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.