1 8 Telephone Systems of the Continent of Europe 



rates at night and so encourage communication during the off 

 hours. In France and between France and Belgium rates are 

 reduced about one half between 9 P.M. and 7 A.M., with satisfac- 

 tory results. 



Indeed, there is no assurance that the trunks will be open at 

 night at all. At present they are ;' but when they terminate, as it 

 is intended that they shall, at the post offices, which mostly close 

 at 9 P.M., a retrograde step in this respect is to be feared. Then 

 the greater part of the capital invested in the trunk lines will lie 

 fallow during ten hours or so out of the twenty-four. 



It may be well to point out in connection with the trunk line 

 question that in Norway and Denmark, where independent com- 

 panies exist in nearly every town, trunk line communication is 

 established and worked without friction by the adoption of a very 

 simple plan that of allowing each company to erect and main- 

 tain the trunks within its own territory, and to keep all the money 

 it can take at its own end. 



The author must confess inability to understand the proposal 

 of the Post Office to pay a commission to the company on tele- 

 grams telephoned. No such commission is paid anywhere on 

 the Continent, for the very good reason that the mere existence 

 of the facility of telephoning telegrams constitutes a valuable aid 

 to the company in securing new subscribers. The usual practice 

 (when the service is not perfectly free, as in Belgium and Bavaria) 

 is to require a payment from the company or subscriber. The 

 Post Office should afford connection to its telegraph offices in all 

 towns where the facility is asked for, and abolish all vexatious 

 restrictions and regulations ; but it has no call to pay the 

 company for doing what it is glad and anxious to do wherever 

 permitted. At least, if a commission is paid to the company it 

 should be stipulated that it, on its part, must impose no charge 

 of any description on its subscribers in connection with the tele- 

 gram service. 



The proposal of the Post Office to withdraw its veto on the 

 establishment of public call offices in the houses or shops of sub- 

 postmasters is only what it ought to have done years ago. In 

 fact, the veto should never have been imposed. On the Con- 

 tinent, call offices or public telephone stations at the post and 



