The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1850-10-08 00:00:00

ebt Elforrpool &tanbarb.

TUESDAY

MORNING, OCT. 8, 1850

THE passing remarks which we made in our
last upon the subject of the Electric Telegraph, as
worked in this country, have elicited some im-
portant information, from which we derive a hope
that a monopoly so objectionable as that enjoyed
by the Ricardo Company may, at no distant period,
be overthrown. The grievances, of which we com-
plain, as existing under the present system, are,
first, the exorbitant charges made here, as compared
with those for which other countries enjoy a boon,

which is rapidly becoming a necessity ; and,
secondly, the inefficient working of the telegraph,
and the absence of all check against favouritism by
the Company. The fortunate man who first gets
possession of the wires, can transmit intelligence
to any part of the country, which may he worth to
him thousands, whilst his competitors are com-
pelled to wait in inaction until he has probably
reaped his full harvest. To those who have
watched the scramble made for precedence, by the
agents of the London press, on the occasion of an
arrival from the United States, or on any other
occasion of great moment, this ground of our ob-
jection to the present system will be perfectly
intelligible. By the mercantile community at
large it is daily felt; and it must be admitted to
be intolerable that, in a country like this, in which
the transactions of an hour frequently involve the
loss or gain of hundreds of thousands, a system
should be permitted to exist, which is not only a
monopoly in itself, but also confers the benefits of
monopoly to a few, at the expense of the many.

The ground upon which we are led to anticipate
an extensive revision of the powers of the Ricardo
company, if not the complete opening out of the
application of the electric telegraph to the enter-
prise of the community, consists in the fact that a

new medium for conveying telegraphic messages
has been discovered, the unerring certainty and
cheapness of which it is impossible that the legis-
lature can compel an entire community to forego,
merely to benefit a few individuals. A new machine
has been invented by a Mr. Henley, formerly a
maker of instruments to the present company, the
advantages of which over those at present in use
promise to realize all that the public can wish with
regard to the telegraphic mode of communication.
These advantages we shall shortly describe; but
first we may state, from letters which we have had
placed in our hands, that it has received the un-
qualified approval of engineers of the highest emi-
nence and practically conversant with the subject.
It has recently been worked for twelve days upon
the South Devon Railway; and although a portion
of those days were very wet, and the wires for five
miles of the line are close to the sea—circumstances
which with the present instruments frequently
interrupt the flow of the galvanic current—the
experiments made were perfectly satisfactory. In
one of the trials, viz., from Plymouth to Exeter and
back, over a length of 138 miles of wires, and with
considerable resistance intervening, the needles at
Plymouth and Exeter are stated to have worked
very strongly, with a dead beat—which is a great
advantage in reading. Several other advantages
are noticed by the same authority, through which
important saving maybe effected. _ _

We are alsocredibly informed from another
source that the Great Western Company have
expressed a wish to have this new and very efficient
instrument upon all their lines. We should,
however, greatly prefer seeing its advantages
carried out fully, by independent agency, instead
of the patent being surrendered to the present
company. The public, in the former case, would
be allowed to derive a much greater share of the
advantages which it is calculated to afford ; and
we are glad, therefore, to ]earn that preliminary
arrangements are being entered into, in London,
Manchester, and Liverpool, for the formation of
an independent company to go to Parliament for
powers to lay down lines of wire for bringing the
invention into working. A great mistake, it is
conceived, has been committed by laying such
wires along lines of railway, thus lengthening, in
most cases, the route to be traversed, and mate-
rially increasing the cost of construction. The
promoters of the present scheme, however, propose
to lay their wires, either above or under ground,
without any reference to lines of railway.

Mr. Henley's machine is small in size, simple in
construction, and far less expensive, than those at
present in use. It differs also from them in the
medium of communication employed, the magnetic
fluid, generated from magnets affixed to the instru-
ment itself, being used' by Mr. Henley, whilst,
under the present system, the voltaic battery is
To the use of magnetism instead of gal-
vanism is owing the certainty of action, in all
weathers, possessed by Mr. Henley's system, the
magnetic fluid not being subject to leak from the
insulators, as is so frequently the case with the
galvanic fluid. That this annoyance has been too
often felt, and the wires of the present company
been announced as " unable to work," or able only
to work for a certain distance, is known to most
of those readers who have been in the habit of
using the telegraph. As the new instruments are
free from all chemical action, and have no friction
save that of steel upon a diamond, they are callu-
lated to wear for years without renewal, and to save
many thousands per annum of outlay, to which
the present company are subjected. This saving
in cost, and wear and tear, together with rigid eco-
nomy in the execution of the works and in manage-
ment, would enable the proposed new company to
give to the public the greatest amount of accommo-

dation at the cheapest rates. The misfortune of
the present company, like that of some of our
railway companies, and one of the causes of their
existing high charges, has been, that, in the onset,
they looked too sanguinely to the future, and built
palaces where offices would have sufficed. England
presents, in this respect, one example, and America
another. Our new friends propose to follow the
latter, and to regard economy and efficiency as the
ends to be consulted, as best both for their own
interests and those of the public.

