardie alone is . sufficient to keep a well worked quadruplex going all day without delay. The Kal goorlie business should not be repeated at Coolgardie. They should have a line direct to Perth as the growing business of that district warrants it, and this line could be used by Coolgar die in the event of failure of their own. This would mean the erection of two lines, one to Boorabbin, and the other to Coolgardie, which could be connected with the Kalgcorlie line so as to give direct communication. Until this is done there will be delay to those stations. With a proper system there never should be more than halfan hour's delay; but under present con ditions such is impossible. Of course I am aware that the Coolgardie duplication is under way, but will Southern Cross and Boorabbin have a separate line, even with the duplication, business will meet with delay, so far as to preclude the possibility of getting a reply from Coolgardie on the same day. The present business is quite enough for two lines and can only be coped with by working all night.
With reference to the Eucla line it should be duplicated at once, and the present line overhauled at the same time, so as to improve the insulation. Then it may be possible to work two duplex all day, and thus keep the Eastern and Coolgardie business going. So much for the lines.
The Postmaster-General himself understands nothing about the telegraph system, but it will do no harm to let him retain his present title of 'General Superintendent of Telegraphs.' Mr. Snook should be appointed to the position of ' Secretary for Telegraphs' at an increased salary, having full control of all appointments, the erec tion and maintenance of new lines, etc., and his advice, in all cases, should be adopted by the Postmaster - General, who should be a Minister responsible to Parliament. The appointment of an examining officer, to examine the files every quarter of an hour, place the messages in their turn, so as to give the ' first come, first turn ' and not as at present, where, from the want of such an officer, frequently messages not so entitled, gain half-a-days' precedence. The raising of the operators' salaries to a fair standard, so as to give them an interest in their work, and thus raise the tone of the service, is an important and urgent reform. The Times in an editorial on the telegraph operators strike in England in 1872, remarked : — ' It is a mistake to try to work the telegraphs on commercial principles. They should exist for the use of the public, and the State, and whether they pay or not the taxpayers will not grudge generous treatment to those who have the responsibility of working them. We would advise Mr. Scudamore to bear this in mind in his scheme of reorganization.
Another matter that requires immediate attention, is the removal of those unsightly poles, which disfigure the Perth streets. In case of fire these poles and lines would be a serious hindrance to our firemen, and would have to be cut, time blocking all the telegraph business of the. colony. The lines should be placed in a cable, and run underground to the railway station. Last, but not least, the Minister of the Department should not be a mere 'T-^ier, but should exesreise direct con .:.T _i t'n' ? ?'??v ?'?- -..tfrt. and see that ike rccfni:ntnJati-»ns of the competent telegraph officers are carried out, and not hVvked, or altered by the Post .??:...:??..- -?..??i:-jia:, ajj, us I remarked above, has no knowledge, whatever, of the telegraph system.
There is no excuse whatever, for not carrying out these improvements. The Government has the money and the commercial men of Perth should see that they get a proper, modern telegraph service, which, from the revenue received by the Telegraph Department, they are justly entitled to.