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This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est filmi au taux de r^Juction indiqu^ ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 12X 16X 20X 26X 30X 24X 28X □ 32X The copy filmed hwre ha* been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: Library of the Public Archives of Canada The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol — ^> (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. 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Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont film6s en commenpant par la premiAre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'iiiustration et en terminant par la derniire page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la derniire image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols — ^ signifie "A SUIVRE ", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre fiimis A des taux de reduction diff6rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est film6 A partir de I'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche i droits, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m^thoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jui ;2 9'/ y / / \ THE REPORT or- 'vittiEi PACIFIC CABLE COMMITTEE. KKrniNTiJii Kiinrj r/,9 ELECTRICAL REVIEW of June 9th. 16th. 23rd and 30th : July 7lh. I4lh and 2Slh . August 4(h. tith and 18th: and September 8th. 1899. K The Report of the Pacific Cable Committee. REPRINTED FROM THE "ELECTRICAL REVIEW.' In the examination which we propose to make of the Report of the " Committee appointed to consider the propoeal for laying a telegraph cable between British Xorth America and the Colonies of Australasia,*' it appears to be best to di\;'ide the subject out as was done in the instrument of appoiiut- ment of the Committee, in which the following questions were advanced for consideration, and for report to Her Majesty's Government :— I. — Is the laying of such a cable practicabL from a tech- nical point of view ? II. — If so, what route should be selected for the cable ? III. — What will be the coat (a) of laying, (b) of main- taining, the cable, and (c) of the annual working expenses : IV. — What revenue will arise from the *iraffic which maj b3 expected to pass over the cable ? V. — Should the cable be owned and worked by Govern- ment or by a subsidised private company ? YI. — If the cable were to be national propsrty, what would be the proper method of management and administra- tion? VI f. — What sbjuld be the form of contract offered to a contractor for its construction ? The desire is also expressed that the Report should embody the views of the Committee " on any subsidiary questions of a practical nature which may arise during the investigation." The letter of appointment is dated June 2nd, 1806, and is signed by the Right Hon. J. Chamberlain. The membera of the Committee were the followin(; :^ The Right Hon. William Waldegravo l<]trl of Salborne, Under Secretary of State for the Oolonies ; G iorge Elerbart Murray, Esq., O.B., a principal clerk in the Ddpartment of the Treasury*; Sir Donald Alexander Snith, G.O.M.G., High Oommissioner for Canada f; the Hon. Sir Mackenzie Bowell, K.O.M.G., Member of the Privy Ooonoil of Canada]: ; the Hon. SirSaal Himael, K.C.M.G , C.B., Agent-General for New South Wales § ; and the Hon. Duncan Gillies, Agent- General for Victoria I!. The Committee met in Downing Street on June 5tb, 1896, and was iben adjourned until October 26th, as the Telegraph Conference then being held at Buda-Peeth necessitated the absence of some of the delegates. Thus it was not until November 12th that the Committee began to take evidence, and we may say here that as all the evidence given was expressly stated to be " confidential," nothing, presumably, was known of its nature to those who were not present at the sittings until the publication of the report in April last, some two and a half years later. During the examination of witnesses the Committee had the advantage of the advice of Sir Sandford Fleming, K.C.M.G., and of Messrs. J. C. Lamb, C.B., C.M.G , and W. H. Preece, C.B., F.R.S.,*! the two latter representing the Postmaster - General. The secretary to the Committee was Mr. W. H. Mercer, of the Colonial Office. During the 13 days which were passed in taking evidence, the following 26 witnesses were under examination :— Mr. Sandford Fleming, formerly engineer-in- chief to the Canadian-Pacific and to the Intercolonial Railways, acting as expert adviser to the Canadian representatives ; Mr. M. H. Gray, submarine cable engineer-in-charge of the Silvertown Telegraph Company ; Mr. Alexander Siemens, a director of Messrs. Siemens Bros. ; Mr. Theophilus Smith, chief submarine cable engineer of the Henley Telegraph Company ; Mr. F. R. Lucas, engineer-in-chief to the Telegraph Construction and Main- tenance Company ; Dr. Alexander Muirhead, joint inventor of the "duplex method," and of electrical apparatus; Mr. H. A. Taylor, partner in the firm of Clark, Forde and * At prestiDt secretary to ttau Pust Office. t Now the Bight Hon. Lord Strathcona and Mouat Rayal. :|: Resigned before the Committee began to take evidence, the Hon. A. Q. Jones being appointed in his place. § Bine 3 retired from Agency. y Since retired from Agency. •r Now Sir W. H. Preece, K.C B. 8 Taylor ; Capt. W. Goodaall, late commander of the Eastern Telegraph Oompany'a ship Chilfern ; Mr. W. IT. Preece, engineer-in-chief and electrician to the General Post Ollice; Raar- Admiral W. J. h. Wharton, hydrographor-in-chief to the Admiralty ; ATr. Frederick Ward, manager in England of the Commercial Gable Company ; the Marqaess of Tweed- dale, chairman of the Eastern Extension Telegraph Com- pany (examined conjointly with Messrs. II. A. C. Saunders and F. E. Hesse) ; Mr. J. C. Tjamb, third secretary of the General PostOtthe; Mr. II. Baxton Firman, controller of packet services of the General Post Office ; Mr. J. II. Carson, manager of the Anglo- American Telegraph Company ; Mr. R. K. Gray, engineer-in-chief and assi'^tant to the managing director of the Silvertown Company ; Mr. T. Playford, Agent-General for South Australia; Mr. W. P. Reeves, Agent-General for New Zealand ; Mr. W. II. Mercer, of the Colonial Office (secretary to the Committee); Mr. B. T. Flinch, director-in-chief of the Indo-European Telegraph Department of the Government of India; Mr. X. Cork, managing director of the Commercial Bank of Sydney ; Mr. C. U. Kingston, secretary to the Australian Mortgage, Tiand, and Finance Company ; Colonel I lozier, secretary of Lloyds ; Mr. E. T. D^xat, chairman of Dalgety Sc Co., Limited. Besides the evidence given by the gentlemen above named, a considerable volume of etatements, memoranda, &c., put in by witnesses and others is appended to the report. We now reprint the report verbatim before dealing with some of the evidence upon which it is based, and discussing the conclu- sions arrived at. The report runs as follows : — 1. The Oommittee have the honoar to report that, having been appointed by the Secretary of State for the Ooloniea on Jane 2nd last, they held their first meeting on the 5th of that month ; bat that owing to unavoidable dtlays they were unable to begin the examina- tion of witnesBOB until November 12t;h. 2. Tfie Oommittee desire to express their obligations to Mr. Sand- ford Flemicg, whose long labours on the subject of a Pacific cable have thiown much light upon the project and materially facilitated the task of the Committee, and to all the gentlemen who have been BO good as to give evidence and whose answers range over the whole ground comprised in the reference to the Committee. 