The Sun.
London, England, 1868-03-24 00:00:00

ANGLO-INDIAN TELEGRAPHY.

On Monday a meeting was held at the Mansion House,
to consider the question of telegraphic communication
with the East, in reference to a memorial addressed to
Sir Stafford Northcote, and presented by the Lord Mayor,
which memorial had been extensively signed by the
leading houses in the City. There was a very large
attendance of merchants and bankers interested in the
question. The Lord Mayor occupied the chair. Sir
Frederick Halliday, addressing the meeting, referred to
the select committee of the House of Commons, which in
1866 was appointed to inquire into the whole subject, and
upon which both the Home and Indian Governments were
most efficiently represented, as were also the interests of
commerce and science, in especial relation to telegraphy.
That committee, he said, reported that the system was
badly arranged and thoroughly inefficient, and that to a
great extent 4 was at the mercy in Asia of a set of inca-
pable and unimprovable Arabs, Turks, and barbarians.
That report left nothing to be desired, disclosing, as it
did, the whole matter to the House of Commons and
the country. Two years had since elapsed, and abso-
lutely nothing had been done. There was the same
delay, uncertainty, and inaccuracy in the transmission
of messages, of which he related many instances. To
the City of London it was impossible to exaggerate the
enormous importance of a punctual, rapid, and accurate
telegraphic communication with the East. We had now
on our hands a great expedition to Abyssinia, and we
might have intelligence from the seat of war in six hours ;
hut on Saturday the latest telegraphic communication,
which was dated 2nd March, was twenty days over.
How was the General to communicate with his base of
operations, and what more need be said of the political
inefficiency of the system? He did not care who effected
this communication so long as it was done ; but he cer-
tainly did represent a body of gentlemen who were able
and willing to do this great work in the only way in which
it could be done. What they wanted to see was one line
under one control, and that British control, and free
from end to end of all political, or Asiatic, or European
complications. If the Government did not assist in
making that communication, what he asked was that they
would not mar it, and he trusted that conference would
result in bringing about a better system instead of that of
which they were heartily ashamed. Mr. Crawford, M.P.,
who had been the chairman of the select committee, said
any system of telegraphic communication between this
country and India through the Continent would be essen-
tially unsound, dependent as we were on the good-will of
foreign countries at the present time, and circumstances
might arise that would absolutely cut us off from all
communication with India. We had the sea nearly the
whole way from this to India, and we could be inde.
pendent of almost every other nation, with the single ex-
ception of the 120 miles between Alexandria and Suez.
Again, we had the sea from Suez to Bombay. He believed
there was no one who had any practical knowledge of the
subject who could not state with the utmost confidence
that the laying of a line from Falmouth, or wherever it
might start from, by way of Egypt, would be perfectly
facile ; and we might always rely on it, except on the
assumption of an interruption of our communications with
the Viceroy. He thought we were entitled to go to the
Government and say they were bound to assist us by par-
ticipation in the risks in such an enterprise, of anything
that might happen to render the line valueless, if
Egypt should be at any time in the possession of any
foreign Power. Mr. John fender, speaking for
the Manchester of Commerce, promised their co-
operation and that of the Manchester commercial com-
munity, in carrying out a thoroughly effective line of com-
munication and on the motion of Mr. John Peel, M. P. ,
a standing committee of twelve gentlemen was appointed,
members of Parliament and others representing various
Eastern interests, for the purpose of collecting and supply.
ing such further information as may be necessary on avail-
able on the subject, and of arranging and carrying into
effect such action as may be deemed advisable for the pur-
pose of bringing the subject before the Government and
the House of Commons. The meeting concluded with a
unanimous vote of thanks fo the Lord Mayor.