THE SIMPLE IDEA OF AN ATLANTIC CABLE 43 
. . . I should be willing to vote two hundred thousand dol- 
lars” instead of ‘“‘the very moderate subsidy asked for, only 
seventy thousand dollars a year.”’ 
Much of the opposition came from Southern members, 
such as Mason and Slidell, of whom more will be heard later. 
Butler of South Carolina exclaimed: ‘“This is simply a mail 
service under the surveillance of Great Britain.” Jones of 
Tennessee, in a patriotic outburst, said: “I do not want any- 
thing to do with England or Englishmen!”’ Hunter of Vir- 
ginia asked: “What security are we to have that in time of war 
we shall have the use of the telegraph as well as the British 
Government?”’ 
To this Seward of New York replied: “My own hope is, 
that after the telegraph wire is once laid, there will be no 
more war between the United States and Great Britain. I 
believe that whenever such a connection as this shall be made, 
we diminish the chances of war. . . . If we do not make it, 
the British Government has only to add ten thousand pounds 
sterling more annually, and they have the whole monopoly 
of this wire.” 
As to the possibility of war, another member, Hale of New 
Hampshire, pointed out that such undue fear of war might 
paralyze all improvements along the Great Lakes. “The city 
of Detroit will have to be abandoned, beautiful and progres- 
sive as it is, because in time of war, the mansions of her citi- 
zens there lie within range of British guns. What will the 
suspension bridge at Niagara be good for in time of war? If 
the British cut off their end of it, our end will not be worth 
much.” 
This favorable point was also emphasized by Benjamin of 
Louisiana, despite his Southern bias. He said: ‘Again, Sir, 
I say, if Great Britain wants it for war, she will put it there 
at her own expense. . . . I feel a glow of pride when I see 
these triumphs of science, by which mind is brought into 
instant communication with mind across the intervening 
