The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1857-01-27

S; hs hi nrosides that the company shall secure to
tbe goyernmen Of the United States and to the citizens Tor
Sv wears the use OF this telegraph upon the same "
,h, H. govsrnmeut and subjects Of Great Brits -tns
1ss ~ h but inquire what guarantees be- nav VIC
constructors fulfil their stpul' Nav NJ, the goy
eminent Of Srea. a nraa lay time of your
nlcauo a rowsr Il have you except the goodwill Of
the ralng powef that nation do not place much
confidence IN .e love Of nations for another be-
M governed altogether and is measured always by
serest When II shall become the interest Oh Great
'>tan, la peace war interrupt the communication on
this line Of telegraph by the citizens OF the United States or
ny Its government, II will be cut of.
was pleased in general with the proposition m nss y
nary TO the payment Of this money aspulauon on
the part of the British that the contract which
you about make with the who are to construct
line Of telegraph may be carried out and shall be car
red out with the consent of Great Britain, during the
time OF Its continuance.
cation within the territories of Great Britain that might
be important to this line of communication
the ocean. We are almost as much interested In tele-
graphic line from any port to which ships sail TO any
other commercial port in Europe to this Great
Britain controls both the termnL II is, far as her
% Of her own islands and hs a as, that before
connect ourselves with enterprise Of this sort we
should have security from the government that will
eventually have the control Of it, that shall enjoy the
benefits for which we contract am unwilling enter
upon any enterprise Of this sort within the limits OF for
eign governmenti and l am equally unwilling to enter
into contract by which shall advance the money Of
this for the construction Of line which event.
uay viii be In the control of foreign government a.
much as II was within Its home territory Az the same
time we had the necessary guarantees that this contract
would be allowed TO be executed the part of Great Brit
ain, should have objection to 1t but as 1t is, cannot
vote for the bill.
The bill was reported to tho Senate as amended and the
amendments made in committee of the whole
CURED in The bill ordered to be engrossed for third
reading, and read the third time and Its passage,
Mr. FOSTER called for the yeas and and they were
ordered.
Mr.. PEARCE. Mr.. President before the vote is taken,
wish 70 state very briefly the which will induce
to against the bill IL supposed that the Of
this teegrsphc line would be Of any importance to the
government OF the United States should not hesitate
60 vote the money from the treasury which this bill
demands suppose however, that In fact the title Of
che bill does not Disclose Its true purpose II proposes
M appropriation Of $4,000 annually for the use by
government OF this international telegraph But appre
bend that the Of the United States will have
very little any interest government in he use OF
fact stated which shows that the government such
has any such nterest aud do not nd referring TO
the communication which has been sent to by the Pres
dent that there any intimaton that any branch of the
government will find il useful There Is dead silence
that subject there b indeed in regard to the whole
matter except far to communicate letter from the
president and directors Of the company applying for
aid and letter from British official connected with the
treasury of that government stating the terms which
Great Britain will make such contribution as Is asked
from US. That Is ALL learn from these communications
that the capital assumed necessary laying down this
line is about f3b0000, something than million
and half Of dollars The British aathc.ies which uu,
doubedy will make great OF IT. because her colonial
possessions will make II necessary, at least convenient
for them to avail themselves of this telegraph willing
on the whole capital for the OF the work
The proposition here is that the government Of the United
states shall give an equal sum- so that 1t proposed that
the two governments shall give eight per cent the
sumed capital of the company the of the line by the
two governments respectively. 81
Possibly, the furnished by Great Britain may be
more than fair equivalent for her Of that telegraph
but apprehend that the OF the United States
will havo no such necessity for its think not
merely because there perfect silence in the executive
communication the subject, but because, from what
know OF the operations of this government and the wants
of the different departments it seems to impossible that
any but two departments will require the use OF 1t
and very rarely Think will il happen that either of ,hcse
will stand in need oft The State Department will not
trust its diplomatic communications, think with this
line Secrecy is indispensable generally at all events TO
the interchange OF diplomatic communications and will
be impossible to secrecy by the of this line II
message could be transmitted secretly and con6dentay
as far as the coast OF Ireland there various other chan
nes necessary before communication could reach its de-
sired end. do not know how many but II must TO
Dablin thence to Holyhead and from Hoyhead through
two three other intermediate stations London. Nor
can conceive of any where the Navy Department
would use 1t at ALL except occasionally when It may be
ship, who may be at Plymouth or Portsmouth,
where else the British coast who may be directed
casionay to depart from previous orders am satisfied
that the State Department will make scarcely any Of
it and think the Navy Department will be equally
free from any necessity for using it.
do not think, therefore, that the title of the bill truly
the true object to contribute money from the treasury OF
this government to establish an incorporated company
whose objects purely commercial and whether those
purposes will be of such great value to the country as is
imagined, doubt that the associated press will
pay considerable of money for the transmission Of
daily reports of the conditions of the markets. and the whole
country will avail itself of that information without paying
anything for IT, doubt whether individual merchants and
others In their communications to their correspondents
abroad, will often employ this telegraph to the extent
which to be expected The rate of charge must
necessarily be high have heard it stated that 1t Is pro-
posed to establish tariff of a dollar word.
Now ftere proper for this government to invest its
money in affair of this Sort for the benefit OF the COM
of the country might perhaps be induced to vote
for but have heretofore been in the habit OF
pending public money for such apurpose we have done
So we have concealed that purpose under cloak. We
have affected to find great special interest of the
ernment such, under which it has been covered as
when established the Collins line of steamers, and the
other lines of oceanic steamers to Europe told
very important to naval defence that these steam
should be built II proposed to build them under
the superintendent Of officers OF the navy and in such
way to be readily convertible into seamers and
we assured that this would be the most economical
way of sustaining steam navy, for the purpose OF naval
offence and defence II under that guse these projects
were carried through Congress do not believe that at
the time the laws passed voting to these different
lines of steamers anybody here would have advocated
them except under that idea Hence the contract which
bound the to sell to the government in case OF
need at valuation provided for. We have no such mo-
tive in this for patonzing the Atlantic telegraph In
time of peace it will be nearly useless and in time
Of war with Great Britan-almost the only European
power with which are likely to come in contac will
be unquesonaby useless TO while exceedingly bene-
cal to 1t may be considered ntraterroria for both
termini within the limits Of British territory and