Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1859-04-08
Tho Atlantic Telegraph

The London Times says that scarcely n night
passes withou, some one h either House of Par.
lament rising to put questions to ministers touch
ing the arran .cmcn,s which have been or arc to
he made with regard I" the Atlantic Telegraph
The responses 10 these inquiries do not to be
ALWAYS made in the lest humor; and il il intma.
t"l that when nny statement involving facts and
figures is made more mistakes nre committed In
one night thun could be found in its own columns
for a month
The Atlantic Telegraph Company. some time
ago, il mentions, made application to the Govern
ment to have the same terms Of guarantee extend
ed to them were nlrrndy extended to the Red
Sea Company, namrl Y. guarantee Of IA per cent
on the new capital; bat this applc lcaIlon met with
r direct negative from the Treasury, and upon the
ground that "thr tp,rrnmcnt Ics lved TO
give no further guarantees which n made
conditional upon the being laiI and kept in
working order"
IL no other companies were in the field and un-
conditional guarantees were required tou.surc the
! money market that fresh attempt 10 cross the
Atlantic woul not fail, the case Inst year,
then the Atlantic Company wouli hav" u claim
upon the Government winch il wnull be bound to
recognize.
The result of the a rmp's ma 'e Ia y,ar have
shown conclus,riy that. with due nnl ions and
n properly ,truriel cable. wire hc laid
between England md America with much GER
tninty of success IA railway bridge can he car
rlpu across the ] names. ne conn ttlte l>plieu
ly tho operations and achievements of the Com
pnny last year is apparent inasmuch ~ the lead
ing submarine cai,ie makers ave NV willing to
contract for the successful s1hncrgcncc of the At
lantic wire, taking all the risk Of loss or damage
upon themselves. Another evidence going to en-
tablish the feasibility If lnyng II wire across the
Atlantic is. that two distinct companies were or
gained for ;he same purpose in less than u month
after the late cable had come to he useless though
their routes d ont. The existence IF these
companies, no donbt, Influenced the Government
in declining to afford unconditional aid to the At
lantic Company.
The Government, however. offered to give
guarantee OF per cent. on the entire capital ol
G430,000, as long ns the wire continued n work.
ing order and il its profits do not exceed thai sum.
But this offer is coupled with restriction to the
effect that the Company should give up the mo-
nop0ly which had been granted to them for fifty
years, and lie confined to nnding submarine cables
only on the coast of Newfoundland.
The Times next goes into history of the Com
pany and urges that as the idea If an Atlantic
Telegraph wire the Atlantic first originated
in America it wns undertaken by four or i've
American gentlemen, more with the expectation
of making IS per cent. out oft, than "f getting
news from Europe. nnd it closes its article hy ex.
pressing the opinion that the Company should
surrender the monopoly, and also hints that there
are other conditions than ih0se already named,
upon which the per ceht. would be granted. The
old cable remains without any change.
The Liverpo0i Times in re. arring to the AtlAh-
tic Cable. states that in the House Of Lords, Lord