3. The Committee have carefully considered these answers and other materials beating on the subject which have been laid before them, and have the honour to report as follows upon the qnestionB submitted to them. 4. The Committee consider that the most convenient coarse will be for them to deal with the points submitted to them in the same order aa laid down in the Inatrument of Appointment. I.— Pbaoticability. A. No one diipntoa the pr«ctioability of the projrct from a tech- nioAl point of view, althougb the depth, probably in jpUoei over 3,000 fathomi, ii at great ai that in which anv cable ha* hitherto been laid. The Oommittee consider that a preliminary laryey ii indiipentable, principally for the pnrpoie of aaoertainiog, before the cable is laid, and of avoiding, while it i% being laid, any lerioui inequalities in the bed of the ocean which might came " laspeniion," and in coane of time tractarei, of the cable. Bach a aarvey could, however, ba made while the cable ii being manufactured ; it could be made by the con- tracton under the luperviiion of an officer appointed for the purpose by the owners of the cable ; and the necessary provision for it, with all proper conditions, could be contained in the contract. The pre- sent inforosation with regard to the route is sufficient for the purpose of estimating the expense of the cable, and it may be assumed that the farther survey recommended would not lead to any material variation in the tenders. 6. Farther, it will be necessary that a careful examination be made of the various islands to ba presently mentioned with a view to ascer- taining the best spots available for landing stations. II.— ROUTB. 7. Tke Committee recomnend that the route should be from Van- couver via Fanning or Palmyra Island, Fiji, and Norfolk laland, with brancheR from the laat-named station to Qaeensland and New Zauland. No doubt there would be a decided advantage in taking the cable via the Hawaiian Islands, instead of via Fanning or Palmyra laland, aa the aection would in that case be ahorter, and therefore leaa caatly for the aame speed, or faster for the aame coat, and Bome traflic would, it no line is laid from Oalifomia, be obtained from Honolulu. But thia route would involve a departure from the principle of naing only British territory for landing stations, and as this principle has been formally endorsed by the Canadian and Ana- tralaaiaa Qoyemmenta at the Oonferencea at Ottawa and Sydney the Committee conaider that it ahould ba adhered to, and that a departure from it would be a material change in the character of the acheme which was approved at thoae Conterencea. 8. The length of the cable over the route recommended would be, allowing 10 per cent, for " alack " actually uaed, about 7,986 nautical miles, viz : — Vancouver to Fanning laland, 3,561, or a little leas from Vancouver to Palmyra Inland ; Fanning Island to Fiji, 2,093, or a little leaa from Palmyra Island to Fiji ; Fiji to Norfolk Island, 961 ; Norfolk Island to New Zealand, 637 ; Norfolk Island to Qaeensland, 834. 9. The Pacific cabld as a means of communication between Aua- tralaaia and Europe would ba, of courae, dependent on ths landlinea acroaa America and on the trans-Atlantis cablea ; and it would be neceaaary for it to have aome working arrangement with *,hem. Such arrangements are universal in the case of submarine cable companies, which must obviously make terms with the landlines by which their traffic is received or forwarded. The only telegraph line which at present runa from the eaatern aeaboard to Vancouver ia that of the 0*n»di«n P*cific Riilway Oompany. This company !• in oonneotion •t Oamo in Not* Bootit with toe Oommercial Cable Company, which poaseiMi three cables from Qro«t Britain to Oanso ; and the nature of the arrangement betwean them is shown in the telegraphic corre- spondence coutained in the Appendix to this Report. The Com- mercial Oable Oompanr i« an American company, bat all the landing stations are on British territory. It is stated that the other trans* Atlantic cable companies, whether British or foreign, are in connec- tion and alliance with the Westsrn Union Telegraph Company, which is also :>n Am<)ricaQ company. 10. The Wo4^orn Uaion at present effects its Junction with the Canadian Pacific Rail way Company's telegraph linns at Montreal, but it is highly probable that were a Pacific cible laid from Vancourer to Australia it would (if it dooi not already passess such a connec- tion) make its own connection with Vancouver through the United States territory as far as British Calnrabia. 11. The effec*; of this position of ailtirs is, that the choice of route J would lie between an American cable company having its stations exclusively on British soil and in connection with a land system passing over British territory and cintrolled by a British company, and cable companies which, whether British or American, and which, whether possessing stations on British or American soil, are in con- nection with a land system controlled by an American company, and possibly passing through the greater part of its length over American territory. III.-C08T. 12. The cost of laying the cable depends mainly on the material! ased in it ; and, as the quality of these c«n be tested, the question is practically one of quantity. The outer covarings are much the same in all specifications, according to the conditions of the case, but the conductor of copper and the insulator of gutta-parcha vary in quantity in proportion to the speed of transmission required, and, therefore, the question of coat practically depends upon them, the heavier the cable in these respects the greater being the speed and the cost. With regard to all the sections, except the long one from Vancouver to Fanning Island, opinions as to the composition of the cable do not much vary, and as the speed of the whole lioe is limited, for through traflSc, to that of the longest section, it will only bs necessary to go into particulars with regard to that section. 13. On this branch of their inquiry the Committee have taken a large amount of technical evidence from electrical experts. Tnis evidence has been in some important respect) conflicting, and the Committee have been obliged to form their own conclusions, weighing one authority against another. 14. The pticcipal points which the Committee have had to consider are :— 1. The weight per nautical mile of the core best suited for tho purposes of the long section. 2. The theoretical speed of transmission obtainable from a given core over a given distance. 3. The deductions which have to be made from the theoretical speed of transmission to arrive at the actual practical speed in "paying" letters. 