Chapter V: Part 5

During the first few years after the introduction of the electric telegraph its progress was very slow. Capitalists were afraid to invest in an undertaking so novel and precarious, and as a natural consequence there was great difficulty in raising funds for properly building the lines, and they were constructed in a very unreliable manner, breaks and interruptions being rather the normal condition of the wires than the exception.

At a very early period in the history of the electric telegraph in the United States, a misunderstanding occurred between the Morse patentees and a contractor under them, the result of which was that rival lines were constructed throughout the country before the system had been sufficiently developed to be remunerative, even without such competition.

The invention of the letter-printing telegraph by Mr. House, in 1846, and the introduction of the electro-chemical telegraph of Mr. Bain into this country, in 1849, greatly facilitated the construction of competing lines.

The first line operating under the House patent was completed in March, 1849, from Philadelphia to New York City. The Boston and New York Telegraph Company, using the same patent, was completed in the autumn of the same year, and was followed by one from New York to Buffalo, and subsequently to St. Louis and Chicago.

During the year 1849, which was very prolific in the production of competing lines, the Bain patent was introduced upon lines extending between New York and Buffalo, and New York and Washington, and, in the succeeding year, upon lines extending between Boston and Montreal, and Boston and Portland.

In 1851 there were seven Bain lines in operation in the United States, having over 2,000 miles of wire; eight House lines, having about 300 miles of wire; and sixty-seven Morse lines, having 20,000 miles of wire. In the autumn of this year, the Morse and Bain lines between New York and Washington were consolidated; and in the succeeding spring the Morse and Bain lines between New York and Boston were united under one company. The union of these lines was followed by that of the New York and Buffalo Morse and Bain lines, and subsequently by those of the House lines between these points.

EVILS ARISING FROM SEPARATE ORGANIZATIONS.

The consolidation of these lines was a step in the right direction, as it increased the receipts and lessened the expenses of the companies, while it enabled them to do the business better, by possessing greater facilities. Still, the great number of separate organizations remaining throughout the country prevented that unity and despatch in the conduct of the business so essential to its success. Under these circumstances, the public failed to realize the brilliant thought of instant communication between distant points.

A Boston house, doing business with Chicago, was obliged to be content with responses received on the second or third day. On Boston despatches for Chicago four tariffs were charged; and a message had to be copied off and handed over to other companies for transmission at New York, Buffalo, and Detroit, before it reached its destination.

All this process required time, and yet the loss of time was the least of the evils connected with such a state of things. The message, as it left the writer’s hands in Boston, was not unfrequently a very different document when it reached the Western parties, owing to errors caused by its numerous retransmissions, and thus the necessity became urgent to unite these separate companies into one living, vigorous organization, by which not only repetition and error might be avoided, but the messages followed to their destination under a single direction, and undivided responsibility.

THE UNIFICATION OF THE TELEGRAPH ACCOMPLISHED.

It was at this period, when segregated lines were feeling their weakness, and their revenues were unequal to even a current vigorous support, that a few clear-sighted men in the West conceived the project of buying up the groups of feeble organizations, and making them direct leaders between the large Western cities. The stock was comparatively valueless, and easily and cheaply bought. The needs of commercial intercourse were pressing. The project had in it the true elements of success, and it was accomplished.

For seven years thereafter the purchasers went on improving the lines thus acquired, and rendering their connections more certain. During all these years no dividends were paid. Time and money and all the earnings of the line were devoted to that series of combinations which, from a mass of weak and perishing organizations, culminated in the Western Union Telegraph Company.

This combination of lines saved the system from disgrace, and made it available to commerce and to public wants. No increase of rates followed any of these movements; and none would ever have been made, had not war come to change values, and rendered it necessary.

At the East, the American Telegraph Company, organized in 1855, followed a similar course, and ultimately controlled lines extending throughout the Atlantic seaboard and Mississippi Valley. These two companies, working in connection and harmony, covered the entire area of the United States, and performed the business of telegraphing better than it had ever been done before.

In 1863 the United States Telegraph Company was organized, and constructed lines in the territories occupied by both the Western Union and American companies; but in 1865, with 16,000 miles of wire,—all newly built,—worked to their full capacity during the year they were unable to meet their current expenses; but under the most vigorous administration, with its expenses reduced within the closest limits, found that it was conducting its business at an average net loss of nearly $10,000 per month.

In the spring of 1866 the Western Union, American, and United States Telegraph Companies were consolidated, thus producing a complete unification of the great telegraphic system of the United States, and rendering it the most complete and extensive in the world. This consolidation, however, gave the Western Union Telegraph Company no monopoly of the business. The Morse patent having expired, and no exclusive privileges being granted by either State or national governments, the construction and operation of telegraph lines within the jurisdiction of the United States remained freely open to all.

TELEGRAPH COMPANIES IN THE UNITED STATES.

The following list of some of the more important telegraph companies now doing business in the United States will convey an idea of the importance of this interest: Bankers and Brokers’ Telegraph Company, capital $1,050,000, lines extending from New York to Washington; Pacific and Atlantic Telegraph Company, capital $3,000,000, lines completed from Philadelphia to Pittsburg and Cincinnati, and extending; Franklin Telegraph Company, capital $1,000,000, lines extending from Boston to Washington; International Telegraph Company, capital $300,000, lines completed from Boston to Bangor, Me., and will be extended farther east; Keystone Telegraph Company, lines extending from Philadelphia to Harrisburg and Pittsburg; International Ocean Telegraph Company, lines extending from Lake City to Key West and Havana; Northern Telegraph Company, capital $100,000, lines completed from Boston to Bristol, N. H., and extending; Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company, capital $5,000,000, lines completed from New York to Chicago and extending; Great Western Telegraph Company, line completed between Chicago and Milwaukee; Northwestern Telegraph Company, capital $1,150,000, lines extending from Milwaukee through Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, and Minnesota; Mississippi Valley Telegraph Company, lines extending between St. Paul, Minn., and St. Louis, and from Dubuque to Chicago; Western Union Telegraph Company, capital $40,347,700, lines extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of the St. Lawrence, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. There are in addition to this list quite a large number of companies, covering more or less territory, which, with all of the above mentioned, are independent organizations, and nearly all of them engaged in competition with each other.

Private enterprise has with us, so far, achieved much greater results than governmental management in Europe. As regards the tariff for messages, they are less than the rates established in Europe. Considerable reductions have been made within the past year, amounting, in some cases, to as much as 50 per cent. The reductions have taken place to the greatest extent in those sections of the country where there are opposition lines, the rates over some of these routes being less than the expense of doing the business, but the reductions are not confined to these sections.

