In conformity with what the Minister of State for Home Affairs has
proposed to me, for the concession of telegraph lines and stations.
_I have decreed as follows:_—
The districts, towns, and public establishments, who wish to form new
lines or stations, _can solicit them from the government_, which will
inquire into the influence of the establishment of the said lines or
stations upon the state telegraphic system.
_The necessary cost of the lines and service must be paid by the
petitioners, and they must also give sufficient guaranty for the cost of
repairs and service._
The petitioners will be obliged to pay to the state the difference that
may result between the annual income and the cost of the service.
If at the expiration of five years the expenses exceed the returns, the
line or station will be considered as property of the state. No line or
station can be formed without the consent of the ministers in council.
Service in all kinds of stations and lines can only be performed by a
staff from the government telegraph corps.
All despatches passing through Spain (including the Balearic Islands)
and France (including Corsica) will pay the rate of five francs per
message of 20 words, no matter from what telegraph office they proceed
or to what station they are addressed. Each ten words or part of ten
words, beyond 20, will pay half the amount of a single message.
The cost of a single message transmitted from France to Algeria, or
_vice versa_, passing through the Spanish or submarine lines, as also of
the messages between Spain and Algeria, transmitted either by land or
French cables, will always be eight francs. The messages received or
forwarded to Tunis will pay two francs more.
The messages exceeding 20 words will pay an extra charge, in accordance
with the rule already established.
_No despatch whatever will be delivered out of the radius of the
locality wherein the station addressed to is situated, through any other
means than by post._
Telegrams addressed to localities where there is no station will be
delivered by the last telegraphic office to the post, which will
undertake to convey them to their destination as certified parcels.
When one despatch is addressed to several persons in the same locality,
as many telegrams will be charged for as there are individuals to
receive it.
The acknowledgment of the receipt of a telegram will be charged for as a
new despatch.
_Prepayment of despatches can be made, but if no answer is returned, or
if it should contain less words than those paid for, no return of any
kind will be made._ If the answer contains more words than paid for, the
station which sends it will charge the difference between the amount
paid and the corresponding one to this new despatch.
The claims for delay or irregularity of telegrams will only give
occasion for future inquiry into the causes which have produced the
irregularity in the service, for the knowledge of the interested party,
and to punish the functionary who should prove to be culpable.
Given at Aranjuez, on the 22d May, 1864.
If there is any special benefit accruing to the people of Spain by
having the telegraph under government control, we fail to discover it.