4. The nnmber of hours per diem daring which a cable cui be worked for C3mmercial purposes. The C()r> —16. The oorei recammended to the Ooasmittoe vftrisd from ftOO Ibi. copper aid 3'20 Ibi. Kuttaperoha (Mr. Siemeoi) to 80O Ibi. copper and .^30 Ibi. ({utta-poroba (Mr. I'reeoe, o( the Qeneral Poit Otiice), but the Oommittee have decided to lelect (or detailed con- ■ideratioa from between tboie Umitii, two typei, which have been recomiiiooded from different pointi of view. 16. The first wonld contain 662 Ibi. copper and 368 Ibi. sntta- percha, and wai that recommended to the India-rabber, Qutta- pijroha and Telegraph Worki Company by Lord Kelvia in Kovember, 1806. 17. The Ocmmittefl do not coniider that it would be wiie economy to lay down a cable of any lighter typo than thii. The ipeed of tra-ismiaviin would be reduced to too low a figure. 18. The Bccond would ontain 660 Ibj. copper and 4C0 Iba. gutta- pnrcha, and in that whi:;h was adopted for the nablo laid by the Anglo-American Telegraph Oompany in 1894. There is a lerioui urchanical difficulty in handling cable of very heavy weight at great depths, and the Oommittee are of opinion that it would not ba prudent in any caie to lay a cable of a heavier core than this over the lontr Ber.tion. Sjiccd, Theoretical and Practical.— \9 It is, however, in connection witu the speed obtainable from a given cable over a given distance that the opinions of the experts have differed most materially. 20. For instance, Dr. A. Muirhead gave it as his opinion that a cable of 662 lbs. copper and 368 Ibi. guUa percha over the long section would, with experienced operAtorii, and by the u^e of the automatic curb method of tranimi»ioD, give a speed of 80 letters per minute, ard similarly, for a cable of 660 lbs. copper and 40O lbs. gntta>percha, 96 letters per minute. 21. Mr. Precce, on the other hand, stated that the same core as that last named, over the same distance, and by the same process, would give a Rpced of not quite 63 letters per minute. 22. For the same cable Mr. M. H. Qray, Mr. Lucas, speaking for himself and for the late Admiral Sir Qeorge Ilichards, and the repro- sentatives of the Eutem Extenbion Telegraph Company, estimated a speed of 70 letters per minute. 23. On the other hand, Mr. Siemens estimated the same speed of 70 letters per miunte for a cable of 600 lbs. copper and 320 lbs. gutta- percha, while for a cable of 8O0 lbs. ooppar and 660 lbs. gutta-percha, Mr. Preece estimated a speed of 86 letters per minute. 24. Lord Kelvin wrote to the Committee that, in his opinion, they roight reckon on getting 60 letters per minute, and that possibly they mi^ht get 80 letters per minnte, out of a cable composed of a core of 662 lbs. copper and 368 lbs. gutta-percha over the long section. In all canes the speed given was the theoretical speed for simplex working. 26. 0.1 the questions of the deductions which have to be made to reduce the theoretical to the practical speed, the divergence of opinion was not less remaikiible. 26. The explanation of this is to be found in the fact that mcc^ depends upon the system on which a line is worked. Thus, in the case of the trans-Atlantic lines, where the competition is very keen and the hours of business comparatively limited, and where the regulations of the International Telegraphic Convention do not apply, it has been found possible to redaoe the non-paying traffic to about 16 per cent. 37. Oa the other hand, on the Etitern linei the proportion if auch higher, becanie the reier? e power of the linei ii very great, and there- tore there ii more margin for non-paying traffic, the working honn are practically longer, and t3e regnlationi of the International Oon* Tention have to bo followed. Mr. Preeoe eitimated that a theoretioal ■peed of nearly 63 letten per minute for the core of 650 Ibi. copper and 400 Ibi. gutta-percha would be reduced in practical working to 28 paying letters per mi ante. Mr. Lucai stated that a theoretical ■peed of 70 letters per minute for the lame core wa« cquiTalent to f'^ur or five ptying word; a minute. Mr. Lamb, of the Qaneral Po«t oniQe, laid that a dednntio.n of 55 per cent, muit be made from the theoretical to find the practical speed of a given cable. Mr. Ward, manager of the Oommeroial C Able Oompany, ctloulated that a total allowance of 16 per cent, ahould be made for " dead " traffic ; Mr. Oaraon, ot the Anglo-American Telesraph Oompaoy, 16 per cont. ; and Mr. Qray, of the ladia-rnbbor, Qatta-pnrcha and Telegraph Works Oom- pany, abont 17 per cent. Mr. T. B FAncb, d " v tor-in-ohicf of the Indo-European Telegraph Dapartment of the Qovrmment of India, and having charge of the telrgraphs from Karachi up the Periiaa Qalf and through Persia, ■tated that the average unmbsr of aervice indicatione which have to be forwarded wi^'b % meiinge of 1? aying worda of a length cf eieht tetters each, ^ould, on the a . drage, be fi'i ivalent to 10 letters. Furthermore, bo stated th<<^ the unavoidable Uttc cf the lines under bis cbatge for administraiiv purpcses would amount to leus than 5 per cent, of the whole 'uitfl'o. Uis estimate, therefore, of the total unavoidable " dead " traffic amounts to abont 17 per cent. By the theoretical speed of a cable the Oommittee understand the maximum number of words which can be transmitted in a uiautn so that an experiooced operator can certainly and easily read them. The pra'.tical speed is the proportion of that maximum nnmber which remains after certain deductions have been made for the trnnimission of words for which no revenue is received and for loss of time. 28. The Oommittee ascertained that these deductions were made on account of — 1 1. Sctvice indications and prc6xeB, such as station of origin, number of message, time, date, &c. 2. Repetitions, errors in transmissions, corrections. 3. Necessary intervals between the messages, time lost by clerks, &c. 4. Administrative mesisges connected with the traffic. There are, of course, other administrative mesiages which must neoessatily be sent on the business of the line, but these could, in most cases, be left for periods when there was no traffic for transmission, 29. It must also be borne in mind, in considering this question, that though the speed cf a cable is usually stated as being a certain number of words per minute, these words are "reputed" words of five letters each. In actual practice a word averages eight letters, the increase being dn^ to the nse of code words, and to the omission of many conjunctions and prepositions when messages are sent " in clear." 30. The so-called " words," however, which have to be added to each 8 message a3 ssrvice indications and prefixes, do not consist geneially of more than two or three letters each. 31. After weighing all the evidence carefully, the Committee are of opinion that a dedaction of 33 per cent, from the theoretical speed ia amply sufficient to give the practical speed, or the paying traffic. 32. This estimate is a cautions one. 33. There ia no apparent reason why, with good management, the " deal " traffic on a Pacific cable saoutd not bj kept much nearer to the level which obtains on the Atlantic than to that which obtains on the Eastern liaes. In addition, howevdr, must be taken into con- sideratioa ua^yoidable losses of time in each working hour, and the fact that the use of code words (usually long ones) is increasing. 