“In February, 1866, when, in view of the establishment of an
experimental government line of telegraph, the Postmaster-General
was called upon for information ‘in regard to the feasibility and
usefulness of establishing, in connection with the Post-Office
Department, telegraph lines,’ &c., ‘to be opened to the public at
minimum rates of charge, ... and such statistics and exhibits
predicated on cost of construction and capacity of transmission as
will best illustrate its practicability,’ he sent to Congress
lengthy statements, all of them prepared by persons believed to be
interested in or officers of existing companies, in which the cost
of a telegraphic line with six wires is put down by one writer at
$1,400 per mile, by others at $665, exclusive of river cables and
lines through cities.
“Among other statements so furnished is an amended one by Mr.
Prescott, whose statement, when made part of a work intended as
authority in telegraphic matters, is quoted above. For reasons not
explained his views underwent a marked change between 1860 and 1866,
and he makes haste to refute his own previous statements. His
revised statement is as follows:—
“‘It is well known by every person who has any knowledge of
telegraphy in this country previous to the publication of my
work in 1860, that comparatively few lines had been at that time
even tolerably well constructed; and one object which I had in
view in writing it was to call attention to this prevailing
fault, and endeavor to get a better system inaugurated.
“‘Since then there has been a very marked improvement in the
construction of telegraph lines in this country. Small poles, of
inferior wood, which required renewing every few years, have
given place to large and more enduring ones of chestnut and
cedar, and small iron wire, which offered great resistance to
the passage of the electric current, has given place to
zinc-coated wire of larger size and greater conductivity.
“‘But while the quality of the lines has greatly improved under
the experienced and liberal management of the telegraph
companies, the cost of constructing lines has kept pace with the
increased cost of everything else, and has more than doubled
within the past six years, so that lines which could have been
built in 1860 for $150 per mile could not now be constructed for
_twice that amount_. A substantial telegraph line, constructed
on the line of a railroad, with _cedar_ or _chestnut_ poles
thirty feet in length, and six inches at the top by twelve at
the butt, set forty to the mile, with most improved form of
insulator and best galvanized wire, would cost $400 per mile for
a single wire. If forty-foot poles were used (which would be
necessary if many wires were to be placed upon one set of
poles), it would cost $600 per mile for a single wire. When
fifty-foot poles are used, the cost is very greatly enhanced.
“‘Mr. Brown estimates the total cost of all the telegraph
property in the United States at “a little more than
$2,000,000.” Now, if we estimate the present cost of the lines
and their equipment at the moderate price of $300 per mile, and
the number of miles of wire in the country at only 150,000, we
have a total cost of $45,000,000, without reckoning the value of
the patents, franchises, &c.
“‘Mr. Brown states that “telegraphs properly constructed, the
timber well prepared and wire protected, will last for 20
years.” This may be true, but it remains to be proved.’”
We fail to discern any refutation by Mr. Prescott of his previous
statements. His reasons for a change in the estimates for building a
telegraph line in 1866 over those of 1860 hardly need be stated. If the
results of the intervening years of civil war, by which a million of
able-bodied men were cut off from the fields of labor, the industries of
the country burdened with enormous taxes before unknown, and prices
inflated by the issue of hundreds of millions of paper dollars, do not
suggest them, there is small hope of profit from the practical lessons
of the times.
INCORRECT ASSERTION THAT AMERICAN TELEGRAPHS ARE NOT CONSTRUCTED
ACCORDING TO SPECIFICATIONS.