Eleven submarine cables traverse the Atlantic between 60 and 40
degrees north latitude. Nine of these connect the Canadian provinces
and the United States with the territory of Great Britain; two (one
American, the other Anglo-American) connect France. Of these, seven
are largely owned, operated or controlled by American capital, while
all the others are under English control and management. There is but
one direct submarine cable connecting the territory of the United
States with the continent of Europe, and that is the cable owned and
operated by the Compagnie Francais Cables Telegraphiques, whose
termini are Brest, France, and Cape Cod, on the coast of
Massachusetts.
All these cables between 60 and 40 degrees north latitude, which unite
the United States with Europe, except the French cable, are under
American or English control, and have their termini in the territory
of Great Britain or the United States. In the event of war between
these countries, unless restrained by conventional act, all these
cables might be cut or subjected to exclusive censorship on the part
of each of the belligerent states. Across the South Atlantic there are
three cables, one American and two English, whose termini are
Pernambuco, Brazil, and St. Louis, Africa, and near Lisbon, Portugal,
with connecting English lines to England, one directly traversing the
high seas between Lisbon and English territory and one touching at
Vigo, Spain, at which point a German cable company has recently made a
connection. The multiplication under English control of submarine
cables has been the consistent policy of Great Britain, and to-day her
cable communications connect the home government with all her colonies
and with every strategic point, thus giving her exceptional advantages
for commercial as well as for political purposes.
The schedule blanks of rates of the English companies contain the
following provisions: "The dispatches of the imperial government shall
have priority when demanded. The cable must not, at any station,
employ foreigners, and the lines must not pass through any office or
be subject to the control of any foreign government. In the event of
war, the government (of Great Britain) may occupy all the stations on
English territory or under the protection of Great Britain, and it may
use the cable by means of its own employes."
It is not a pleasing reflection that in the actual situation the
United States is at a great and embarrassing disadvantage. Meanwhile
it would seem to be the policy of the United States to overcome this
disadvantage by the multiplication of submarine cables under American
or other than English competing foreign ownership and control.
Although somewhat indeterminate, the policy of the United States in
respect to the landing of foreign submarine cables, so far, at least,
as the executive branch of the government is concerned, appears to be
based chiefly upon considerations that shall guard against
consolidation or amalgamation with other cable lines, while insisting
upon reciprocal accommodations for American corporations and companies
in foreign territory. The authority of the executive branch of the
government to grant permission is exercised only in the absence of
legislation by Congress regulating the subject, and concessions of the
privileges heretofore have been subject to such further action by
Congress in the matter as it may at any time take. Several bills are
now pending in Congress relating to the landing of foreign submarine
telegraph cables within the United States, and regulating the
establishment of submarine telegraphic cable lines or systems in the
United States. As this article is going to press, it is reported that
the President has refused permission to a foreign cable company to
renew a cable terminus within the territory of the United States, and
that the question raised as to the power of the federal government to
deny admission to the cable will be referred to the Attorney-General
for an opinion. Meanwhile, the executive branch of the government
holds to the doctrine that, in the absence of legislation by Congress,
control of the landing and operation of foreign cables rests with the
President. The question of the landing of foreign cables received some
consideration from the late Attorney-General, in connection with an
injunction suit brought by the United States against certain
corporations engaged in placing on the coast of New York a cable
having foreign connection. And he suggested for the consideration of
Congress whether it would not be wise to give authority to some
executive officer to grant or withhold consent to the entry of such
foreign enterprises into this country on such terms and conditions as
may be fixed by law.
The principal and most important submarine cables traversing or
connecting the great oceans are owned and operated by private
corporations or companies. They are in number 310, and their length in
nautical miles is 139,754. The length of cables owned or operated by
state governments is, in nautical miles, 18,132.
The policies of states, the movements of fleets and armies, and the
regulation of the markets of the commercial world, depend upon
devices, communications and orders that are habitually transmitted
through the agency of submarine cables. In this view, the first aim is
to safeguard from wanton destruction the delicate and expensive
mechanism of these cables; the second is to restrain within the
narrowest limits practicable interruptions in the operation of cables,
even in the midst of hostilities; and the third is to encourage the
establishment and extension of submarine cables owned and operated by
American capital. All these ends may be advanced by the agreement of
the powers to neutralize absolutely the submarine cable systems of
the world. To do this will be a step in the direction of extending
international jurisdiction, which is to be a controlling feature of
the new periodical about to be established at Berlin, and to be
printed in German, French and English, under the name of "Kosmodike."
--Alexander Porter Morse in The Albany Law Journal.
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