The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-29 00:00:00

TEE OCEANIC COPA.RTNE.RSHIP.

In a few weeks it is hoped that a combined Bri-
tish and North American squadron n tay leave these
shows upon such 4 mission as was 1 lever yet con•
ceived, and that the Terrible, the Ni agara, and the
Agamemnon may find themselves in the centre of
the great Atlantic Ocean with tt,e c barge and the
power of coupling the Old and New Worlds toge-
ther. Of the material machinery by which this
extraordinary feat is to be accompi ished we have
already given the public some idt a, but there are
other circumstances connected wit h the project
which well deserve notice.

A single glance at the map of the world will ex-
plain the selection of the two points. through which
Europe and America are to be lat:‘ ought into con-
tact. Ireland on the one side of tllhe Ocean, and
Newfoundland on the other, lie like outworks of
the continenta, and diminish c o nsiderably
,the
breadth of waters otherwise rote r posed between
them. Across the bed of the Ocer ix t, too, in these
very parts, is to be found a kind e f raised bank or
plateau thrown up by the rush of -,11 se Gulf Stream,
and on this the telegraphicwires are: to be deposited.
No conditions, in short, could app a tr more f svour-
able, more opportune, or more pull holy available,
and yet it actually happened thai 1; the power of
bargaining for the use of them wet lodged in the
hands of a commercial company. 1 'he fact is, that
a monopoly had been granted of 3legraphic com-
munication across the island of . Newfoundland.
As long ago as 1852 exclusive r e ivileges of this
description were conferred upon an association
established for the purposes above nnention.ed, and
the monopoly, after various m a iitications and
transfers, Lecame vested at last in a company enjoy-
ing for a term of years the exclusi re right of tele-
graphing from one side of Newf.° t Indland to the
other, and indeectof establishing a.; iy telegraph in
the island at all. A ccordingly the Ad antic Telegraph
Company, after conquering the ocean, might have
found an invincible barrier at the ye cy point where
the difficulties of the enterprise we uld have been
supposed to cease. The Newfound land Company
were in possession of the last few I 3 tiles of the dis-
tance, and were therefore as compl itely masters of
the hole course as a railway COW aoany would be
which commanded the terminus an the half-dozen
nearest miles of a rival line. The fact would have
been of less importance if otlit tr: parts of the
American coast had been accesstbl ta at no further
cost than that of some additional miles of wire ;
but it seems to be doubted, in the present state of
information on the subject, whetl ter any Transat-
lantic communication can be es' 'a Wished except
through F ome point or other of that -Territory which
the Newfoundland monopoly embr: aces.
Ultimately, therefore, these prici le.a°es, though at
first perhaps appearing insionifitan t, have exerted
an influence over the whole arran g ements of this
moat important international es. :I,;erprise. The
Newfoundland Company make 3 t e rms with the
Atlantic Company, the Atlantic C c )mpany makes
terms with the British Governmt nt, and, if it
should really be found that no other point of
American territory can be read! u3d by oceanic
wires, the communication between t i vo mighty con-
tinents of the world will have dept t nded upon the
modification or purchase of a an 3 all commercial
monopoly. At present we -believe the conditions
arranged provide for the accomm c tdation of the
public at reasonable rates. The Atli eatic Company
acquire the benefit of the exclusive p tivileges exist-
ing iu Newfoundland, and make art angements for
the transmission of messages over tb 3 whole course
of the combined Telegraphs. The 13 ritish Govern-
ment is to have the power of fixing t he rates to be
'charged for communications, and tt enjoy a pre-
ferential right of using the Teleran tph, a similar
privilege being. allowable to the • United States'
Government on the other side. In r 3turn for these
powers of control, Government fi zet aids the un-
dertaking with ships in the wort: I 4. laying clown
the cable, and then provides a peen n iery guarantee.
The company is to receive the sun t ,of 14,0001. per
annum, constituting a return of 4: per cent. upon
its capital, until the net profits hall amount to 6
per cent., after which 10,0001. pe r annum is to be
paid for 25 years. This payment, however, is to
cover, as far as it goes, the ch arges incurred by
Government communications ; tl to excess, if any,
of such charges over the amount of the guarantee
being receivable also.
Under the existing circumstance s of the mono-
poly, perhaps these arrangements; were as good as