The Western Union Telegraph Company has reduced its rates between upwards of one thousand offices where there is no opposition; and it is now preparing a new tariff of rates, based upon airline distances, between all stations, irrespective of the circuitous routes that the lines take to reach them, which will still farther simplify and cheapen the system.

It is the purpose of this company to do the telegraphing of the United States as well, and at as low rates, as it can be done by any organization which can be formed, and thus maintain its possession of the first and most extensive system of telegraphy in the world.

DOMINION OF CANADA.

In the Dominion of Canada as in the United States, the telegraph is free and untrammelled by governmental interference, and, next to the United States, is the best in the world.

STATISTICS OF THE TELEGRAPH IN THE DOMINION OF
CANADA.

Number of miles of pole line, 6,746 miles.
Number of miles of wire strung, 8,935 miles.
Number of offices, 382 miles.
Number of messages (in 1867), 573,219 miles.
Gross receipts from all sources, $258,000
Gross expenses, 180,000
Of which, accruing for labor, 105,000

AUSTRIA.

The telegraph is under the control and management of the State.

At the end of 1866 the system comprised 851 stations, with an extent of 73,854 geographical miles of wire.

The total number of persons employed by the telegraphic department is 1,884.

TABLE C.

_Statement showing the Progress of Telegraphy in Austria._

┌───────────────┬─────────────────┬─────────────────┬─────────────────┐ │ │ Number of │Gross Receipts in│Average Cost per │ │ DATE. │ Messages. │ Florins. │ Message in │ │ │ │ │ Florins. │ ├───────────────┼─────────────────┼─────────────────┼─────────────────┤ │ 1851│ 44,911│ 128,736│ 2.86│ │ 1852│ 62,716│ 209,547│ 3.34│ │ 1853│ 109,347│ 308,159│ 2.81│ │ 1854│ 190,522│ 549,697│ 2.88│ │ 1855│ 204,221│ 607,745│ 2.97│ │ 1856│ 251,948│ 778,294│ 3.08│ │ 1857│ 381,720│ 888,905│ 2.32│ │ 1858│ 419,449│ 760,811│ 1.81│ │ 1859│ 692,379│ 951,240│ 1.37│ │ 1860│ 700,795│ 991,275│ 1.41│ │ 1861│ 846,953│ 1,226,404│ 1.44│ │ 1862│ 946,675│ 1,267,966│ 1.33│ │ 1863│ 1,130,625│ 1,290,447│ 1.14│ │ 1864│ 1,610,663│ 1,322,948│ 0.82│ │ 1865│ 1,786,955│ 1,435,478│ 0.80│ │ 1866│ 2,507,472│ 1,644,742│ 0.65│ └───────────────┴─────────────────┴─────────────────┴─────────────────┘

Austria transmitted 44,911 messages in 1851, and 381,720 in 1857, being an increase of over 800 per cent without any average reduction in rates. The increase in the number of messages from 1857 to 1866 was less than 700 per cent, notwithstanding the great reduction in the rates from 2.32 to 0.65 florins.

BELGIUM.

The statistics respecting the working of the telegraph in Belgium are used by Mr. Washburne primarily to prove the superior advantages and excellence of the Belgian telegraphic system and arrangement, but chiefly to show that a cheapened rate has increased its use, and that to secure that result in this country the telegraph must be placed under governmental control.

Scarcely any two nations could be named whose conditions are more unlike.

The area of Belgium is about one fourth that of the State of New York, with nearly the same population. Its greatest length is 175 miles, its width 105.

The three chief cities of Belgium are not more than thirty miles apart, while those of secondary rank are equally contiguous. All the railroads in the kingdom belong to the government, and a large proportion of the telegraph offices are at the railway stations, the post-offices being merely offices of deposit, from which messages are despatched free of charge to the nearest telegraph office, if in the same district; otherwise by special messenger, on the payment of an extra fee.

As the government of the United States owns no railroads, they could not use the stations for offices, except by special arrangements, which can as readily be effected by private companies.

TABLE D.

_Statement showing the Progress of Telegraphy in Belgium._

┌───────────────┬─────────────────┬─────────────────┬─────────────────┐ │ │ Number of │Gross Receipts in│Average Cost per │ │ DATE. │ Messages. │ Francs. │ Message in │ │ │ │ │ Francs. │ ├───────────────┼─────────────────┼─────────────────┼─────────────────┤ │ 1851│ 14,025│ 88,674│ 6.32│ │ 1852│ 27,217│ 165,973│ 6.07│ │ 1853│ 52,050│ 265,536│ 5.10│ │ 1854│ 60,415│ 280,845│ 4.65│ │ 1855│ 61,443│ 265,939│ 4.33│ │ 1856│ 99,273│ 359,579│ 3.62│ │ 1857│ 119,050│ 407,011│ 3.42│ │ 1858│ 145,726│ 413,926│ 2.83│ │ 1859│ 196,240│ 506,006│ 2.57│ │ 1860│ 225,819│ 527,743│ 2.34│ │ 1861│ 268,968│ 588,532│ 2.19│ │ 1862│ 291,787│ 605,044│ 2.07│ │ 1863│ 416,113│ 612,313│ 1.47│ │ 1864│ 564,497│ 789,399│ 1.44│ │ 1865│ 674,034│ 865,640│ 1.28│ │ 1866│ 1,128,005│ 962,213│ 0.85│ │ 1867│ 1,293,770│ 1,074,214│ 0.85│ └───────────────┴─────────────────┴─────────────────┴─────────────────┘

TABLE E.

_Statement showing the Lengths of Lines, &c._

┌─────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────┐ │ DATE. │ Lengths of │ Lengths of │ Number of │ Number of │ │ │ Lines. │ Wires. │ Stations. │Instruments. │ ├─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┤ │ │ Miles. │ Miles. │ │ │ ├─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┤ │ 1862│ 1,174│ 2,983│ 196│ 290│ │ 1863│ 1,644│ 3,875│ 252│ 365│ │ 1864│ 1,856│ 4,421│ 280│ 420│ │ 1865│ 2,000│ 5,400│ 307│ 460│ │ 1866│ 2,187│ 6,146│ 356│ 556│ │ 1867│ 2,232│ 7,161│ 374│ 574│ └─────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┘

TABLE F.

