138 Telephone Systems of the Continent of Europe 



between manufacturers ; but the only concessionary, the Societe 

 Gene'rale des Telephones, was also primarily a maker of instru- 

 ments, and owner of some of the most important patents connected 

 with them. It worked out, therefore, that practically the Society 

 sold its own telephones to the subscribers, and thus made a 

 manufacturer's profit first, and collected a liberal subscription 

 to cover the exchange service afterwards. The first concessions 

 expired in September 1884, at which time the State possessed 

 exchanges in six of the smaller provincial towns Roubaix, 

 Rheims, Tourcoing, Troyes, St.-Quentin, and Halluin. The experi- 

 ence gained in these places was not considered sufficient to justify 

 the taking over of the concessionary's systems by the State, and a 

 prolongation of the licence for another five years was accordingly 

 granted. The rates of subscription were not altered, but per- 

 mission was given to open public telephone stations, to connect 

 the exchanges with telegraph offices for the despatch and de- 

 livery of subscribers' telegrams, and to establish communication 

 between town and town by means of trunk lines constructed by 

 the State, which also again reserved to itself the erection and 

 maintenance of all outside wires, the Society's staff being confined 

 strictly to work in the exchanges and subscribers' premises. It 

 was ordained that the Society's employees should be all of French 

 nationality, and subject to the oath of secrecy imposed on all 

 servants of the Posts and Telegraphs Department. The original 

 royalty payable to the State was continued at 10 per cent, of the 

 gross receipts, with a minimum of 4o/. per annum for each 

 provincial exchange opened. During this second term of five 

 years the Paris exchange increased rapidly, those in the provinces 

 very slowly ; a few internal trunk lines of inconsiderable length 

 were erected, and the first metallic circuit between Paris and 

 Brussels put into use. Early in the second term in 1886 a 

 step was nearly taken which would have totally changed the 

 history of French telephony. The Minister of Posts and Telegraphs 

 signed a concession for thirty-five years, giving a telephonic 

 monopoly to a new company, with a capital of i,ooo,ooo/. sterling, 

 which was to acquire not only the business of the Societe Generate, 

 but also the exchanges already opened by the State. At the end 

 of the thirty-five years the company's system was to lapse to the 



