COMMUNICATIONS: Monopoly at Last

It took more than ten years for Congress to exempt U.S. telegraph service from the provisions of the anti-trust laws so that Western Union and Postal Telegraph could merge (TIME, March 8). After that it took less than ten weeks for the two companies to work out the details of a combination to end useless duplication in a business where competition is costly and unproductive. The agreement announced last week: Western Union Telegraph Co. will buy out Postal, through an exchange of stock. Now all that needs to be done to make the merger a fact is for stockholders and a brace of regulatory bodies, including the Federal Communications Commission, to approve the specific deal. By next fall anyone who wants to send a telegram will almost certainly have to ask for Western Union.