Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-06-25
WORLDS TELEGRAPH
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
HELD IN LONDON IN MAY.
Duties of the International Bureau at
f. Berne, Switzerland-The Earth's
Nerve Center.
From the London Express.

From the London Express.
Without pomp or circumstance, or any
OF the advertisement that usually heralds
a great national or international gathering
there opens in London today MAY 2O one
OF the greatest and most practical of all
international conferences that the world
has so far been able to agree upon.
It Is a conference that affects more nearly
and directly the daily life and bread-and-
butter interests of the people Of the world
than all The Hague peace conferences or
other political gatherings the high poll
icians Of the world have dreamed Of.
The international telegraph conference
will be held in the examinational hall of
the Royal Colleges OF Physicians and Sur
geons on the Thames embankment. and VIII
be opened this morning by Mr.. Austen
Chamberlain, the postmaster general.
At this conference every nation in the
world civilized enough to be user Of the
telegraph-which, of course, means the
whole Of the civilized worlds represented
with one most notable exception. That ex-
ception is the United States Of America
But though, for reasons purely technical
and capable only of technical explanation,
the United States is not directly represent
ed in the conference. 1t yet fully shares in
the effects of all its deliberations
The international telegraph conference
discuss and amicably arrange every point
of every sort relating to the exchange Of
Geographic communications between all
the ends and parts Of the earth.
II you should wish to travel from Lon
don to, say, Manchuria. or to the interior
of Argentina or Of Persia, you would need
to spend quite little time and anxiety in
fortifying yourself with the very necessary
permits to insure your reaching your des-
tination unmolested by troublesome GUS
toms and military authorities, and to reach
It in reasonable time.
Sublime Simplicity.
II you wanted to telegraph to these
places you would simply go to the near
est telegraph offlce-it might be in q gro
GERS shop at the next corner-and hand in
your message in the simple and sublime
assurance that it would be delivered to
your correspondent in Manchuria or Per-
STA or Argentina within few hours and
without the slightest trouble to you or
to him.
This though your message might convey
immensely more important news to him
journey yourself And you would most
likely complain strongly II your telegram
were delayed an hour or two, though you
in person might be delayed for days at
some frontier by some stupid frontier Of
f1cer. All these delicate matters Of the
free passage Of the Geographic CORE
spondence of the world all over the world
the international telegraph conference ar
ranges. Its work and the result OF its work
are worthy the pen Of the worlds greatest
novelist.
The conference meets about every Ave
years. The present meeting Is two years
belated. It should have been held in 1901,
which was the golden jubilee year OF the
establishment of international submarine
telegraphy 1t Is held in turn in the worlds
great capitals. There were other things
of moment to the world occupying the
British empires capital two years ago, 30
the conference was postponed
But though the International conference
meets only once in five years. there exists
all the time an international telegraph
bureau. which the conferences direct. that
does for the telegraphic communications
do for the peace, of the world-when the
millennium is a little nearer.
The Worlds Nerve Center.
This bureau is located at Berne. Swift
zerland. It is the nerve center OF the
worlds telegraphs. It is the court Of arbi-
tration and medium Of amicable arrange
ment of all the difficulties that arise in the
way OF the free interchange OF telegraphic
correspondence between all the ends Of the
earth. It is prosaic business Office full
of infinite poetry.
"Berne," as the bureau is known In every
telegraph Office in the world. is in closer
touch with all the world than are all the
worlds rulers and politicians. If revolu-
tionarieS in the Balkans cut the wires, or
BRUSH generals III oOuCn AIT1Cd SEIZE LILO
cables, or storms or earthquakes or any
other cause interrupt the free flow OF the
worlds telegraphic correspondence, Berne"
Is the first to know of 1t, and 'Berne mott
fies every telegraph office in the wide world.
and Immediately sets to work to contrtve
how best the break may be bridged without
offending the national interests or suscept1-
bilitieS of any nation.
The first duty Of every nation is to notify
.'Berne'' of any interruption or alteration
in its Geographic arrangements. The first
duty of "Berne" Is to notify every other
nation. "Berne" Is the center Of every
thing teiegraphic, and Co" in the nomen-
clature Of biography, Is the circumference
of everything.
A message from anywhere addressed
"Berne'' finds its way by the quickest
route and ahead of every other message to
the international bureau, and q message
from Berne addressed simply "CQ" finds
its way ahead Of every other message to
every telegraph office in the wide world
Recognized Codes.
Every city in the world has its recognized
code. London Is In" New York is
NY" Suez Is 49," Montev1deo is
NV message sent from Berne ad-
dressed simply 10" would quickly find its
way to Iquique. far away on the west coast
Of South America.
But "CQ" means "all stations" and a
message from Berne, telling, perhaps, OF
of the eruption at Martinique. Of the
stopping of cipher kilograms to South
Africa because Of the Boer war. would be
passed from one station and government
and cable company to another, until 1t
reached every telegraph Office in the world
This Is only minor duty Of the interna-
tional Geographic bureau at Berne, but II
illustrates the worldwide touch the bu-
reau has Of the telegraph communications
of the world. And what Berne does in this
detail 1t also does in every other detail at
fecting Geographic correspondence.
The conference of the telegraphic author1-
ties Of the world, which meets today in Lon
don, will report the result Of its def1bera-
lions and its decisions to Berne, and on the
basis of these decisions Berne will regulate
the Geographic correspondence of the world:
For Berne Is very much more than mere
information bureau. 1t Is an international
clearing house and arbitration trfbunal?o It
was created In 1885, as "a central office to
collect, arrange and publish information OF
all kinds relating to international tele-
graphy; to circulate requests for plodifica-
tons Of tariffs and service regulations, to
give notice of changes adopted and gener.