The evening times., 1900-01-25

break down the present high tariff rates.
/ 1t is stated that it is only by Government
| control of the cable through a commission
whose management is open TO the scrutiny
OF the people. that free competition on
! land can be accorded which shall apply
/ eauitably 10 all American telegraphic cor
poTations and discriminate neither for nor
1 against any individual, association. or cor
puration.
Should the proposed Pacific cable be es-
! Jablished by the Government. opportunity
/ viii be presented in this new and unoccu-
! pied field OF the Pacific, unfettered by
. precedent and obligations, 10 introduce
such radical changes in the policy and
! business management of the enterprise as
I VIII operate advantageously to the people
directly concerned. and for whom the cable
! is primarily built. Cable rates throughout
, the world are high and defeat in a great
measure the true international and inter
colonial objects for which such cables
should be established. 1t is matter of
statistics that in cabling throughout the
/ long distances involved in the East out
OF every one hundred messages sent ninety
/ nine are purely commercial in character.
and but one of private nature. Cabling
/ throughout the world is today so expensive
/ that il is only resorted 10 for urgent COM
{ meTcial purposes.
II is claimed that ii would be impossi-
/ bic for the Government to construct a
! cable line from San Francisco TO Manila
I for IS 0O0 GG6 as provided in the Corliss bill
and that this amount would not be enough
to purchase the material needed for the
construction of the cable alone, TO say
nothing of providing for cable ships, sta
tions, instruments, and a big sum for lay
ing the line. Last year the Pacific Cable
Company said that it would cost 81 GOO to
construct each mile of a deep-sea cable,
but the cost OF materials has since ad-
vanced one-thrd so the estimated cost is
81 800 q mile
The statement has been made on good
authority that the Government could not
find any responsible manufacturer who
would contract 10 build a cable to Honolulu
in one year.
The attack on the proposition that the
Government shall extend its line TO Japan
and China has been even more fierce. and
it has been clearly and emphatically point
ed out that this Government could never
secure permission to land its line on
foreign shores.
The President OF the Pacific Cable Com
pany made this statement before the SEN
ate Committee on Naval Affairs last week
i have been actively engaged in laying
cables for the last twenty-five years for
nineteen different nationalities. and in
every instance that an American cable has
been landed on foreign shores that Gov
ernment has insisted that | shall forego
all diplomatic interference and that the
station and property of the company shall
be subject TO the laws of the country in
which it has been landed. ! spent last
winter in Japan. looking into cable mat
ters, and / can state on the best authority
that the United States Government could
no more land cable on the shores OF
Japan and operate il. unless ii was backed
by an American feet. than ] could walk
into the Treasury and help myself. The
President of the United States acting for
this Government could no more do it than
he could erect a battery on the coast of
Japan