_Statement showing the Number of Messages._

┌────────────┬─────────────┬──────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────┐ │ DATE. │ Inland. │International.│ Transit. │ Total. │ ├────────────┼─────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┤ │ 1851│ 6,652│ 6,054│ 1,319│ 14,025│ │ 1852│ 9,807│ 10,103│ 7,307│ 27,217│ │ 1853│ 14,159│ 20,656│ 17,539│ 52,050│ │ 1854│ 16,719│ 29,492│ 14,204│ 60,415│ │ 1855│ 17,279│ 34,725│ 9,429│ 61,443│ │ 1856│ 32,862│ 45,375│ 21,036│ 99,273│ │ 1857│ 41,434│ 48,367│ 29,249│ 119,050│ │ 1858│ 47,673│ 58,094│ 39,959│ 145,726│ │ 1859│ 65,465│ 83,780│ 46,995│ 196,240│ │ 1860│ 80,216│ 95,499│ 50,404│ 225,819│ │ 1861│ 97,945│ 115,121│ 55,902│ 268,968│ │ 1862│ 105,274│ 129,935│ 56,578│ 291,787│ │ 1863│ 188,825│ 162,178│ 65,110│ 416,113│ │ 1864│ 252,301│ 197,547│ 96,649│ 546,497│ │ 1865│ 332,721│ 252,133│ 89,183│ 674,037│ │ 1866│ 692,536│ 306,596│ 128,873│ 1,128,005│ │ 1867│ 819,668│ 359,652│ 114,550│ 1,293,870│ └────────────┴─────────────┴──────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┘

TABLE G.

_Statement showing the Gross Receipts._

┌────────────┬─────────────┬──────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────┐ │ DATE. │ Inland. │International.│ Transit. │ Total. │ ├────────────┼─────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┤ │ │ Francs. │ Francs. │ Francs. │ Francs. │ │ 1852│ │ │ │ 88,674│ │ 1853│ │ │ │ 265,536│ │ 1854│ │ │ │ 280,845│ │ 1855│ │ │ │ 265,939│ │ 1856│ │ │ │ 359,579│ │ 1857│ │ │ │ 407,011│ │ 1858│ │ │ │ 413,926│ │ 1859│ │ │ │ 506,006│ │ 1860│ 142,344│ 232,877│ 149,969│ 527,743│ │ 1861│ 171,225│ 237,748│ 158,558│ 588,532│ │ 1862│ 176,643│ 280,449│ 147,952│ 605,044│ │ 1863│ 211,063│ 277,266│ 124,033│ 612,368│ │ 1864│ 282,591│ 307,956│ 198,850│ 789,399│ │ 1865│ 345,289│ 340,103│ 180,247│ 865,640│ │ 1866│ 408,634│ 369,900│ 183,680│ 962,214│ │ 1867│ 480,887│ 444,245│ 149,082│ 1,074,214│ └────────────┴─────────────┴──────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┘

TABLE H.

_Statement showing the Receipts and Expenditure of Telegraphs._

┌────────────┬─────────────┬──────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────┐ │ DATE. │ Receipts. │Expenditures. │ Loss. │ Profits. │ ├────────────┼─────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┤ │ │ Francs. │ Francs. │ Francs. │ Francs. │ │ 1851│ 88,674│ 309,116│ 220,431.39│ │ │ 1852│ 165,973│ 102,947│ │ 63,025.88│ │ 1853│ 265,536│ 170,735│ │ 94,800.85│ │ 1854│ 280,845│ 139,795│ │ 141,050.61│ │ 1855│ 265,939│ 161,500│ │ 104,439.67│ │ 1856│ 359,579│ 202,599│ │ 156,980.11│ │ 1857│ 407,011│ 283,171│ │ 123,840.23│ │ 1858│ 413,926│ 293,891│ │ 120,035.19│ │ 1859│ 506,006│ 375,343│ │ 130,662.75│ │ 1860│ 527,743│ 403,500│ │ 124,243.73│ │ 1861│ 588,532│ 408,261│ │ 180,271.33│ │ 1862│ 605,044│ 515,800│ │ 89,241.86│ │ 1863│ 612,363│ 653,280│ 41,417.19│ │ │ 1864│ 789,399│ 670,424│ │ 118,974.83│ │ 1865│ 865,640│ 948,516│ 22,876.20│ │ │ 1866│ 962,214│ 1,217,496│ 255,282.00│ │ │ 1867│ 1,074,214│ 1,128,703│ 54,489.00│ │ └────────────┴─────────────┴──────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┘

TABLE I.

_Statement showing the Average of Receipts, reduced to Dollars,
and the Average of Messages._

┌─────┬────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┬───────────┐
│ │ │ │ Number of │
│ │ │ │Inhabitants│
│DATE.│ Gross Receipts.│ Number of Messages. │ averaging │
│ │ │ │ to each │
│ │ │ │ Station. │
├─────┼───────┬────────┼──────────────┬──────────────┼───────────┤
│ │Average│ │ │ │ │
│ │ per │Average │ │ Average for │ │
│ │Mile of│ per │ Average per │ each 1,000 │ │
│ │ Line, │Station,│ Station. │ inhabitants. │ │
│ │ in │in Gold.│ │ │ │
│ │ Gold. │ │ │ │ │
├─────┼───────┼────────┼───────┬──────┼───────┬──────┼───────────┤
│ │ │ │Inland.│Total.│Inland.│Total.│ │
├─────┼───────┼────────┼───────┼──────┼───────┼──────┼───────────┤
│ 1851│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 1852│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 1853│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 1854│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 1855│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 1856│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 1857│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 1858│ │ │ │ │ 11│ 24│ │
│ 1859│ │ │ │ │ 15│ 34│ │
│ 1860│ │ │ │ │ 18│ 40│ │
│ 1861│ │ │ │ │ 22│ 48│ │
│ 1862│$103.08│ $616.37│ 537│ 1,488│ 23│ 52│ 23,980│
│ 1863│ 74.50│ 586.00│ 749│ 1,651│ 41│ 78│ 17,857│
│ 1864│ 85.06│ 563.85│ 901│ 1,951│ 56│ 100│ 16,071│
│ 1865│ 86.56│ 563.94│ 1,084│ 2,195│ 74│ 130│ 14,658│
│ 1866│ 87.89│ 540.00│ 1,945│ 3,168│ 150│ 217│ 12,690│
│ 1867│ 91.70│ 666.40│ 2,191│ 3,450│ │ │ │
└─────┴───────┴────────┴───────┴──────┴───────┴──────┴───────────┘

The telegrams of Belgium are of three distinct sorts,—internal, international, and transit. The system differs essentially from that of the United States, inasmuch as the principal business of the Belgian telegraph is to transmit messages from one country to another, whilst the principal business of the American telegraph is the conveyance of internal messages. The only international messages transmitted on the lines in the United States are those sent to Europe by the Atlantic cable, to Cuba by the Cuban cable, and to the various stations in the Dominion of Canada.

One of the arguments used in favor of the assumption of telegraphs by government is, that in its hands the telegraph is more largely accessible to the people, and more freely used. The facts are as follows, giving Belgium the benefit of the increase of messages shown by the last reduction of her tariff.

BELGIUM.

Population, 5,000,000; messages, 692,536. Ratio, one message to each seventh person.

GREAT BRITAIN.

