ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING PROBLEMS 629 



oped historically; each epoch in its development marks an epoch 

 in the development of the general business methods which prevail 

 in this country. 



In European countries, the telegraph belongs to the Govern- 

 ment and its development was influenced very much by the re- 

 quirements of the war office. Private business had to accommodate 

 itself to the telegraphic conditions created by these requirements. 

 To illustrate : Many of the trunk lines in this country are leased 

 to private individuals, bankers, brokers, etc. The telegraphic com- 

 panies do their own business over these leased lines, employing 

 the quadruplex method. In fact not only the telegraph company, 

 but several subscribers are working over the same trunk line simul- 

 taneously, each one, except the telegraph company, ignorant of the 

 fact that the other fellows are using the same ethereal channel of 

 communication. This practice is practically unknown in Europe. 



It is the opinion of men of recognized ability, who have grown 

 old in the development and management of the telegraph business 

 in this country, that the numerous long-distance lines covering 

 the vast territory of the United States are so costly, both from 

 the standpoint of initial expense for construction, and also from 

 the standpoint of subsequent expense for maintenance, that they 

 would hardly pay if it were not for the rental of these lines to pri- 

 vate individuals. The same statement holds good for the trans- 

 mission of intelligence over long-distance telephone wires. These, 

 too, are rented in very many cases to private individuals for tele- 

 graphic purposes, so that long-distance telegraphy and telephony 

 are often carried on simultaneously over the same wires. 



Any new improvement which would bring us nearer to the 

 solution of the general telegraphic problem is impracticable if it 

 interferes seriously with the existing conditions under which, accord- 

 ing to the preceding rough sketch, telegraphic business is con- 

 ducted here at present. This explains the well-known fact that sev- 

 eral American inventions in telegraphy were adopted abroad and 

 proved themselves valuable, although they failed to find recogni- 

 tion at home on account of their inability to satisfy the require- 

 ments of the telegraphic situation existing here. The disappointed 

 inventor can hardly be blamed for feeling sore over the apparent 

 lack of appreciation in his own country. But if he could be pre- 

 vailed upon to raise himself to a loftier level of objectivity, and 

 thus obtain a broader view of the telegraphic situation at home, 

 he would certainly be less severe in his criticism of what he con- 

 siders to be the hide-bound methods of the antediluvian telegraphic 

 monopolies which, in his opinion, smother every intellectual activity 

 of inventive genius. 



Those who are most familiar with the mathematical theory 



