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│
└─────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┘