We must repeat our conviction that the Legisla-
ture cannot possibly insist upon the maintenance
of the present system, especially if the question is
taken up, as it ought to be, by the commercial
classes and the press, both of whom have so
severely felt its injurious working. Indeed, except
during a period of speculative madness, it is almost
incredible that any body of legislators could have
been found willing to set up such a monopoly.
For what was it but to say that to a discovery, as yet
in its infancy, and of incalculable importance to
mankind, advancing science should bring no aid ;
that, whilst the advantages of the electric telegraph
in other countries are being diffused in every direc-
tion, and placed within the reach of all classes, in
this, the greatest commercial country in the world,
they should be withheld from the mass, or be in-
efficiently doled out by the crude machinery de-
vised by the early inventors of the system ? The
Legislature cannot have meant this, in giving its
sanction to the monopoly of the Ricardo Company,
or it cannot have felt the full importance of the
matter with which it was dealing ; and if the com-
munity would only make their voices heard, a step
so preposterous will most certainly be retraced.
Next week, however, we expect to be in a position
to say something more definite upon the subject.

THE able writer of the commercial article in the
Albion, whose remarks upon the subject of the
currency we have on several occasions quoted with
approval, put forth on Monday last some opinions,
bearing upon the same subject, with which we are
compelled to differ. Our contemporary regards the
addition which is being made to the stock of gold
in the world, through the discoveries in California,
as fraught with great promise of advantage to our
commerce. He says, " the impression that is daily
gaining ground in the public mind that California
has yet her destiny to fulfil gives coilfidence in the
stability of our monetary resources ;" and, after a
few further remarks as to individual losses which
may occur to persons trading to that country, he
proceeds :
" To such extent the country may appear to be the
loser ; we say appear, for in reality the result will be
otherwise, for the gold remitted to this country, though it
be only equal to one-half of the value of the goods ex-
ported, will by its action upon our currency, which is
gold, and nothing else than gold, tend to diminish the
rate of interest and to increase the value of commodities
of all kinds. We further believe that California will tend
to lighten the burden of taxation by causing a reduction of
the interest on the national debt ; and however visionary
it may appear, we do not despair of seeing the national
debt itself entirely (.vringed by the instrumentality of
California. We have not the least doubt that the oppor-
tunity will arise, and if, when it does, we have an enlight-
ened, deep-thinking, far-seeing Chancellor of the Exche-
quer, the result is certain."
We cannot perceive the process by which the
writer arrives at any of his concluaions. The

stability of our monetary resources" may be pro-
moted by the increasing abundance of gold, thus
far, that a drain of that commodity to meet adverse
exchanges may be less sensibly felt, and the recur-

rence of money panics may be at longer intervals.
But the sheet anchor of the bullionist party—the
assumed fixity of value in the standard of our mo-
ney—is obviously gone. Gold, and money based
upon gold, is admitted to be depreciating in its
purchasing power. The creditor, whether public or
private, who has agreed to receive so many ounces
of the precious metal in discharge of the obligation
due to him, is about to be paid fewer pounds in
account, or fewer articles than those pounds would
have bought at the period when the debt was
created. "The stability of our monetary resources"
spoken of, therefore, is confined exclusively to the
more easy convertibility of the pound into the

I quantity of gold which it represents; the money
itself is becoming daily of less value, as compared
with commodities. There is not the slightest dif-

ference between such a state of things and one by
which the yard measure would be made to decrease
inch by inch, or the pound weight to lose ounce by
ounce. _ _

Before we can regard the operation with any
equanimity we have to he assured that the prices at
which we sell our various productions of labour
and skill to the foreigner shall advance at the same
pace as the cheapening of the money in which he
pays for them. Our manufacturing classes hare
been feeling the difficulty of this process during the
past twelve months. The price of the raw mate-
rial, cotton, has been increasing, which is analagous
to the purchasing power of money decreasing, so
far as regards that article ; and the manufacturer
has had to struggle after it as well as he could,
with diminished profits upon the whole of his
operations. Apply the same process to all commo-
dities, which must he the case if our money is to go
on being cheapened ; and the prospect before us of

. .
commercial disaster and industrial suffering is fear-
ful indeed. Our contemporary's confidence in the
stability of our monetary resources will scarcely be
a set off against the want of confidence which will
be engendered in the purchasing power of money
itself.