Population, 29,500,000; messages, 5,781,189. Ratio, one message to each fifth person.

UNITED STATES.

Population, 31,148,047; messages, 12,904,770. Ratio, one message to every two and one half persons.

These facts prove a clear advantage in favor of private control.

BAVARIA.

This country possesses 2,115 miles of lines, and 4,945 miles of wire.

Gross receipts for 1866, 322,886 florins. Expenditures, 258,625 florins.

DENMARK.

This country now contains 2,515 miles of wire, and eighty-nine telegraphic stations open to the public. The Morse apparatus is the only one employed. Of these eighty-nine stations, fifty-three belong to the government, twenty-one to private telegraph companies, and fifteen to railroads.

The tariff is fixed at ninety cents for a local telegram of twenty words between any points in the kingdom. In 1867 there were transmitted 308,150 telegrams, of which 174,560 were local and 133,590 foreign. All the stations send written despatches in all languages, even in cipher, the only conditions being legible writing in an alphabet transmissible by the Morse apparatus.

Money orders to the amount of 50 rix-dollars can be paid at all post-offices by means of the telegraph. The sum being deposited at the original office, an official telegram is sent to the place designated, ordering payment.

For this service the sender has only to pay the tariff on the official telegram. Messages can be sent from points where there are no telegraphic stations, by sending them by post or by any other mode of transportation to the nearest telegraph station. These telegrams can be paid by a postage-stamp affixed to a designated part of the form. These forms are the same as the printed envelopes, and can be procured at all post and telegraph offices. At the top of these forms is printed an extract from the rules for the transmission of despatches. The stamps are detached from the forms and sent to the Department of Finances at the same time that the other reports are forwarded. It is proposed to extend these privileges to the private and railroad telegraph stations.

From 1863 to 1867 the telegraphic intercourse between the Scandinavian countries has increased each year twenty-five per cent.

ENGLAND.

England was among the first countries in Europe to adopt the electric telegraph; and, next to the United States, is the foremost nation in the world in the extent of her lines, the number of her offices, the cheapness of her rates, and the number of messages annually transmitted. With a population about three quarters as large as that of France, she possesses nearly twice as many telegraph stations, and annually transmits more than twice as many messages.

There are in operation in Europe fifty-five submarine cables, varying in length from three to 1,500 miles, and containing a total length of over 11,000 miles of insulated wire, nearly all of which were laid and are owned by English capitalists. The success of the Atlantic cables, also laid by English companies, is another illustration of what can be accomplished by private enterprise untrammelled by governmental interference; and affords a striking contrast to the fate of the Red Sea cable laid by the British government, and which has proved one of the greatest failures recorded in the annals of submarine telegraphy. This cable, which was to connect Suez and Kurrachee, 3,500 miles in length, was laid in five sections, but never worked a day through its entire length.

For some unexplained reason the British post-office department has been determined to absorb the telegraph system of the United Kingdom, and through the indefatigable efforts of Mr. Scudamore, one of the secretaries of the department, the British government was finally induced to purchase the property of all the telegraph companies in the kingdom, and thus monopolize the business. The price to be paid for the lines is twenty times the net earnings of the companies for the past year.

That the English government has made a serious mistake in assuming the control of the telegraph we have no question; but its operation will be better in its hands than it would be in that of our government, for the reason that its employees are not removed with every change of administration, as government officials are in the United States.

_Statement showing the Progress of Telegraphy in Great Britain and
Ireland._

┌─────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────┐ │ YEAR. │ No. of │No. of Miles │No. of Miles │ No. of │ │ │ Offices. │ of Line. │ of Wire. │ Messages. │ ├─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┤ │ 1860│ 1,032│ 10,854│ 51,556│ 1,863,839│ │ 1861│ 1,391│ 11,538│ 55,004│ 2,123,589│ │ 1862│ 1,616│ 12,711│ 57,879│ 2,676,352│ │ 1863│ 1,755│ 13,944│ 65,726│ 3,186,724│ │ 1864│ 1,831│ 14,981│ 72,374│ 3,924,855│ │ 1865│ 2,040│ 16,066│ 77,440│ 4,662,687│ │ 1866│ 2,151│ 16,588│ 80,466│ 5,781,189│ └─────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┘

FRANCE.

The French system of telegraphs comprised, in 1866, 20,628 miles of route, 68,687 miles of wire, and 1,209 stations open to the public. The number of messages amounted to 2,842,554. The gross receipts for the year were 7,707,590, and the expenditures were 8,983,460, showing a loss for the year of 1,275,870.

The receipts are divided as follows:—

301 stations collect less than 200 francs each.
179 stations collect from 200 to 500 francs each.
185 stations collect from 500 to 1,000 francs each.
354 stations collect from 1,000 to 5,000 francs each.
84 stations collect from 5,000 to 10,000 francs each.
63 stations collect from 10,000 to 30,000 francs each.
17 stations collect from 30,000 to 50,000 francs each.
12 stations collect from 50,000 to 100,000 francs each.
6 stations collect from 100,000 to 200,000 francs each.
4 stations collect from 200,000 to 300,000 francs each.
2 stations collect from 300,000 to 400,000 francs each.
1 stations collect 527,000
1 stations collect 620,000
—————
1,209 total.

These stations are situated in 89 departments, viz.:—

1. Départment de la Seine, collecting 2,822,367 francs.
2. „ Bouches de Rhone, „ 747,228 „
3. „ Seine inférieure, „ 608,737 „
4. „ Rhone, „ 348,514 „
5. „ Nord, „ 265,705 „
6. „ Gironde, „ 260,615 „
7. „ Loire inférieure, „ 139,797 „
8. „ Haut Rhin, „ 135,483 „
9. „ Hèrault, „ 134,388 „
10. „ Alpes Maritimes, „ 101,183 „

Nine other departments collect annually between 90,000 down to 50,000 francs, the remaining seventy from 49,000 down to 4,653 francs.

Paris (Départment de la Seine) has forty-six stations within the fortifications. The gross receipts amounted, in 1866, to 2,794,768.40 francs, being more than one third of the total receipts of the whole empire.

The receipts in Paris are divided as follows:—

Place de la Bourse, 527,906 francs.
Rue de la Grenelle, 283,972 „
Grand Hotel, 271,880 „
Rue Lafayette, 250,967 „
Rue J. J. Rousseau, 198,465 „
Rue St. Cécile, 139,916 „
Aux Champs Elysées, 131,059 „

Six other stations collect from 85,000 to 50,000, six from 50,000 to 20,000; the remainder from 19,000 down to 2,123 francs.

The telegraph system of France constitutes a distinct department of the government service under Viscount A. de Vougy as Director-General. Under him are five general inspectors, forming a kind of council, nine division inspectors, seventy-five inspectors, thirty-eight sub-inspectors, and one electrical engineer. There are altogether 3,708 persons on the staff.

