The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1859-01-17

the manner of conducting telegraph. especially
when il becomes monopoly under the control Of
any one corporation or person, and aludes to the
fact that efforts have recently been made to con-
solidate all existing telegraph companies in the
UNITED STATES into one company, which
would practically place the transmission and
distribution of the foreign, and much OF
the domestic news, throughout the country, under
the immediate control of the agent of the "Asso.
''ciated Press of New York. and the opinion is ex.
pressed that this concentration of power ''should
mot be con6ded to any one individual. company
''or corporation, without such supervision and
'check in its liability to abuse as do not at present
exist" As an illustration of the danger to be
apprehended from this source the Committee refer
to the terms of the contract alleged to have made
between the Associated Press" and the Nova
Scotia Electric Telegraph Company.
by that agreen ent the latter are bound to surrender
their wires to the agent of the press from time the
news report Of the press its agent is delivered at
telegraph office in Halifax, until the TRANSMISSION
to Sackville of the whole of the Stimulated tbree
thousand words has been accomplished The comm erral
news 10 he thus transmitted is prepared for the press
CIPHER the Key Of chich fded TO none erce,ng
reTyJ e,c old and tcell knO,cn agents"
transmit three thousand words often requires the
Ot,
obvious that under the proposed consolidation and
sequent monopoly already referred during the period
oil and shin the limit of three thousand
Words Oy me ase OF cyphers messages strictly the
property of the press but of personal private nature
may be transmitted aud the meaning known only to one
man, ana has teC confidential aqenS and NAV not that
knowedge when received in advance of other mes ages
to individuals, and which contain news of great
changes in the markets declaration Of war or the
cuson OF peace between nations, be The ndi-
idual and private advantage agent of the press
that of his friends to an extent not easily estimate We
nSaH-p hattie 81 vriIl hoo
not must depend the integrity of the person to whom
so much power is committed Upon the general tendency
10 the abuse OF power secretly held andherere naccess
Bile and irresponsible, and from which legislative enact
ens seek to guard the public it cannot be necessary
enlarge"
Under these circumstances the Committee come to
the conclusion that an urgent and imperative
necessity exists for the establishment of another
Telegraph line to connect with the wires to
Halifax, and that submarine Geographic cable
connection between Cape Ann and Yarmouth, Nova
Scotia, is not only highly desirable as a means
of preventing an apprehended monopoly, but is
entirely practicable. By the route proposed, the
distance to Halifax would be about two hundred
and eighty miles less than the line now used
by the Associated Press whilst the delay in trans
hitting messages, by obviating the necessity of
frequent repetitions at the intermediate stations,
as well as from accident to the wires, would be
avoided. The advantages presented by the pro-
posed line may be briefly stated as follows: 1t
would require but two intermediate stations be-
tween Boston and Halifax; it would reduce the
rate of tolls between Halifax and Boston, 'tfrom
lone dollar and thirty-fve cents-the present
'rate-to one dollar, for a message of ten words:'
and would sensibly diminish the time now occu-
pied in transmitting messages from Halifax to the
cities of the UNION. The whole CO.
of the cable, laid down, under q guaranty to zen
1t IN working order for three months, will r,ot ex
coed one hundred and forty thousand dolr RS. and
Of this sum the Union Telegraph Company. whose
lines extend from Portland to New York has
formally authorized subscriptions of twentv-fve
thousand dollars to be made to the captal stock
of the company to be formed and Mr.. GIsBoRNE.
The protector of the line offers to subscribe twenty
thousand more In applying to the Massachusetts,
for an ac'. of incorporation, the Com
nlt'ee suggest With view to protect public
interest,", mat a. provision shall be inserted in the
harter, That %,l messages containing public news
'hich nr,y be sent through the contem-
'ated Gable from Yarmouth to Cape Ann shall be
ell"ered to the operators IN ineligible English
I'D not an CIPHER, and ''shall be transmitted by
said operators in such Geographic characters or
g language as is generally understood by those
g who are practically familiar with the business of
operating the telegraph-and that said messages
. shall be made known to the agent or agents of
the public press, by the several operators al all
g the various points where they are addressed, as
" nearly simultaneously distance and eculiarity Of
. location wiH permit" A further suggestion is
made that the Commonwealth shall have the ap-
pointment of Director in the proposed company,
who shall receive no compensation from the COM
pany, but who shall have full power of minute SUI
pervison its affairs, SO far as relates to the
public interest," and whose duty it shall be, on any
apparent violation of its charter obligations, to in
stitue such legal proceedings as shall enforce any
penalty which the act may provide. Towards the
close of their Report the committee pertnently re-
mark:
If Boston any other city be secondary in
ne receipt OF foreign news, there is appre
lend they may be- under the consolidation
monopoly of existing telegraph companies it is certainly
worth an earnest effort the part of all who have
view of their interests and proper regard for
the protection of them to improve the present favorable
of circumstances carry into effect an en-
terprse SO well adapted 10 prevent such result. The
committee have apprehend if the proposal
Nova Scotia Company is at this most opportune
moment accepted and the sub marine cable laid from Cape
Ann to Yarmouth, that consolidation of existing lines
VIII before long be effected and thus practically merged
into one company and that company be practically under
the controlling influence of agent so far as it concerns
the transmission of public for the newspapers this
country"
In conclusion, the committee recommend
that application be made to the Legislature for
an act of incorporation, and that conditional
to the amount of two hundred thou
sand dollars be taken up for the purpose of carry
ing the project into effect After brief discussion
the report was referred back 10 the committee
which presented it, with authority to act at once
upon its recommendations. The enterprise thus
happily inaugurated commends itself to public
consideration, not less from the fact that it
promises to lessen materially the cost of trans
hitting messages to various parts of the UNION
than as a means of placing the merchants of the
principal commercial centres on footing of equa-
ty so far as the early reception of intelligence is
If however, no other advantage was
gained than that of breaking up an existing mo-
nopoly, which is admitted to be "an element of
Immense political and commercial power and sus-
ceptible of more less abuse, by the subserviency
''of public interests and private ends, to degree
far beyond that of the power of other corpora
'tions or Institutions" the Importance of achiev-
ng such result cannot be over-estimated.