34. Ig has aho been stated in evidence that possibly a Pacific cable would have to comply with the regulations of the International TeU graph Convention, bat in the case of a line touching only Biitish terricory this necessity may perhaps b3 avoided. 33. The estimate of 33 per cent, has been arrived at with the desire to incloda aa allowance for every possible deduction from the earn- in;; power of the cable. It the expeiience cf the Atlantic cable companies can be relied on the percentage would h?. considerably redacad. Number of Working Hours jnr Diem. — 36. In this matter, again, the expert evidence was someiwhat conflicting, but the Committee consider that an estimate cf 18 hours per diem during which the cable could be worked would be a moderate one. A very small allowance for duplex working has been made in this calcalation. 37. Duplex working is the system under which the same cable is made to transmit messages from both ends at the same time. It can be applied so as to add abont 80 per cent, to the traffic sent by simplex working. But foil v'^vantage can only be taken of this system when the business hours are substantially the same at both ends of the cable. This, for instance, is the case between, say, London and Lisbon : as between London and New York, where the difference in point of time is abont five hours, duplex is only regularly available for the few hours which may be considered part of the working day in both places : while as between this country and the east of Australia, where the difference is about 10 hours, so that night here is almost synchronous with day there, duplex working would only hi resorted to to a small extent. 38. The conclusion the Committee have arrived at is that the core of 552 lbs. copper and 368 lbs. gutta-percha might reasonably be expected to give 40 paying letters a minute. 39. The core of 650 lbs. copper and 400 lbs. gutta-percha similarly would give 48 paying letters per minute. 40. To get the carrying capacity of these cables in a year the above numbers of letters should be multiplied by CO (minutes to the hour) ; then by 18 (working hours per day) ; then by 300 (working days in a year). The totals on this basis would be:— At 40 paying letters, or 5 paying words At 48 or 6 1,620,000 words. 1,944,009 „ 41. Thub the lowest of thsse totals considerably exceeds the whole of the Australasian traffic in any year except 1895. Cod of Laying.— 42. The India-Bnbber, Qntta-Percha and Telegraph Works Company has offered to lay the whole cable over the route recomn>ended, with the fint of the above'inentioiied types tor the long BectioD, for the sum of £1,517,000, this sam including the erection at each station of a suitable dwelliog-hoase and operating room, with duplicate seta of all proper instrnments ; also the use of two cable repairing ships, with the cost of maintaining them as well as the cables themselves for three years. 43. This estimate included an allowance for 10 per cent, slack. 44. This allowance of slack is, in the opinion of the Committee, a reasonable one for sctaal laying, but they are of opinion that another 10 per cent, ehonld ba manufactured, which Wi.uld be properly chargeable to the repair and maintenance fund to be hereinafter mentioned. 45. The condition as to maintenance for three years was laid down by the Canadian Qoversment in inviting tenders, but though there is some convenience in thus having maintenance guaranteed for the first three years, the Committee consider that such a period is un- necessarily long as a test of the original condition of the cable when laid, without being long enough to prove its durability while under water ; and they would recommend that the contractors should be required to maintain the cable for six months. With this modi- ficiition the price would presamably be varied in approximately the following manner: — £1,617.000 Deduct cost of maintenance for three years; this was put at £40,000 a year for the two ships, and £30,000 a year for the cable used 210,0C0 Add for maintenance for six months at the same rate Add for puichase of two repairing ships £1,307,000 35,000 80.000 £1,422,000 or in round numbers, and leaving a margin of £78,000 for miscel- laneous expenses payable out oi oipital, £1,500,000. 46. It seems probable that another firm would offer similar terms. 47. As regards the probable cost of a cable of the seconi of the above types, the information laid b«}fore the Committee is k^, the following tffect : — 48. The Telegraph Construction ' id Maintenance Company psti- mated that the price for such a cab.e from Vancouver to New Zea- land via Honolulu would be £1,870.000 ; this sum including the cost of five stii^tions, estimated at £37,000. This distance (without slack) would be 6,352 nautical miles, and the longest span (Vancouver to Honolulu) 2,325. The route recommended is (without slack) 7,186, and the long section is about 3,200. The ^.rice of this type, there- fore, on the basis of the above estimate, would considerably exceed £2,000,000. 49. The India-Bubber, Qutta-Percha, and Telegraph Works Com- pany stated, in reply to a question from the Canadian Government, that their price for a 15 word per minute cable would ba £1,672,000, and for 18 words £1,880,000 ; but specifications for these cables have not been given. 50. The representatives of the Eastern Extension Telegraph Com- 10 pany estimated the coBt o( the cable, with a core of 650 lbs. of copper and 400 lbs. of gatta-percha between Vancouver t^d Fanning Island, allowing 15 per cent, or more for slack, and inch 'ing the cost of erecting stations and supplying apparatus, at about £1,650,000. The Henley Telegraph Works Company tendered for a cable of this type, with completely equipped and furciahed stations and cable huts, for jei,492,000. 51. Mr. Preece also estimated that a cable, of a heavier core over the section to Fanning Island (800 lbs. copper and 550 lbs. of gutta- percha), would cost a little over £2,GO0,OCO. It seems therefore possible that a cable of the dimensions under consideration might be had for £1,800,0C0. It would not be prudent to put the whole capital required for soeh a cable at less, Working Expenses.— h2. The annual working expenses at the stations on the line may, the Committee consider, be pat at £17,000, having due regard to theii position and the cost of living. 