We copy the following official statement of the London District
Telegraph Company from the Telegraphic Journal, London, July 30, 1864.
The capital of the company is £60,000, and the average cost of telegrams
transmitted over its lines, for distances that cannot exceed ten miles,
was 6_d._, equal to eighteen cents in our currency, and yet the loss in
four and a half years’ business was £9,573 3_s._ 7_d._:—
┌──────────────┬─────────┬───────────────┬───────────────┬───────────────┐
│ Half-year │Number of│ Receipts for │ Expenditures. │ Deficiency. │
│ ending │Messages.│ Messages. │ │ │
├─────────┬────┼─────────┼─────┬────┬────┼─────┬────┬────┼─────┬────┬────┤
│ │ │ │ £ │_s._│_d._│ £ │_s._│_d._│ £ │_s._│_d._│
│June, │1860│ 26,155│ 550│ 19│ 11│2,282│ 10│ 7│1,326│ 2│ 4│
│December,│1860│ 47,365│1,058│ 19│ 2│3,294│ 0│ 6│2,168│ 1│ 7│
│June, │1861│ 64,785│2,137│ 1│ 7│4,394│ 12│ 3│2,177│ 11│ 4│
│December,│1861│ 77,939│2,592│ 15│ 10│4,663│ 5│ 4│1,995│ 13│ 7│
│June, │1862│ 123,280│3,956│ 4│ 8│5,077│ 17│ 11│1,077│ 15│ 4│
│December,│1862│ 124,222│3,999│ 3│ 2│4,958│ 4│ 2│ 894│ 0│ 4│
│June, │1863│ 129,710│4,216│ 6│ 11│4,721│ 1│ 3│ 440│ 9│ 4│
│December,│1863│ 131,216│4,326│ 4│ 0│5,125│ 9│ 4│ 796│ 15│ 4│
│June, │1864│ 152,795│4,802│ 10│ 0│4,863│ 17│ 10│ 60│ 12│ 0│
└─────────┴────┴─────────┴─────┴────┴────┴─────┴────┴────┴─────┴────┴────┘
The Directors of the above company express much satisfaction in being
able to present to the shareholders so favorable a statement of its
business; but it strikes us that a system which entailed a net loss of
one sixth of the capital invested in a little over four years is not a
desirable one for imitation.