DECREES REGULATING THE USE OF THE TELEGRAPH IN FRANCE.

The following is a digest of the decrees issued by the French government regulating the use of the telegraph in the empire.

_1st._ All persons whose identity is established are allowed to correspond by the government electric telegraph.

_2d._ Private correspondence is always subordinate to the necessity of government service.

_3d._ Despatches are to be written in _ordinary and intelligible language_, dated and signed by the sender, and to be given to the officer of the telegraph station, whose duty it is to _copy in full the despatch_, with the address of the sender.

_4th._ The director of a station may, on grounds of public order and morality, _refuse to transmit a despatch_. In case of dispute, reference is to be made, in Paris, to the minister of the interior; in the provinces to the prefect, sub-prefect, or other constituted authority. On the receipt of a despatch, the director of the station may _withhold its delivery_ for like reasons.

_5th._ Private correspondence may be suspended at any time by the government. _The government will not assume any responsibility for errors in the transmission of despatches._

_6th._ The director of the station must be satisfied as to the identity of the sender’s signature. If the director refuses the transmission of a message, he must state his reason in writing on the despatch. He must indorse on it “political,” “offensive,” “not consistent with public good,” etc.

_7th._ No line of electric telegraph can be established or employed for the transmission of correspondence except by the government, or on its authority. _Any person transmitting, without authority, signals from one place to another, whether by electric telegraph, or in any other way, is liable to imprisonment from one month to a year, and a fine of 1,000 to 10,000 francs, and the government may order the destruction of the apparatus and telegraph employed._

_8th._ Any one _accidentally_ interrupting the correspondence of the electric telegraph, or injuring in any way the lines or apparatus, is liable to a fine of from 16 to 3,000 francs.

_9th._ Any one wilfully causing an interruption, by injuring the lines or apparatus, is punishable by imprisonment from three months to two years, and a fine of 100 to 1,000 francs. Any one who shall menace an operator during periods of insurrectionary movements is subject to a fine of 1,000 to 5,000 francs.

_10th._ Written statements by telegraph officers to be received as evidence in all complaints.

_11th._ Reimbursements of charges on despatches, in consequence of delays or errors in transmission, cannot be made except by the administration. When a despatch is withdrawn by the forwarder before transmission, the expense of delivery only can be refunded.

The charge on despatches sent in the night will be double the usual tariff for the day business (the exact opposite of the American rule).

PECULIAR CHARACTER OF THE FRENCH TELEGRAPH.

The telegraph lines in France are nearly all owned and managed by the government. The English Submarine Company, however, is a private enterprise, and works from Paris through Calais to the United Kingdom. There is also another company organized under permission of the imperial government, for the extension of the lines into the French colonies of Africa. This association is called the Mediterranean Electric Telegraph Company, and it has constructed its line from Spezzia, in Sardinia, across Corsica, Sardinia, and the Mediterranean, to Bóne, in Africa.

The telegraph in France is regarded as one of the most important arms of the government, and the wires are known as the _fingers of the police_. The Emperor would no sooner relinquish their control than he would that of his armies. By imperial decree, every operator is created a spy in the service of the government. The wires from every part of France centre in the imperial chamber, and not a message passes throughout the empire which is not examined by government inspectors.

Of the promptness, regularity, or correctness with which French telegraphs are conducted no proof is given by which superior excellence is established. There is nothing in the whole exhibit, or in the actual working of the French telegraphs, which presents any reason for the assumption that governments manage telegraphs better than the people.

TABLE J.

_Statement showing the Progress of Telegraphy in France._

┌───────────────┬─────────────────┬─────────────────┬─────────────────┐ │ │ Number of │Gross Receipts in│Average Cost per │ │ DATE. │ Messages. │ Francs. │ Message in │ │ │ │ │ Francs. │ ├───────────────┼─────────────────┼─────────────────┼─────────────────┤ │ 1851│ 9,014│ 76,722│ 7.84│ │ 1852│ 48,105│ 542,891│ 11.28│ │ 1853│ 142,061│ 1,511,909│ 10.64│ │ 1854│ 236,018│ 2,064,983│ 8.74│ │ 1855│ 254,532│ 2,487,159│ 9.77│ │ 1856│ 360,299│ 3,191,102│ 8.68│ │ 1857│ 412,616│ 3,333,695│ 8.06│ │ 1858│ 463,973│ 3,516,633│ 7.60│ │ 1859│ 598,701│ 4,022,799│ 6.72│ │ 1860│ 720,250│ 4,188,065│ 5.81│ │ 1861│ 920,357│ 4,919,737│ 5.34│ │ 1862│ 1,518,044│ 5,302,440│ 3.49│ │ 1863│ 1,754,867│ 5,937,904│ 3.38│ │ 1864│ 1,967,748│ 6,123,272│ 3.13│ │ 1865│ 2,473,747│ 7,052,139│ 2.88│ │ 1866│ 2,842,554│ 7,707,590│ 2.79│ └───────────────┴─────────────────┴─────────────────┴─────────────────┘

INCREASE IN TELEGRAMS NOT DUE TO LOW RATES.

It will be observed, by an examination of the above table, that low tariffs are not the only causes of the enlarged use of the telegraph. The annual percentage of increase in messages, as tariffs were gradually reduced, was vastly less than during those years when the rates remained unchanged. During the year of 1851 only 9,014 telegrams were transmitted through the French empire, the tariff averaging $1.60 per message. Five years later, notwithstanding that the average cost per message had been _increased_ to $1.73, the number of messages had increased to 360,299, and in 1858 to 463,973,—more than fifty times the number sent in 1851, or _an increase of more than five thousand per cent in eight years, without any reduction in rates_. The increase in the number of messages during the next eight years, from 1858 to 1866, was only six hundred per cent, notwithstanding a reduction in the tariff from 7.60 to 2.79 francs.

This same peculiarity of increase, without regard to the cost, is also observable in all other countries, as will be seen by a perusal of the official tables.

TABLE K.

