New-York tribune., 1919-03-01
Decentralization
OfCable Service
Hurts Business
Banking and Commercial In
terests Complain of Long
Delays in Transmission of
Messages; Censor Blamed

thanking institutions. export houses
and American commercial firms gehef
ally are complaining vigorously against
the present international cable service
Charges are being made by Wall
Street banking concerns with interna-
tional connections Of british discrim-
inatlon, and it Ia alleged that Amer
lean business cables are being held up
in London indefinitely and without
apparent cause.
Efforts to obtain better service
through the filing Of protests with the
cable companies have failed to bring
results. This has given ground for the
belief in many quarters that the
trouble goes beyond the companies
themselves and that it lies with the
censorship authorities. Houses com
planning OF the service admit that tho
pressure on the cables Of an abnormal
volume cf business has had something
to do with the delays, but they assert
that there are other causes equally as
important.
One Satisfactory Service
Service from New York to South
America via Colon over the lines of
the so-called "All-America cables" is
described by local business houses as
satisfactory, but service to South
America via London is stated to be sub
ject to delays Of two to four days.
Cables to the Scandinavian countries,
Belgium, Holland. Switzerland and
other neutral countries Of Western and
Northern Europe, which go via London,
are subject to delays, often of eight
to ten days.
1t takes as much rs five weeks to
send cable from New York to Greece
and get reply back "We can send
the message by steamship in quicker
time" said the manager Of the foreign
exchange department Of leading bank.
The delay in the transmission of cables
to Greece, it is asserted by the bank
RS, occurs at Malta, British station
n the Mediterranean.
Cables from New York to South Af-
RIGA or vice versa, which go via Lon
don, are subjected to all sorts Of de-
lays. The same is true of cables to
Spain, which go over French lines.
Nine Days From Paris
A cable received from Paris a few
days ago by local railroad company
required nine days time for transmits
sion. A cable message from London
to another firm required ten days
These, it is asserted are not isolated
cases, and are indicative of the gem
eral condition of decentralization In the
cable service.
Some business houses have suffered
considerable loss Of business through
the present state Of the cable service
AS was pointed out in The Tribune
last Tuesday, millions of dollars of
business is being lost to New York
and other American ports for this
reason alone.
Bankers who have been In Washinp-
ton recently have presented the case
to members of Congress, but SO far
have failed to obtain results.
I'VE were willing to be reasonable
and patient when the war was In prop-
ress," said banker yesterday, "for
we realized that it was a question Of
winning the war rather than of get
ting business. But conditions have
changed. and even allowing for the
pressure Of an abnormal volume Of
cable business there is no excuse for
the present poor service Such service
as we are getting is outrageous at n
time when we are all striving to push
our foreign trade"