WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY 



are not a block to others to try their hand. If, for 

 example, Professor Branly had patented his dis- 

 covery, and had applied it to the reception of sig- 

 nals himself, instead of leaving that to Professor 

 Lodge and others, then we might have had another 

 Bell telephone monopoly. As it is, wireless teleg- 

 raphy has been made possible by men who do not 

 take out patents and whose work is not done for 

 money. 



Meanwhile, one may wonder a little why the prac- 

 tical development of this new field should have been 

 left to a young Italian still in his twenties. As I 

 write, a cable company is sending its lawyers before 

 Congress to ask a huge subsidy for a cable to the 

 Philippines. Wireless telegraphy was a demon- 

 strated success five or six years ago. Supposing 

 there had been in Congress one single man possess- 

 ing the rudiments of a scientific education, and that 

 through his lead a prize of a million dollars had been 

 offered to the first man who signalled across the 

 Atlantic, or from New York to Chicago. There 

 would have been ten thousand electricians in the 

 field within six months, instead of fifty or a hun- 

 dred. Instead of six years, it would have taken 

 one or two. But a Congressman with intelligence 

 enough to do a thing like that would find Wash- 

 ington uncomfortable. 



For that matter, it is not too late now. Why 

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