, 1866-08-04
THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH,
Excessive md Oppressive Tariff ol


Excessive md Oppressive Tariff Of
Charges.
The Cincinnati Gazette has the following
sensible remarks i'll relation to the altogether
too high tariff Of cliargcs adopted by the
Atlantic Tc1cgraphic Company. To charge
$50 1,e7 1rord in currency H1r the transmits
zion Of messages is exorbitant aud unustifla-
lle, md such tapacity must defeat ITSELF
The business public Will not ratronizc the
line but 10 the smallest possible extent willie
the present clmrEes are continued. 4 dollar
IL word is the utmost TINT the public will bear
after hcihg blcd and eougel for few months.
Says the Gazette;
The Atlantic Telegraph, We arc informed
this morning. Ia now open for business and
.vc have also the tariff 0f charges established
for lscssMgts. The latter nrc 50 extgavat,nnt
That they will 20 fir toward modifying the
feelings nf the business public in regard to
the success Of the enterprise. The Telegraph,
to certain clnsses, Is IL NECESSITY, md 1t there
fnrc becomes heavy expense. That there
will lie compelssatins advantages in business
transactions is more than questionable.
Those who have business relations with Eu-
rope, however, while they did not suffer
from lis absence, cannot nov: dispense with
its services, inas1nuc'l rs 1t will be used by
competitors i'll business. The managers Of
tlle cable, tnklng advantage Of tllis ncces-
CIV HHA tAht GCANt AZ
year or two tn come Ut least, have adoptci II
tariff Tint must greatly cnrtai1 The business,
end tend to prejudice The public agninst the
enterprise. The admiration excited by the
perseverance Uf the managers; the sacccss Of
,lls. sntsrmlss,, md the contribution ~
criticism thai this ilt*a tlcp III tic line Of
practical business will cali forth; unl VIC
inny be ellre t1nt tlc time Is mt ,tl4tnnt when
Inv Company. will he compelled, either by
The want Of sufficient patronage. or tic
pressure. If public, oriniun, to modify their
inril. But let 'ls look ut the fgur.'s. The
minimum nf n iMeAsAgr IL twenty words. III
ll!ir I l,o addrcrH ald signature nrr rn,,ntcA
THY chnrEc tnr twenty wnrsls i,ctwren my
etutl Inn llt he United SintrA nn4l my psuttnf
~ Enropu u twenty lr'i,nls r1rrlinv. in guli,
Mliel,, ut l"o l"r gold. would DO equal to
t1l5fD III grrchlmrks, lwtng $7."1t trr word.
The limited service rendered i,r SliiW ,,ny
be seen ty the f"ll"winE;
'tan'rr liowatd 4 co.. l:U Lombard sl,orl, Lou.
hr'' t,.c hundred i'alr1 n,lldllux New u,leuns
TnoArsox. NNowN t. Co.
Here arn tweNly.l1Hr w0r,la. tho Charge
i"r "hlrlt w"nil l1v <l1l.tD. Tie ur..gu III
tl!ls c"ltitry IL |" rlnrgu only ls'r lie i,ttly
Of tllt despatch. IN Europe ,llr ul,!rca. nut
signatures nre cnnntrti, mud the iuttur Gus.
tom l'ur been "lol.cd by the A.lnntlc Tclc.
EInpH company.
For oil words In addition IN twenty. twun.
" rhtllinga sterling per word Is CHARGED, ami
i've letters u TUG avcMsr liked fur wortl.
IN words. therefore, exceeding twenty, the
FttcrF will lc cotIntrd Aud the nunilicr Of
words nscertancl l'y dividing by live. The
words s'scd ~ telegrarhic dispatches will
average considerably morc than live letters,
=" tl.at the c'mrge for additional words will
he fully twenty-five sl1lllngs in gold. pcr
word. reuplc may thus fnrm IN idea OF the
cost Of nsins the Atlantlc cable.
j., We have dispatch this morning that four
thousand words were transmitted through.
the cable Oh Monday, III twelve hours. This,
We suppose. l,ay be taken MS It's average
capacity, mud MS ti1crc can be 10 intetruptiuu
without all entire failure, s133 words pcr hour
lnur be c@~lculatcd as The average speed.
THIS, It SS:15 per word ~ currency, would
Eictd sS,4u4 per holsT, or S51, ,G.h' for twenty
four hours, or 19,21l ,314 per year, omlttinc
Sundays, which is twice or thrice the whole
sum that Inns thus far been invested. OF
course the aim would be to secure sufficient
business 10 keep tie line occupied fully aud
it would be worked night nlnl day, us the
main lines i'll this country are worked. If
iull employment cannot be secured at the
high tariff established, tho pnlicy Of the
Company would he to lower the charges
ana this cotirsc. We presume, will soon be
found necessary.
As already remarked, certain classes will
matter what the charges may be. one of
these is the newspaper press. It has been
arranged hy the Associated Press, which in.
el,,des the daily papers in all the principal
cities Of the United States, to receive twn
hundred words per day. This will cost
SUI, D0 per annnnl, without adding matcri-
ally TO the value Of the papers, so iar Us re.
yards the general reader, because it will cm.
brace, necessarily, only the merest mention
81 very prominent events, while ut the samc
Tine It will destroy III n very great meas
steamers.
But If the cable should prove SUCCESS in
POINT Of duration, lines will be rapidly multi
piled, and the charges for transmitting mes
kagcs under the ocean will become rs reason.
.hlc rs they arc for overland business. In
fact they ought to he lower, for it will cost
n"tling to maintain II submerged cuble,
while large proportion Of thu receipts Of
overland companies are required TO keep up
the lince. ~
The Atlantic Company deserves we'll Of the
public. They pcrscvcrcd nobiy, riskel
largely, and should be handsomely rewarded;
but 1t is manifest that in fixing their cxtraya-
gant charges they hare too far presumed
upon the libcrality of the public.