53. For the central management £5,000 is allowed, making a total for annual working expenses of £22,000. Maintenance and Repairs — 54. With regard to maintenance and repairs, it is of course impossible to forecast what interruptions would occur in any year and what expenditure would be incurred in restoring communication. It may, however, be remarked that repairs of a cable are the substitution of new material for old ; so that in course of time the whole of the cable might be replaced ; and this circumstance affords some guide as to the annual sum which should be set apart, on the principal of providing, not merely for the cost of annual repairs in ca?e of interruption, but for the entire replacement of the cable, so far as might be found necessary, within some definite period. Thus the replacement of the cable would be completed in 40 years by laying 200 miles of cable a year ; and taking the cost of cable, in round figures, at £200 a mile, this process would, on that basis, be effected by devoting £40,000 a year to this purpose. It ia not suggested that it would be necesaary to replace every part of the cable in such a period, or that such a sum would be expended each year on repairs ; but the fact that the sum named would not only meet current repairs, but would in 40 years be equivalent to the replacement of the whole cable, indicates, in the opinion of the Com- mittee, that it is as great a provision as need be made under this head. To it, however, should be added the fix°d expenses of two repairing vessels, which may be put at £30,000, making £70,000 in all. 55. It should be added that the evidence clearly shows that the great depth of the Pacific will be a favourable ftc^or in determining the life of the cable, while it will be an unfavourable influence on the facility and cost of the necessary repairs. 56. The provision suggested would therefore, it is estimated, in the shape partly of new cable and partly of unexpended balances, per- petually maintain the value of the cable as an asset. Total Annual Charge —67. To the expenses of workicg and main- taining the cable must be added the annual charge for interest, and provision for replacing the capital at the end of a certain period. 58. Having regard to the character cf the work, the Committee thick that a period of 50 years might reasonably be allowed for the latter purpose. 59. The rate of interest to be assumed must depend to a great extent on the conditions under which the capital is raised ; and the Committee have therefore thought it better to append four estimates V9 11 of the total annaal charge which must be provided for, varying according to the type of cable selected and the rate of interest. 60. In each case the sinking fund ii calculated to replace the capital in 50 years. ■> -'^o Interest <7 6"v<:. Sinking fund ... <^- c/^t. Working expenses , /; cT^ Maintenance ... n , (■ ./-v^ Total With a. capital of ,£•1.500,000. Interest at Interest at 2i per cent. 2i per cent. £41,?50 £37,600 14,311 16,387 22,000 22.000 70,0 70,000 Witli a capital of i'l,HOO,000. Interest at Interest at 2i percent. 2* per cent. £147,561 £144,887 £158,673 £165,464 61. The Agent-Qeneral for South Anstralia, under instructions from hi4 Qovernment, placed before the Oommittee tha claim of that Qovernment to be compensated for the loss which they will sustain by the diversion of traffis from the line of telegraph which they erected across the continent of Australia, and over which a consider- able proportion of the trafBc now passes. 62. A somewhat similar claim may be put forward by the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company in the event of a cable being laid across the Pacifi: with Qovernment assistance. Na question of com- pensation has been referred to the Oommittee, and they therefore abstain from expressing any opinion upon the equity of any such claim. 63. The Qovernment of India, whose position is in many respects similar to that of South Australia, have intimated that they do not propose to make any such claim. IV.— IIevenub. 64. The revenue depends on the amount of traffic obtained, and there are no certain data by which this can be calculated. The mpre- sentativea of the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company and Mr. Lamb, of the Qeneral Post Office, estimated that, on the total traffic of 1895, the amount which would be diverted to the new cable would be 672,297 and 620,000 words respectively. Mr. Sandford Fleming, for the reasons given in his evidence, put it at one-half the existing traffic. Tae Committee having considered all the evidecce bearing on the subject, and feeling that they must in such a matter be actuated by extreme caution, select 750,000 words (which are between a titird and a half) as a basis of calculation for the year 1896. They further consider that the estimate may assume an annual increase of this traffic at a rate of 10 per cent. In 1875 the amount of the Anstra- 12 lasian telegraphic traffic was 235,160 words ; ia 1886 this had risen to 637,355 words ; and in 1895 to 1,860,423 words. Thas the esti- mated rate of increase is oonsiderably below the ascertained average increase of recant years ; hot special caution ii advisable in drawing an inference from this, as the increase has lately been oat of propor- tion to the increase of business so far as shown by imports and exports, thus probably indicating a change of habit in transacting commercial business which must have some limit, and further, the rather special circamstances of the Western Australia gold discoveries must be taken into account. There are no materials for estimating the probable increase in the American-Australasian traffic, which is at present very small, bat it is likely that with a Pacific cable it would sabstantially develop. A little local traffic in the Pacific may al siderably leas. Mr. Lucas, although he considered the Pacific Ocean *'a very favourable place for a cable, and a place where a cable will probably have a long life when once laid down," drew attention to the danger of shallow patches or of deep holes which might be encountered, a local depth up to 5,155 fathoms having baen found. Attention was also drawn to this point by the represen- tatives of the Eastern Extension Company, but Sir Sandford Fleming's evidence shows that this local depression is many hundreds of miles off the cable route, lying, as it does, to the east of the Kermadee Islands, and 000 miles north-east of the northern point of New Zealand. In reference to this de- pression. Admiral Wharton, after giving his reasons for such an opinion, said: " I should not expect to find these very deep soandinga on that long route," referring to the Yanconver- Fanning Island section. To the south of Fanning the soundings are already sufficiently nnmeroua and well diatri- bnted to ahow that there ia no likelihood of any such local depression existing in that portion of the route. Another such local depression is found in the Atlantic where 4,561 fathoms ia met with within about 60 miles of two cables which were laid respectively in 1870 and 1871, and which are still working well and free from interruption. Sir Saul Samuel managed to extract evidence showing that as far aa the diatribution of coral is concerned, the Pacific is very much freer from such danger than thn route followed by the prebent cables to Anatralia ; it was pointed out by Mr. Herbert Taylor that "the Red Sea is full of coral, the first 17 cable lasted many years very well." There are no lees than four cables forming pirt of the Eastern Telegraph Company's system which piss throngh the coraliferoas Red Sea, and these seem to be not much more subject to interruption than any other portions of this company's cables. It was aleo shown that for several hundreds of miles the Eastern Extension Company's cables to Australia lie in shallow and coral-floored seas. As to the completion of the survey along the Vancouver- Fanning Island ronte, this should not take much more than three months, if it were undertaken in the same way as that adopted by the American Government in making the survey between San Francisco and