50 On the Electric Telegraph between England and India. 



hands, and his own clerks, prefers paying the Malta and Alex- 

 andria Company some £200 or £300 a-year for his private mes- 

 sages, rather than send them by the State lines. Now with such 

 material is it to be wondered at that the telegraph system be- 

 tween India and Europe has been the laughing-stock of the 

 world. In spite of this, between Constantinople and Eao, a dis- 

 tance of 1950 miles, there were in 1866 only two English and 

 two Erench inspectors, the rest of the staff, including instrument 

 clerks, were Gfreeks and Armenians. 



Happily, however, this wretched apology for a telegraphic 

 organisation is nearly at an end, the lines already alluded to 

 being in a forward state, and when open for traffic will be under 

 one management, and entirely by English electricians an! oper- 

 ators. An improved system of automaton repeating will also be 

 adopted, so that the transmitting clerk in London, at one opera- 

 tion, will be able to forward the message direct either to Calcutta 

 or Sydney. 



This ingenious arrangement, although by no means new, I will 

 explain more fully presently. I do not wish you to understand 

 that the direct signalling will always be made use of, nor would 

 it be always expedient to do so, as in that case the entire line 

 would in some instances be occupied with a message, perhaps 

 between two intermediate stations, when, by dividing it into sec- 

 tions, several local or short distance messages could be going at 

 the same time. It is also necessary for long circuits, or where a 

 system consisting of many circuits, is worked as one, to transmit 

 much slower and firmer than when working over a few hundred 

 miles of line. 



Not only will the new lines in progress be the means of aug- 

 menting the speed of telegraphic communication between India 

 and England, but they will stimulate the representatives of the 

 several administrations at present in operation to increased 

 vigour, and will I have no doubt cause the Erench and Austrian 

 Governments to give additional facilities and perhaps special 

 wires for the through business, rather than lose the tolls now 

 charged for messages passing over their lines. The charges have 

 already been considerably reduced, and as competition is sure to 

 follow a further reduction may be anticipated. 



There is also an additional reason why English messages 

 should, if possible, be confined entirely to lines under British 

 control and worked by English operators. It is pretty well 

 known that all telegrams passing through Erance are liable to 

 inspection, and if considered of sufficient importance copies are 

 retained, which are placed before the Director- General of Tele- 

 graphs and not sent forward until he gives his consent. This is 

 a matter of very serious moment where State telegrams of the 

 utmost consequence are concerned, perhaps referring to the very 



