Business: Mr. Sage's Mistake

As the present first-class crisis facing U. S. railroads is due primarily to the fact that operating costs are rising while revenues are falling, so another crisis, less publicized but similar, faces U.S. telegraph companies. Last week Western Union, Postal Telegraph and Mackay Radio took the step already taken by hard-pressed railroads—they petitioned the Government for an immediate general 15% rate increase.

Only last June the telegraph companies sharply reduced their night rates. Since then they have tried such expedients as eliminating charges for punctuation. Last week in their petition they admitted what has long been suspected—that these reductions...

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