Honolulu, and we understand that H.M.S. Egeria has baen told off to do the work. We are astonished to notice in Admiral Wharton's evidence that sounding operations are not carried on continuously during the 24 hours on the vessel engaged in this duty. As to the possibility of laying a cable between Vancouver and Fanning Island, none of the witnesses examined dispute the practicability of this, although varying opinions were expressed as to the size of core which might be necessary ; but this latter point we will deal with under the heading of revenue. As regards the landing places, it is to be regretted that this country long ago sacrificed her opportunity of taking over the Hawaiian Islands, which would have formed a convenient and important station on this route. In referring to Fanning and Palmyra Islands, Admiral Wharton draws attention to the steepuees of the slope, but in Mr. M. H. Gray's evidence no difficulty is anticipated on this account. It is generally admitted that the bottom of the Pacific is soft, and of a kind favourable to the life of a cable ; it is also stated by several of the witnesses that the depth of the water is a dis- tinct advantage as far as concerns the durability of the cable. With the general question of durability of cables we will deal later on. As far as concerns the possibility of laying a cable of a class suitable for the Vancouver-Fanning Island section, some of the witnesses have, in our opinion, rather too readily assumed that a cable such as that laid across the Atlantic for the Anglo- Americ-an Telegraph Company in 1894 (having core of 650 lbs. of copper and 400 lbs. of gutta-percha pei nautical mile) is the extreme possible limit of size and B 18 weight. This opinion Beema mainly to be founded on the fact that this cable is the largest which has hitherto been laid ; and also that, aa pointed oat by Dr. Mairhead, the laying was not achieved withoat trouble. The difficulty is reported to have been due to " the stiff- neiB of the conductor " — the conductor in tbia case was made up of a layer of copper wires of small gauge, surrounding a very large central coppar wire, and it is easy to understand that the knuckling of a thick non-elastic wu'e under bending or other strains is a disadvantage, inasmuch as it tends to the decentralisation of the conductor when a straight pull is put on the cable. Whether, however, the difficulty experienced was due either to the defect inherent in such a type or to insufficient brake power is not of great importance, as this special style of core need not necessarily be regarded as limiting the pos- sibilitiea of cables made up in other ways. To sum up the evidence given as to the technical prac- ticability of laying this cable, the matter seems to be beyond question perfectly possible, and we are quite in agreement with the opinion expressed in the report oi the committee on this division of the>subject. II. — What Route should be Selected for the Cable ? In the instrument of appointment of the Committee this question is made to be dependent on the technical possibility of laying the cable, which, as will be gathered from what we have written above, is admitted by all the witnesses to be a matter of no exceptional difficulty. When asking for tenders the Canadian Government speci- fied eight distinct routes as alternatives, but almost by com- mon consent of those interested and consulted, it has seemed that to meet uU the requirements the cable should be laid from Vancouver to Fanning Island, from thence to Fiji, and on to Norfolk Island, whence it should bifurcate to New Zealand and to Australia. As Mr. W. P. Reeves points out, this route was advocated at the Sydney Conference, where it was agreed to unanimously, as being to some extent a compromise between the conflicting opinions held by the representatives of New Zealand and Queensland. It was also pointed out by Sir Sandf ord Fleming tnat it was the only route where a cable could be estab- lished with advantage, cut off as we were from the possibility 19 of obtaining a landin^r on the Hawaiian Iilanda (whioh had not then bmn annexed by America), owing to a treaty agree- ment between the Oovemmenta of Hawaii and of the United fltatefl, and also owing to the dilatorineas of Her Majesty's Government in attempting to Beonre one of the oatlying un- inhabited islands near the Hawaiian gronp. This delay per- mitted of this island being formally taken possession of by the Hawaiian Government while the matter was under disooBsion in England. As Admiral Wharton pointed out in his evidence, "there is very little choice" as to the route which wonld fulfil the necessary condition of touching on British territory only. It was pointed out by Mr. A. Siemens that it was of course advantageons on the score of economy to select a route with only comparatively small spans, but this, nnder the condi- tions, cannot be found. In his evidence, Mr. Playford said that he thought it was a mistake, a costly mistake, to carry the cable from Norfolk Island to New Zealand, as well as from that island to Australia. Now, as the length of the branch to New Zealand would be only 537 miles of a cable with a small core, costing about £53,000, the cost is com- paratively slight, especially in view of the advantages to be gained. Had Mr. Playford studied the charts, he would have seen that about half way between New Zealand and Australia there is a submarine ridge, running approximately N.N.W. from Lord Howe Inland, and including the Chesterfield Reef, besides several small reefs and shallow coral patches, which lie between these places. This ridge is about 1,000 miles long and about 120 miles wide, and the water over it has a depth of about 700 fathoms, while on the Australian side of it the depth varies between 2,500 and 3,000 fathoms. On the New Zealand side the depth ranges from 1,500 to 1,900 fathoms. Indications of this danger are to be found in Sir Sandford Fleming's evidence. It is true that the cables which were laid between New Zealand and Australia in 1876 and 1890 have lasted well, the same is the case with the cable laid by a French company between New Caledonia and Australia in 1898, although all three cables are laid across this ridge. This is, we think, the worst part of the proposed line through the Pacific, and it is only a reason- able precaution, and not a costly one, to run a branch cable from Norfolk Island to New Zealand, which would be clear of the ridge, and thus, in case the Norfolk Island- Australia cable brealn down we would be assured of continuity , M between Oanada and New Zealand, and alio in case of need be able to maintain commnnioation with Australia by the existing lines. In examining Mr. Laoas, Lord Selborne said : — " Now the Telegraph Oonstraotion and Maintenance Company, which yon represent, criticised the proposals rather freely, the chairman — Sir George Henry Richards that would be, I suppose ? (Mr. Lucas : Yes.) 1 le objected to the conditions, and he objected also to the routes offered for consideration. Can you tell the Committee what it was in the proposals and route that Sir (ieorge Henry Richards mainly objected to?" Mr. Lucas, replying, said:— 'Mi e held very decided views upon that subject. In the first place, he