_Statement showing the Progress of Telegraphy in France._

┌─────┬────────────────────────────┐ │DATE.│Number of Messages Annually.│ │ │ │ ├─────┼─────────┬────────┬─────────┤ │ │ Home. │Foreign.│ Total. │ ├─────┼─────────┼────────┼─────────┤ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 1851│ │ │ 9,014│ │ 1852│ │ │ 48,105│ │ 1853│ │ │ 142,061│ │ 1854│ │ │ 236,018│ │ 1855│ │ │ 254,532│ │ 1856│ │ │ 360,299│ │ 1857│ │ │ 413,616│ │ 1858│ 349,887│ 114,086│ 463,973│ │ 1859│ 453,998│ 144,703│ 598,701│ │ 1860│ 568,365│ 151,885│ 720,250│ │ 1861│ 734,252│ 186,357│ 920,357│ │ 1862│1,291,774│ 226,270│1,518,044│ │ 1863│1,490,023│ 264,844│1,754,867│ │ 1864│1,654,406│ 313,342│1,967,748│ │ 1865│2,098,645│ 375,102│2,473,747│ │ 1866│2,379,631│ 462,873│2,842,554│ └─────┴─────────┴────────┴─────────┘

┌─────┬──────────────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────┐ │DATE.│ Gross Receipts per Annum in Francs. │ Average Cost per │ │ │ │ Message. │ ├─────┼────────────┬────────────┬────────────┼─────┬────────┬──────┤ │ │ Home. │ Foreign. │ Total. │Home.│Foreign.│Total.│ ├─────┼────────────┼────────────┼────────────┼─────┼────────┼──────┤ │ │ Fr. ct. │ Fr. ct. │ Fr. ct. │ Fr. │Fr. ct. │ Fr. │ │ │ │ │ │ ct. │ │ ct. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 1851│ │ │ 76,722.60│ │ │ 7.84│ │ 1852│ │ │ 542,891.58│ │ │ 11.28│ │ 1853│ │ │1,511,909.57│ │ │ 10.64│ │ 1854│ │ │2,064,983.71│ │ │ 8.84│ │ 1855│ │ │2,487,159.21│ │ │ 9.77│ │ 1856│ │ │3,191,102.04│ │ │ 8.68│ │ 1857│ │ │3,333,695.74│ │ │ 8.06│ │ 1858│1,749,913.35│1,721,715.35│3,516,633.70│ 5.13│ 15.09│ 7.60│ │ 1859│2,072,314.15│1,950,485.63│4,022,799.78│ 4.57│ 13.48│ 6.72│ │ 1860│2,358,525.21│1,829,540.05│4,188,065.26│ 4.15│ 12.05│ 5.81│ │ 1861│2,840,445.84│2,079,292.12│4,919,737.86│ 3.82│ 11.16│ 5.34│ │ 1862│2,984,490.21│2,317,950.34│5,302,440.55│ 2.31│ 10.24│ 3.49│ │ 1863│3,305,993.85│2,631,911.08│5,937,904.93│ 2.22│ 9.94│ 3.38│ │ 1864│3,565,933.68│2,557,338.38│6,123,272.06│ 2.15│ 8.16│ 3.13│ │ 1865│4,159,445.45│2,892,694.34│7,052,139.79│ 1.98│ 7.71│ 2.88│ │ 1866│4,513,095.32│3,194,495.29│7,707,590.61│ 1.90│ 6.90│ 2.79│ └─────┴────────────┴────────────┴────────────┴─────┴────────┴──────┘

GREECE.

The Kingdom of Greece has twelve telegraph stations. All the messages between the Greek and European lines pass through Turkey, and consequently the rate is very high. It is proposed to establish a direct line between Greece and Southern Italy by continuing the Corfu cable to Pauras or Missolonghi, across the Ionian Islands.

PRUSSIA.

In Prussia the number of messages transmitted in 1866, the last year of which we have data, was 1,964,030, and the gross receipts were 1,275,785 thalers, making the average cost per message seventy cents in our currency. Prussia had in that year a population of 17,740,000, and the area of her territory was somewhat less than the New England States and New York. Distance being regarded, the Prussian rates were at that period double our own.

TABLE L.

_Statement showing the Progress of Telegraphy in Prussia._

┌───────────────┬─────────────────┬─────────────────┬─────────────────┐ │ │ Number of │Gross Receipts in│Average Cost per │ │ DATE. │ Messages. │ Thalers. │ Message in │ │ │ │ │ Thalers. │ ├───────────────┼─────────────────┼─────────────────┼─────────────────┤ │ 1852│ 48,751│ 114,539│ 2.350│ │ 1853│ 85,161│ 209,944│ 2.460│ │ 1854│ 116,313│ 328,506│ 2.820│ │ 1855│ 152,820│ 434,122│ 2.840│ │ 1856│ 221,411│ 591,038│ 2.670│ │ 1857│ 241,545│ 726,517│ 3.010│ │ 1858│ 247,202│ 730,584│ 2.950│ │ 1859│ 349,997│ 808,521│ 2.310│ │ 1860│ 384,335│ 791,101│ 2.060│ │ 1861│ 459,002│ 875,783│ 1.988│ │ 1862│ 660,501│ 954,550│ 1.450│ │ 1863│ 877,583│ 1,039,961│ 1.180│ │ 1864│ 1,259,590│ 1,150,008│ 0.913│ │ 1865│ 1,527,455│ 1,242,489│ 0.812│ │ 1866│ 1,964,030│ 1,275,785│ 0.656│ └───────────────┴─────────────────┴─────────────────┴─────────────────┘

It will be observed that the number of messages transmitted in 1852 was 48,751, and in 1860, 384,335, being an increase in nine years of nearly 800 per cent, although there was no reduction in the average tariff during this period. From 1860 to 1866 there was an increase of only 500 per cent, notwithstanding a reduction in the rates from 2.06 to 0.656 thalers per message.

Prussia was among the earliest of Continental countries to adopt the electric telegraph, and it is still far in advance of most of its neighbors in the practical development of the enterprise; and yet, with a population more than half as great as the United States, she only transmits one sixth as many messages per annum. Were the system left to private enterprise, as in this country, there can be no doubt that this enlightened and thrifty people would greatly extend the system, and in place of the meagre supply of 538 offices she would have upwards of 2,000, and in place of 1,964,030 messages per annum would transmit seven or eight millions.

RUSSIA.

European Russia, with a population considerably more than twice as great as the United States, contains but 308 offices, or one to 230,000 of people; and sends annually but 838,653 messages, or one to each 80,723 of her population.

Any person examining the telegraphic map of Russia will be satisfied that the rose-colored descriptions of government telegraphs as illustrated in Russia are overdrawn. The lines radiating from St. Petersburg, and extending to Warsaw, Moscow, Odessa, Sebastopol, Nichni-Novgorod, to the Persian frontier, and to Kiakhta in Siberia,—all important military points,—and with scarcely any connecting interior lines, suggest anything but a desire to afford ample telegraphic facilities to the people.

SWITZERLAND.

