The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-08-20
NEED OF PACIFIC CABLES.
Difficult Getting AdvIces without
Controlling Systems.

Controlling Systems.
Brooklyn Eagle.
Just at this juncture the absence Of
news from PelIin is felt to be one of the
| most painful deprivations that a civilized
community could endure. But 1t Is for
gotten in this country that even such
news as We do get from China does not
come to US direct and has to go the
other way around the world. The fact
| that England is now getting ready to
! lay her Pacific cable should emphasize the
necessity for ours also. Whatever news
reaches this country comes to US prac-
! tlcally only by the consent of England
| and Russia, who control the two cable
systems touching that part of the globe.
Either country or both might at any mo-
ment stop the service, and such a con-
tingency is quite likely to arise. though
not out Of any enmity to us. AS It is,
American messages are subject to intol-
cradle delay and have to take a subor-
dinate place when the question arises as
| to who shall have the cable first. In
| fact, 1t Is perfectly safe to assert that
some Of our recent rush" messages could
| only have been rushed with the express
| permission or help of English or Danish
! cable authorities, who, had they been
unfriendly, could have laid off or de-
livered those messages indefinitely with
out any declaration Of hostility. The
messages we are so eager to get through
can be hung up" anywhere any time
| those authorities choose or are so in
| structed.
Now this situation Is humiHating to a
| degree. Our interests In the East are
| certainly as great as they are In Europe,
| but at the present minute our possessions
might be snatched from us, our Dependent
cies captured, our troops and fleets wiped
! out, our missionaries massacred and our
trade annihilated, without our being able
to get authentic advices under a month,
unless some one chose to let us have tho
news. 1t is not question Of expansion
or Imperialism but whether we propose
in the near future to have free hand In
the Pacific. America does not want to
NEEDLE in other peoples affairs out there,
but she has got enough of her own right
now to warrant the laying of an all
American Pacific cable, and II cannot go
| down too quickly.
| 1t IS true we can use an English Pa
| ciic cable just as we do English cables
elsewhere, but that would not afford the
| freedom of communication which to a
great commercial and advancing country
like this is an imperative necessity. II
is also true that the advantages of q
Russo Manchurian land line from China
! were also pointed out in these pages not
| long ago by well known public man,
| but we imagine that his views as to the
| freedom of such line from interruption
have been somewhat modified by recent
! events. The truth remains that a deep
sea, straightaway American cable is the
thing needful, and an American-built ca
| BILE at that, for there is not a cable fac
| tory In Europe today that could touch the
| order for two or three years. Congress
I will do well next session to order that
| cable for prompt delivery for laying as
| soon as constructed. It might represent
the cost of two or three proposed battle
| ships, but the ships of war we have al
ready would then be worth two or three
times as much for purposes Of protection
/ to our interests.