was very strongly of opinion that the route should be the trade route, that the cable should go where the steamers call, :iaat it should be laid in as short sections as the Pacific Ocean would allow. Then he was of opinion that for a cable to land on an island which is British was really very unimportant." The reference to the unimportance of the landing place being British was made more particularly in relation to the cutting of cables. In Appendix B, which is a report on the tenders banded in, it will be found that the chairman of the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company oiijected to each of the eight routes specified, and proposed a new route taking in Honolulu and Samoa. In view of the treaty between the Hawaiian and American Governments above referred to, it ia obvious that this route was an impossible one. The Marquis of Tweeddale, who was examined at the same time as Mr. H. A. Saunders and Mr. F. E. Hesse, expressed an opinion almost identical with that of Sir George H. Richards, and named the same islands as above mentioned, as landing places. In expressing disapproval of the proposed route, the gentlemen under examination pointed one that it was very deep water, and that there was almost always bad weather. The Marquis of Tweeddale said that the company which he represented ** would be quite ready to negotiate for the laying of a Pacific cable on our own account, if we could select our own landing places, and the question of tariff was placed on a reasonable basis." He, however, took exception to the Vancouver-Fanning Island section, which his company could only use their best endeavours to maintain, and charge the Government with the cost of maintenance. Sir W. H, Preece also proposed two new routes, the first from Vancouver Island to Fanning Island, Canton Island, Fiji and 91 Now Zealand ; the Beoond was similar to the above, but included UoDoluln (between Vancouver and Fanning IslandB). These routes, inasmuch as one of them includes the impossible Honolulu, and both exclude Norfolk Island, which was unanimously agreed to at the Sydney Conference, may be disregarded. It i*;, perhaps, worthy of note here that the overground distance It^tween Vancouver Island and Fanning Island given liy Mr. I'reece with 10 per cent, slack included, is 8,028 nautical roilep, while that put in by Mr. Lucas is 8,050, which is, in the case of the former, 80 miles, and in the case of the latter, 108 miles more than is given by Admiral Wharton, an unquestionable authority on this subject. The importance of this extra mileage in diminishing the speed of a long cable we will deal with unde** the heading of revenue. A liiral Wharton, in speaking of the Fanning Island- Fiji 8t:otion, pointed out that there were no soundings along two-third-) of this portion, and estimated an average drpth of 2,700 fathoms varied by possible deep holes and rises in the bottom ; which he characterised as very irregular. Since this evidence was given the route has been surveyed by the Hydrographica,! Department, and, with the exception of some inequalities in the vicinity of the Fiji Islands, the bottom has been found to be quite regular with an average depth of about 2,800 fathoms. Admiral Wharton also refers to the volcanic nature of this region, and points out that along the line from Fanning Island to the PhcBoix Island group (one of which is the Oanton Island of the route mentioned by Sir W. H. Preeoe) there are " a very large number of shallow banks, and also a depth as great as 3,400 fathoms." The Hydrographer also points out that owing to the ex- treme steepness of the slope of the Phcuoix Islands he doubted very much whether the cable could be laid there without a great deal of expense ; this evidence bears strongly against the selection of Oanton Island as a landing place. As regards the steepness of the slope of the islands along the selected route, the only one regarding which such a question arises is Fanning Island, which has not yet been surveyed ; but it should be borne in mind that experience of this class of landing place is by no means of rare occurrence in cable- laying. Bermuda, Turk's Island, Porto Rico, St. Jago de Cuba and St. Thomas, are all instances of very steep slopes in the Atlantic, some of them being coral fringed, and the cables landed on these islands have given no exceptional trouble. Mauritius is another instance. Excepting on the f^ 22 Fanning Island-Fiji section, Admiral Wharton's opinion of the selected route, although advanced with srme caution, may ba summarised as not at all unfavourable aa far as the depth and the nature of the bottom is concerned. It is perhaps hardly veurth while referring to the opinion expressed by Mr. Hesse, that all that portion of the route between Vancouver and T'anning Island is highly volcanic, as this opinion is neither supported by any known facts, nor does general knowledge of this zone in any way bear out such an assertion. We have gone into these points in some detail as they are all of importance in considering the route to be pre- ferred. One of the advantages of a cable laid along the route chosen, is that the cable would land in the heart of the business district of Australia, thus avoiding the long land- lines whioh are a necessary adjunct to the present cable service and are a source of weakness. In going over the evi- dence relating to this portion of the subject, we have been much struck by the difference in the measurement of dis- tance between similar landing places as given by the various witnesses, but on this, as on other points of the division of the report we are now considering, we are quite in agreement with the report as expressed by the Committee. III. — What will be the Cost (a) of Laying, (b) of Maintaining the Cable, and (c) of the Annual Working Expenses ? (a) In regard to this subject we will limit ourselves simply to the only route which has met with acceptance, viz., that which runs from Vancouver to Fiji, touching at Fan- ning Island, and continuing on from Fiji to Norfolk Island, whence it bifurcates to New Zealand and to Australia. The tenders pat in at Ottawa in reply to the invitation of tbe Canadian Government, which bad been entrusted with this work by the members of the Colonial Conference held in Ottawa in June, 1894, ^ere as follows: — The India-Bubber, Qatta,560 miles with a core of 552/868. Besides the actual number of words or letters which a cable will carry, there arises in relation to possible revenue, or earning power, the question of how many letters go to the average word actually transmitted, and what proportion of unpaid-for words are necessarily transmitted in connection with the organisation of the cable, either as indications, &c., on the messages, or as service messages connected with the management of the line ? It is obvious that the proportion of this dead trafHc depends to a great extent, among other things, on the ability with which the cable in question is managed. Mr. Carson points out that on tbe trans- Atlantic cables under his control, the average length of the words transmitted is eight letters, and that of all the words which pass over these cables, 90 pr l y gpt. ar e pajifcr, and he esti- mates that on the Pacific cable, with