The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1894-03-27

"cable ring" which controls by far
the greater proportion OF the worlds
submarine cables. with all the Zero
city, with all the far-reaching mani
pulation, of which that body is capa-
BILE. | have heard of no business
competition so vindictive and so
peculiar in its methods as that prac-
tised in submarine cable circles. IL
would probably astonish my readers,
and lead to suit for libel against
the English publisher OF this Maya
zine, we're | to relate some of the
"strategies" by which composition
in submarine-cable laying and work
ing has been accomplished. No
doubt much OF the opposition and
lethargy with which the Pacific pro-
ject has been met could be account
ed for by those interested in existing
lines of communication.
However. in spite of all difficult
ties real and apparent, in spite OF all
the opposition active and latent, the
Pacific cable system will soon be in
existence. There is a real demand
for il, for one thing, and there is
every prospect of a satisfactory and
growing traffic. The necessity for
the section between California and
Hawaii has been obvious and press.
ing for some time past. Had the
cable been laid a year or so ago the
whole Hawaiian fuss would most
probably have been averted. The
saving in printers ink and type
metal, to say nothing of editorial,
repOrtorial, aud governmental time,
would have more than paid the cost
of laying the cable. Had the excite
ment occurred in spite OF the cable
il would have provided paying bust
ness for the cable during all this
time. The Fifty-frst congress had
an opportunity to ensure the laying
OF the cable in 1891 by granting a
subsidy. IL made an appropriation
for a survey instead. Probably be-
fore now the Fifty first congress has
wished IL had made arrangements to
have the survey and the cable too.
From reading the headlines Of vari-
Gus newspapers | am at loss to de.
termine which party To the many
sided dispute would have found the
greatest strategic value in the
cable had il been in working order
during the past year. Certainly its
value to a public already overbur-
/ dened with other worries would
have been sufficiently great, as cable
messages are generally Torso.
IL is a trite aud inaccurate saying
that "trade follows the flag" II
would be much truer, and certainly
newer, To say that trade follows the
cable. OF course there have been
many cases where the trade was al
ready active, with abundant traffic
ready To flow into the cables the
moment they were laid. But there
have been many others where. Ian
guild and intermittent until the cable
stretched out its encouraging aud
far. reaching grasp, trade has rapidly
and steadily increased under the
subtl" influence of instantaneous
communication with the markets of
the world. Many instances OF this
could he cited, and il il an unques.
tionable fact that submarine cables
like. long distance telephone lines
make their own traffic by creating
new ways Of doing business. In the
ease OF the Pacific cables the places
now without communication that
will he opened up are Of relatively
insignificant resources, excepting
Hawaii, and even Hawaii in ordinary
times will not keep cable busy all
day. But in the aggregate the dit.
fercnt intermediate points will
probably make "a fair showing and
whatever traffic they furnish will
surely show a steady increase.
The Pacific cables, however, will
find their principal traffic through
providing more direct route be-.
tween Aust ralasia and the American
continent. There is already con,
siderable trade between this count r,
and Australia, China and Japan,
and more direct communication can
not but give that trade a great in
centive. Cables connecting America
with Aust ralia aud Japan will give
her quick communication besides
with the Straits settlements, tn,
Philippines, China, Siam, Tonquin
India and Asiatic Russia. They viii
provide an alternate route from
Great Britain To the extreme east
and Australia, and other sources oil
traffic will be found in Canada and
South America. The completion oI
the trans-Siberian railway, opening
up communication across a vast
tract OF varied resources, will intro,
duce an important change in the
channels OF commerce in the part oI
the world that the cables will draw
on for their traffic.
A word as to the practicability o.
the Pacific cables. The only part o.
which detailed survey such as sub
marine cable engineers nowadays OK
act has been made is the section be
tween California and Hawaii, which
has been surveyed by the United
States Government. The sounding.
by the Thetis and the Albatross
while showing a slightly create
depth than that of the north Allan
tic, have revealed no. other Difficult
ties. The banks on the line hay,
been surveyed in detail and prac
ticable route laid down which show
far more even bottom than that o
the mythical north Atlantic 'tele
graph plateau" Capt. Maury's "tele
graph plateau" was outlined befor,