The New York herald., 1870-08-31


will not yet have succeeded in overthroviny
the empire or In conquering France.
Tho Rival systsms Of TeIsgr.phy.
The HERALD gives to-day to the public an
opportunity to compare the claims Of Mr.. Orton
in favor Of the Morse system Of telegraphy and
the claims Of Mr.. Craig in favor of the Little
system.
Mr. Craig begins his plea for the latter sys.
tenn with the sensible remark that II the mana
gers of the telegraph do not speedily recognize
the general demand that 1t shall be placed
within the reach Of all classes they will fiud
unanimous voice in favor Of placing it under
the control Of government. He might have
added that by whatever system the telegraph
is worked there would be immense advantages
in bringing 1t under government control Mr..
Craig contends that after having been SUBJ
jected, since 1916, to every possible test, tho
electro magnetic system invented by Pro-
fessor Morse has shown no possibility
of expansion except by increasing the
number Of wires, and that with the sharrest
economy of companies and individuals it eau
not be brought, in this country, to meet the
economic necessities Of cheap telegraphy.
He thence infers that so long as this system
shall prevail the necessarily high tariff Of
charges win exclude the mass of the people
from more than very limited participation In
its benefits. Anumber Of ingenious inventions
having failed to simplify and cheaper tele-
graphy, the original Morse system, with all
its acknowledged defects, alone remains in
general use throughout the civilized world
In order to make telegraphy at once cheap
and profitable, new system, worked with
new instruments, by which electricity and its
conductors may be utilized to far greater
degree than is possible under any system now
in use, has become requisite. So desirable .
result can be attained, according to Mr..
Craig, by means Of what he calls the
''entirely new SYSTEM" invented by Mr..
Little, who, discarding electromagnetic,
has perfected and patented, after years
of scientific and mechanical labor, q
series Of appropriate Instruments of simplest
form and of minimum cost, which promise to
cheaper telegraphy to point that will annu-
ally, for years to come, double and probably
quadruple its volume, and at the same time
perform it, in all respects, much better and
much more promptly than the Western Union
Company now performs the limited amount OF
telegraphy at the present day. While the
average of only thirty twenty messages,
of six hundred words per hour, is sent by the
Morse system, Mr.. Craig claims for single
''Little" wire capacity of twenty-foxr thou
sand words per hour, thus making it equal to
about forty ''Morse" wires.
n On the other hand, Mr.. Ortop claims that
the s'Lttle" system is not new but consists
chiefly in revival OF the automatic telegraph,
well known twenty years ago. He asserts
that special message from Washington can
be delivered in New York at the HERALD Office
with more certainty and at less expense by the
Morse system or by the Phelps printing
telegraph than by any other. He, therefore,
challenges Mr.. Craig to test trial Of the
Morse and the Little systems, one thousand
dollars to be deposited by each party with
committee Of three persons. The other con-
ditions of the trial are fully detailed in his
communication. Whichever party shall trans
nit message of certain number Of words.
make three legible copies of it and deliver
them first at the Offices Of the HERALD,
Tribune and World shall receive the two
thousand dollars. II awarded to the Western
Union Company this sum will be contributed,
one-half to the fund for the Morse statue in
the Park and the other half to the Tele-
graphers' Life Insurance Fund. Whether this
challenge be accepted or not the public will
doubtless ere long learn from the practical
working of the two rival systems their respec.
tive merits.