334 Telephone Systems of the Continent of Europe 



strated by Mr. Cedergren's methods. Instead of a yearly rental 

 of 8/. 17 s. 9</. (the Bell Company's rate) the new competitor asked 

 2/. 155-. yd. down on connection, and thereafter an annual inclusive 

 subscription of 5/. us. \d. The Bell Company was, of course, 

 convinced that Mr. Cedergren had simply discovered a royal road 

 to ruin for himself and friends, and that all that was necessary to 

 bring about his self-immolation was to allow him sufficient room 

 to caper about in. So when at the end of 1883, after seven 

 months' working, his exchange had 785 instruments connected, as 

 many as the Bell had after three years, it was felt that he was 

 advancing towards his inevitable goal with satisfactory rapidity. 

 But when at the end of 1884 he had 2,288 against the Bell's 

 900 or so, and was moreover paying dividends, it was perceived 

 that there was a certain or rather uncertain, for it was not easily 

 understood method in his madness. Then the Bell Company 

 began to wake up, but it was too late ; and it never afterwards 

 played but a secondary part in the telephonic game. Ultimately 

 its Stockholm system, with the exception of the Ostermalms 

 district in the north-east of the town, was bought and incor- 

 porated by the General Company. The Ostermalms exchange 

 has preserved a separate organisation, but practically it forms part 

 of the General system, since free intercommunication between the 

 two prevails. As early as 1884 the General Company began to 

 extend its operations to other towns in the neighbourhood of 

 Stockholm and to erect trunk lines between them. This was 

 found to be a remunerative undertaking, and in the next suc- 

 ceeding years was pushed to such an extent that the Government 

 began to take alarm for its telegraph revenue, more especially 

 after an application by the General Company for a concession to 

 run trunk lines to Gothenburg, Malmo, and other of the prin- 

 cipal towns. The question of the proposed concession became a 

 burning topic in Parliament ; special committees took it in hand ; 

 and deputations headed by Mr. Cedergren carried it even to the 

 foot of the throne. Ultimately, it was decided to give the State 

 post and telegraph department the exclusive right to erect inter- 

 town wires except within a radius of seventy kilometers (43^ miles) 

 around Stockholm, within which area the General Telephone 

 Company was left free to do as it liked. Mr. Cedergren's long- 