With respect to the writer's notion of the effect
of the gold yield of California upon the interest of
the national debt we have a very few words to say.
In the first place, no such result can occur, except
as caused by money being created and forced into
circulation by the Bank of England. in excess of
the wants of the community. The first effect of
such a proceeding would be to induce wild specu-
lation, followed as usual by a collapse and panic.
Commodities would be advanced unnaturally in
price; and it would not be until that unnatural
point had been reached, and alarm had been
created, that the public funds would be sought for
the purpose of safe investment at high rates. It is
obvious that no decrease of the intrinsic value of
money, or more properly of its basis, gold, can
effect the rate of interest. That is guided by its
abundance, and the opportunities afforded of em-
ploying it advantageously. The funds are valued
in the same pounds in which the annual return
which they make to their holders is paid; and their
price will not be altered one iota, whether the sove-
reign be worth twenty shillings or only ten. As to
paying off, or reducing materially, the national debt
through the agency of cheap gold, that can only
occur by holding the fundholder strictly to his bar-
gain, and paying him in a commodity which cir-
cumstances shall have deteriorated ; and we rather
doubt the justice, although we admit the legality of
the proceeding.
We must confess that we see the source of great
evil to arise from the Californian discoveries, ope-
rating upon our monetary system as at present
regulated. We compel the Bank of England to
create money for every ounce of gold which we take
to the Mint, to lie a dead weight in her coffers ;•
and in self-defence, to secure even a minimum
profit for her shareholders, she must increase her
discount business. There is nothing to prevent
her doubling her stock of gold in the course of a
few years ; and the result can only be the creation
of speculative mania, and its attendant disasters.
To obviate this there is only one step which can
avail her, viz., to seek the privilege of limiting the
amount of gold which she is at present compelled
to hold. Do this, however, and the farce of a gold
standard and the assumed fixity of value of that
metal is at an end for ever. Gold will then become
a mere commodity; and the quantity in excess of
what is required for monetary purposes will reduce
the price of the whole stock in the world, and re-
duce this boasted California to the condition of a
barren and inhospitable waste. And what better
event could occur for the welfare of society at
large? What more gratifying than to see the hun-
dreds of thousands, who are flocking to it to bru-
talize themselves, and to create a palpable hell upon
the earth's face, driven to devote themselves to
more reasonable pursuits ; to hold the plough, to
clear the forests, to cultivate the wilds, and to raise
food and clothing for themselves and their fellow-
creatures ?

WE promised last week to refer at another time,
and more at length, to the subjects brought under
our notice by a letter lately addressed by Mr.
Grantham to the Dock Chairman,—the probable
increase of screw steamers, and the results to he
expected from them in connexion with two import-
ant local questions now under discussion,—dock
extension and accommodation for shipbuilders.
About thirty years have expired since a general
expectation was raised with respect to steam navi-
gation. A few bold spirits ventured to put to sea
with an imperfect and small-powered craft, few of
which had then been made. A glance at the par-
liamentary evidence taken with reference to the
employment of steam-boats for the mail service
about the year 1822, demonstrates the very limited
ideas which most practical men possessed on the
subject. Although many conjectures were made
few imagined that steam vessels would be avail-
able for any service except short voyages in mode-
rate weather, and for passengers only. These views
gradually expanded till at last the daring feat of
crossing the Atlantic by steam was undertaken.
This, however, is no longer a wonder, and men fix
the arrival of the mails from America with a preci-
sion which is most astonishing.
Great, however, as the progress of steam naviga-
tion has been—extracrdinary as has been the
mutual intercourse of the nations of the world—
yet there seems to be no doubt that we are now on
the eve of another great change in our maritime
affairs, which may perhaps exceed in importance
that which has already been achieved.
To enable steam vessels of the present form suc-
cessfully to perform long voyages, they must be
large and worked at great expense, requiring the
aid of a Government contract for the mails to enable
them to remunerate the owners; but with screw
steamers it is otherwise, even supposing that as a
propeller there is no decided advantage in the screw
over the paddle-wheel, when the latter is in its
most favourable position of smooth water and an
even trim,—in rough water, or with varying trim,
the screw possesses advantages which cause it far to
outstrip the paddle,—and the facts now before us
prove beyond all question that the screw, as a mode
of propulsion, is likely to come into general use.
The question becomes one of importance from
the fact that these vessels are now performing long
voyages of three thousand miles and upwards with
great regularity, and that a contract has actually
been made to carry the mails to the Cape of Good
Hope by them. No less than four companies are
now employing them between this port and various
ports in the Mediterranean; a line will be im-
mediately opened with Philadelphia, and many
other projects are said to he under consideration.
We understand that a great reduction is made in
the premiums of insurance, and that goods might be
carried by them nearly if not quite as cheaply as by
private vessels,—and although apparently requiring
a large outlay, yet when compared with the amount
of work performed by them, the capital required
would not exceed the cost of sailing vessels to do
the same work. Here then we have the elements
of a change that may effect the most important
results upon the commerce of the world. If these
conjectures are well founded, it evidently becomes
a great national subject that should be carefully
fostered, and it recommends itself to this port espe-
cially where fuel is cheap, and in reference to the
two points mentioned by Mr. Grantham it assumes
a local interest. Should these steamers increase as
predicted, they "will tend to diminish the relative
requirements for dock space," and they will also
open up a great field for the employment of our'
artizans.

A special meeting of the Council will be held to-day to
consider the resolutions of the Dock Committee, passed
with reference to the provisions in the now dock act to be
applied for next session.