1879.] 



President's Address. 



427 



instances even the actual cultivation, of Science ; (2) by the annual 

 publication of a very valuable record of the progress made in this 

 important branch of applied Science ; (3) by acting as a kind of inter- 

 national tribunal on the merits or demerits of new processes, in a 

 manner calculated both to stimulate and to guide further under- 

 takings. 



Telegraph Conference. — When Telegraphy began to assume an inter- 

 national character, great inconvenience arose from want of uniformity 

 in the apparatus used, and in the service regulations adopted by 

 different European countries. 



Although the construction of the line (whether submarine, under- 

 ground, or suspended) and the details of construction of the telegraphic 

 apparatus employed may fairly be left in the hands of each country or 

 telegraphic administration, it was soon found to be necessary that a 

 certain standard of efficiency should be insisted upon. Agreement 

 was moreover requisite in regard to the general character of the in- 

 struments to be used in international telegraphy ; for instance, whether 

 or not acoustic signals were to be admissible, whether an indelible 

 record should be insisted upon, whether a type-printer, or an auto- 

 graphic instrument should be used, or a recording instrument repre- 

 senting the letters by dots and dashes, in which case a uniform code 

 would be a matter of necessity. Beside these points there remained 

 the subject of the tariff to be charged in each country for transit and 

 for terminal messages, involving delicate questions, which could be 

 settled only by mutual concessions and general arrangements. 



These considerations led the French Government, in 1866, to invite 

 those European Governments who had already taken the administra- 

 tion of the telegraphs in their own hands, to meet at Paris, in order to 

 agree if possible on certain resolutions, subject to ratification by the 

 respective Governments. England was not represented at this first 

 Conference, because the telegraphs were not yet a Government 

 Department, and it was not thought advisable to invite telegraph 

 companies to take part in the proceedings. 



The result of the first deliberations went beyond the mere settlement 

 of pressing questions, and it was decided to hold periodical Conferences 

 at the different capitals of Europe, and to institute a central Inter- 

 national "Bureau" (to be located at Berne) to see to the proper 

 application of the resolutions of the Conferences, and to act as an 

 International Court of Appeal, regarding questions of difference in 

 telegraphic matters arising between the contracting countries. 



The second Conference took place at Vienna in 1869, in which 

 several countries, including Turkey, Persia, and British India, took 

 part for the first time. On this occasion it was resolved that the 

 leading telegraph companies should be admitted to the discussions, 

 but should not be allowed to vote ; the power of voting being confined 



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