The situation of Switzerland, in the centre of Europe, and forming the pathway between nations, places her in a peculiar position with reference to the transmission of messages from one country to another. Just as Belgium is situated in relation to intercourse between France and Germany, so Switzerland is placed in regard to telegraphic communication between France and Italy, and Italy and Germany. Switzerland, from many circumstances, is a country in which telegraphic communication is eminently useful. In the first place it is a mountainous country, over which postal communication is necessarily slow, and conducted at all seasons under disadvantages. Besides all this, Switzerland, at certain seasons of the year, is a country full of travellers and tourists from all parts of the world, who find great advantage and convenience in being able to transmit short messages from one place to another, respecting hotel accommodations, baggage arrangements, lost packages, horses, places in the diligence, and general matters relating to their route, as well as business and social messages to their relatives, friends, and agents at home.

Switzerland is in the same position with Belgium in respect to the means of cheap telegraphic communication. The railways of the country all belong to the state; so that every railway is available, without charge, for the passage of wires along the line, and every railway official may be employed for telegraphic service, at the pleasure of the government, for nothing. It is scarcely necessary to point out how different must be the working of such a system from that of the United States, where the railways are in the hands of private companies, and with whom terms have to be made for the right of way.

NO ANALOGY BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND SWITZERLAND.

The analogy between the United States and Switzerland seems in every sense imperfect. The telegraph stations in Switzerland only number 252, or less than the number contained within a radius of fifty miles in and around the city of New York.

The total number of despatches transmitted annually in and through Switzerland only amounted in 1866 to 668,916, whilst of these probably more than half were either transit or international. These transit telegrams, of which there are none in our country, involve a most important difference. Belgium and Switzerland can make up the deficiencies which arise from losses on internal communication by the surplus derived from transit telegrams.

In 1852 the average number of messages per day, for all Switzerland, was less than ten. As the system became extended, and the people were educated to its use, the number of messages increased, until in 1866 they exceeded 2,000 per day, approximating, for the entire country, the number sent and received daily by fifteen female operators in one of the rooms of the Western Union Telegraph Company, in the city of New York. Probably one half of these were transit messages passing through Switzerland from stations in France, Belgium, and Italy, leaving about 1,000 messages per day of inland business, which, divided among 252 offices, would leave an average of a little less than _four messages per day for each office_! This is not a very magnificent result, and is not over encouraging as a model system, which gives to its twenty-five cantons ten offices, with an average revenue from each; for inland business, of only three francs per day! And this, notwithstanding that the government coaches convey, without any extra charge, messages, from towns unsupplied with offices, to the nearest telegraph station.

TABLE M.

_Statement showing the Progress of Telegraphy in Switzerland._

┌───────────────┬─────────────────┬─────────────────┬─────────────────┐ │ │ Number of │Gross Receipts in│Average Cost per │ │ DATE. │ Messages. │ Francs. │ Message in │ │ │ │ │ Francs. │ ├───────────────┼─────────────────┼─────────────────┼─────────────────┤ │ 1852│ 2,876│ 3,541.95│ │ │ 1853│ 82,586│ 127,870.04│ 1.55│ │ 1854│ 129,167│ 208,887.36│ 1.62│ │ 1855│ 162,851│ 251,391.27│ 1.53│ │ 1856│ 227,072│ 319,947.22│ 1.44│ │ 1857│ 260,164│ 369,226.01│ 1.42│ │ 1858│ 247,102│ 343,597.38│ 1.35│ │ 1859│ 286,876│ 425,587.57│ 1.48│ │ 1860│ 303,930│ 408,429.04│ 1.34│ │ 1861│ 331,933│ 448,056.05│ 1.35│ │ 1862│ 373,452│ 530,417.50│ 1.42│ │ 1863│ 456,871│ 630,748.26│ 1.38│ │ 1864│ 514,952│ 615,317.00│ 1.20│ │ 1865│ 591,214│ 726,564.16│ 1.23│ │ 1866│ 668,916│ 684,319.89│ 1.03│ │ 1867│ 708,974│ 775,024.00│ 1.09│ └───────────────┴─────────────────┴─────────────────┴─────────────────┘

It will be observed that the increase in the number of messages transmitted in Switzerland was from 2,876 in 1852 to 668,916 in 1866, or more than 230,000 per cent in fourteen years, although the tariff had only been reduced 33 per cent.

SPAIN.

Spain, with a population of over 16,000,000 souls, and possessing the advantages of forming the pathway between France and her African possessions, as well as between Portugal and the rest of Europe, transmits a less number of telegrams per annum than the Dominion of Canada, with her 3,000,000 inhabitants. That this insignificant amount of business for so great a country is owing to government control is evident from the following royal decree, issued in conformity with the request of the Minister of State, who says: “The petitions presented to your Majesty from different towns, companies, and private individuals are so numerous and repeated, praying that the advantages of telegraphic communications should be granted to them, that the minister who now humbly addresses your Majesty has lamented more than once that the care of the government has not extended that satisfaction to legitimate wishes so deserving of attention.”

ROYAL DECREE RELATING TO TELEGRAPHS IN SPAIN.

In conformity with what the Minister of State for Home Affairs has proposed to me, for the concession of telegraph lines and stations.

_I have decreed as follows:_—

The districts, towns, and public establishments, who wish to form new lines or stations, _can solicit them from the government_, which will inquire into the influence of the establishment of the said lines or stations upon the state telegraphic system.

_The necessary cost of the lines and service must be paid by the petitioners, and they must also give sufficient guaranty for the cost of repairs and service._

The petitioners will be obliged to pay to the state the difference that may result between the annual income and the cost of the service.

If at the expiration of five years the expenses exceed the returns, the line or station will be considered as property of the state. No line or station can be formed without the consent of the ministers in council.

Service in all kinds of stations and lines can only be performed by a staff from the government telegraph corps.

All despatches passing through Spain (including the Balearic Islands) and France (including Corsica) will pay the rate of five francs per message of 20 words, no matter from what telegraph office they proceed or to what station they are addressed. Each ten words or part of ten words, beyond 20, will pay half the amount of a single message.

The cost of a single message transmitted from France to Algeria, or _vice versa_, passing through the Spanish or submarine lines, as also of the messages between Spain and Algeria, transmitted either by land or French cables, will always be eight francs. The messages received or forwarded to Tunis will pay two francs more.

The messages exceeding 20 words will pay an extra charge, in accordance with the rule already established.

_No despatch whatever will be delivered out of the radius of the locality wherein the station addressed to is situated, through any other means than by post._

Telegrams addressed to localities where there is no station will be delivered by the last telegraphic office to the post, which will undertake to convey them to their destination as certified parcels.

When one despatch is addressed to several persons in the same locality, as many telegrams will be charged for as there are individuals to receive it.

The acknowledgment of the receipt of a telegram will be charged for as a new despatch.

_Prepayment of despatches can be made, but if no answer is returned, or if it should contain less words than those paid for, no return of any kind will be made._ If the answer contains more words than paid for, the station which sends it will charge the difference between the amount paid and the corresponding one to this new despatch.

The claims for delay or irregularity of telegrams will only give occasion for future inquiry into the causes which have produced the irregularity in the service, for the knowledge of the interested party, and to punish the functionary who should prove to be culpable.

Given at Aranjuez, on the 22d May, 1864.

If there is any special benefit accruing to the people of Spain by having the telegraph under government control, we fail to discover it.

TURKEY.

Turkey contains twenty-eight telegraph stations, of which twelve are open for night service, nine during the whole of the day, and seven for a part only. Constantinople has two stations open for international correspondence,—one at Stamboul, the other at Pera; the first is principally confined to the transmission of messages for the Ottoman government, and the second for that of ambassadors and private persons. In the case of an interruption of the cable which crosses the Hellespont, the Dardanelles station is removed to Kaled-Bahas, and the despatches are subjected to an additional rate of 90 cents for their conveyance, by boat, from Kaled-Bahas to the Dardanelles. The tariff, upon messages between Paris to any Turkish station, varies from $2.80 to $6.00, according to the distance.

The construction of lines in Turkey is of the most defective description, and the materials used very inferior. The lines pass over the steepest and most inaccessible hills; and this state of things is made worse by a very inadequate inspection, by men who are both too few in number, wretchedly paid, and generally incompetent. Repairers are compelled to provide and keep a horse out of their pay of 300 piastres ($13.04) per month. The chiefs of stations, and all other employees, are Turks, whose lazy habits and incompetency cannot be wondered at, when the smallness of their pay is considered. Added to these difficulties, the service has to endure very frequent and arbitrary occupation of the wires by the government, interrupting, on many occasions, business of the most pressing nature, for the transmission of some trivial communication, which would lose nothing by a short delay. It may be imagined that as the service is in the hands of government, much depends upon the director-general of the department. Unfortunately, this official is in the unenviable position of holding office on such a poor tenure that it may be said he has a daily apprehension of being turned out, and replaced by one of those numerous intriguers who swarm about the cabinets of the ministers, or work through the more effectual influence of the harem,—the great bane of the country. It has been proposed to the Turkish government to employ a large staff of English inspectors and operators, but the natural jealousy of employing foreigners stands in the way. The Turks insist upon having all messages sent through in Turkish, so that frequently, when retranslated, they bear very slight resemblance to the original.

All the important telegraphic intercourse between Europe and India passes through the Turkish dominions. The effect of the control of the Turkish government over the telegraph is most disastrous, and renders this important connection with India almost worthless.

Repeated efforts have been made by the English telegraph companies, who have so great an interest in the successful operation of these lines, to induce the Turkish government to relinquish its management of them, but thus far without success.

REASONS
WHY
GOVERNMENT SHOULD NOT ENTER INTO COMPETITION WITH THE PEOPLE IN THE
OPERATION OF THE TELEGRAPH.

The foregoing presentation of facts has shown that there are no sufficient grounds for destroying the value of the investments of the people in existing telegraph companies by governmental competition, the telegraph system of this country being unrivalled in its extent, unequalled in its administration, and unparalleled for the low rates which it has always maintained.

In this country the people have not been accustomed to rely upon the government to provide those things for them which they are able to secure by their own exertions. If this principle is right in regard to one enterprise, it is also in relation to all others; and if infringed upon in the case of the telegraph companies, what pursuit will be safe from governmental interference?

It is undoubtedly true that, were tariffs designed simply to provide a revenue to support the lines, they are capable of reduction, provided present arrangements with railroad companies and others could be maintained, by which the labor of the one is utilized in the service of the other. But for this the country makes no demand. It recognizes the telegraph as a legitimate enterprise for the investment of the capital and labor of its citizens. If false counsels guide its development, public reprobation is ready with its remedy. Its absorption by government would not only be a public calamity, but a breach of the theory and spirit of our institutions, and would soon result in its necessary return to individual control.

POLITICAL REASONS WHY GOVERNMENT SHOULD NOT CONTROL THE TELEGRAPH.

One of the most serious objections to the government of the United States assuming the control of the telegraph is the political one. In monarchical countries, where the sovereignty is a patrimony of a particular family, and where no change is made except by revolution, everything which tends towards the permanence of the reigning dynasty is looked upon as in the interest of law and order, and for these reasons the absorption of the telegraphs by the government is regarded as a proper and legitimate act, and consistent with the public weal; but in a republic, where the rulers are changed periodically, and where the purity of the elections is of the first importance, the placing of so great a power in the hands of the government would be a public calamity. It might be supposed that rulers could be elected who would not take advantage of the control of the telegraph for selfish purposes, but the temptation to do so would be great, and, even if not yielded to, the suspicions of the people would be constantly aroused, and confidence in its impartial administration would be destroyed. In every election the whole army of postmasters and the machinery of the department is enlisted in the service of the party in power. Shall we give it the telegraph also? What would be the influence on election returns?

The censorship of telegraphic correspondence, always a subject of public disapprobation, is generally exercised by all governments which have its management. In France the control of the telegraph by government is loudly complained of, in consequence of notorious abuses which result from it. Amongst other things, it is well known that the authorities of the Bourse, in Paris, have opportunities of seeing every telegram which reaches or leaves that city on matters relating to the stock exchange operations.

THE POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT NOT COMPETENT TO MANAGE THE TELEGRAPHS.

If it should ever appear to be for the public good that this agency, so capable of use as a political power, should pass into the hands of government, it seems proper to await such a demonstration of the self-sustaining capacity of the department under whose control it is proposed to be placed, and such efficiency in that service, as will furnish reasonable assurance of ability for the united control without burden to the state, or lessened convenience to the people. A department which is still confessedly imperfect, which cannot even tell the number of letters which it transmits per annum, whose receipts are unequal to the cost of service by over $6,000,000,[28] which could not secure skilled labor in this new field except by foraging from existing enterprises, and which could not avoid heavy losses at the rates proposed, is not at present a fit recipient of so important a trust.

Footnote 28:

The postal revenue for the year ending June 30th, 1868, was
$16,292,600.80, and the expenditures during the same period
$22,730,592.65, showing an excess of expenditures of $6,337,991.85.
From the report of the Postmaster-General.

The Post-Office Department, which already has more duties than it is able to perform, instead of seeking to absorb the telegraphs, had better apply itself to its proper task of developing the correspondence of the country, and endeavor to make itself financially profitable to the nation, instead of a serious burden.

That the post-office undertakes more than it can perform is shown by the delays and irregularities of the service, and the enormous and constantly increasing number of its dead letters, which amounted, in 1867, to over 4,500,000! Were the telegraph companies to deal with the messages committed to them for transmission as the post-office deals with the letters committed to its care, there would be good grounds for governmental interference; but there are very few complaints of non-delivery of telegrams.