a^oreoi 550/850, and by using duplex, 10 paying words could be carried each way, or, say, 20 paying words per minute of eight letters eacn. Mr. Carson explained that his cables were worked on a specially arranged system of checking, and that his lines do not work under the rules of the International Convention. As regards ordinary messages, the Commercial Cable Company find, according to a footnote attached to Mr. Ward's evidence, th at 16 per cent, is the amount of dead work, or non-paying traffic carried over their cables. Mr. ni 33 R.K.Gray foand thut out of 100 mesaagej to and from South America, picked out at random, the average number of lettfru to the word was (;03 in the body of the mesBage, and that the non-j)a^ing words carried came to about 13 per cent, of the tr'aTfio." " — ""^ Mr. Flinch, the director-gpneral of the Indo-European Teleyniph IVpiirtment of the Indian flovernment, which works in joint-puise agreement with the Eastern Telegraph Company, and carritH a considerable proportion of their traffic, gave the aveiape number of letters to the word as eight ("seven or eight"), and an average oi' 12 or 13 paying words to the message. From this gentleman's evidence we find that the non-pajing words due to administrative work and indications or messages, &c„ come to 15 per cent, of the total traftic. ■ '" From this it will be seen that there ia a fairly general agreement among the witnesses above referred to, as to the proportion of dead trafTic carried over various cables, but the evidence which follows ia of a different complexion. The representatives of the Eastern Company give I) 43 as the average numbar of words which is made up as explained by the following extract from the evidence : — Q 1,831. Could you explain exacMy how you G;et at that 9 43? — Taking the ordinary AaRtralasianlraillo we find 473 words of Govern- ment mesBages, c mtaining 2,652 letters, giving an average number of letters per word of 5'61. Tben there are 2,G08 Press woid) contain- in? 16,185 letters, or an average number of letters per word of 6 21. Ordinary meBsagcs contained 44,6G4 words, or 341,332 letters, giving an average number of l>)tterB per word of 7 64 and the average taking all the words and letters together, comes cut; at 7 54. Asthe Qovern- ment messages are carried at half ratex, and Press messages at quarter rate?, it is necessary to multiply the Qovernment average by two, and the Press average by four, to arrive at the earning power of the cables at full rates. Consequently, the average length of fully paid words ia 9 43 madn up as follows :— Taking the percentages of the different classt-s c f traflSc (Qovernment, Press and ordinary) for the whole year 1895, and multiplying the (ioveroment average by two, and the Pre^s average by four, we find the Qovernment messages work out at 11 2^ numbsr of letters ; the PresA 24 84 ; and taking the ordinary at 7'64, as abov^ the net result is 9 43. Rejecting, for the moment, the composite figure obtained, as above explained, we find that actually the average length of the word is 754. Basing his information on a month's actual traffic on the Aden-Bombay cable, the theoretical speed of which is given by Mr. Hesse as "about 150 letters per minute, the actual speed attained of payable letters during that month, there bsing 73 per cent, of loss through X K / 84 preamble, repetitioDB, Bervioe messages and delays through pausinf; in transmission." This is a very great difTerence from the figure given by the previoas witnesses. It woald almost seem as thoagh the whole 24 hours had been taken into the calculation, although it is evident that this time cannot have been fully occupied. The EiiRtern (company say that the mean theoretical speed through from London to Australia, working simplex, is about 145 letters per minute, and that the paying letters actually carried would only be a quarter of thnt number, say, 86 letters. Such a result along the proposed Pacific cable would leave a margin of over :!0 letters more, available for paying tratlic, inde- pendent of the 15 per cent, of dead messages which would be required if the cable were worked by the method indi- cated by Mr. Carson. Sir W. n. Preece gives the average number of letters per word in trans-Atlantic traffic as 7'8 ; this figure was arrived at by actually counting the words in the body of every message for the Anglo-American Company which passed through several postal telegraph offices, for two hours during six days, and should therefore be a very useful figure ; making allowance for spacing, the word is taken for sending purposes as consisting of eight letters, and the n p^-p ayincr words are given as about 48 per cent., a percenCage of loss which it appears woiinr increiise as the clerks grew tired. Mr. Lucas eays that " 70 letters per minute would give you on the section from Vancouver to Fanning Island somethinor like four or five paying words per minute, not more." Assuming these to be words of eight letters, this means a " dead " traffic of about 50 per cent. Dr. Muirhead, after premising that he is calculating on the basi3 of the experi- ence of the Eastern companies, according to whom he says " as much time is given to preamble, &c., as to meesages," goes on as follows : " on the aBsnmptions, (1) that only average operators are employed ; (I:y that the average length of code words is nine letten< ; (3) that half the time of transmission is occupied with preambles, calls, services, and other unpaid matter ; and (4) that duplex automatic curb transmission is adopted, a cable 8,C00 knots in length of a core weighing 500 lbs. cc^per and 820 lbs. guita-percha per knot would earn eight p ; ing words per minute. The same length of 552 copper and 868 gutta-percha core would earn nine paying words per minute." From the above we gather that as the core 500/820 will, according to a previous answer given by Dr. Muirhead, carry 140 letters per minute 86 nnder oonditiooB Biinilar to those explained above, the non- pying words amount to about TtO per cent, of the tratllc. It must be borne in mind here that Dr. Muirhead is not baHing this flp^ure on his own observations. There is a considerable discrepancy l)i!tween the figures given b^ the iw > group*) of witnesses us representing the proportion of non-paying' traHic ; some of these are not expressly fitiited, and wo have had to deduce them from various portions of the evidence, but those representing the Anglo-American Telegraph Company, the Commercial Com- rany, the South American Cable Company, and the Indo- Europein (ijvtrnrricrit Telegraph cable?, all agree in giving tlie proportion of " dead " trafllc transmitted as being between 10 and 10* per cent, of the total ; whereas the K istern Telegraph Company m ike this about 7.0 per cent., and the Post Otllce olllcialri give about 48 per cent, at the lowest valuation. It is obvious that as far as estimating the " profit-earning " capacity of a cable is concerned, it is important that the line should be worked under the most economical syfitein of inanageiuent, and in the absence of fuller explanations we prefer to accept the figures given by the group of companies above mentioned ; always bearing in mind that in the case of the l*acific cable, the messages in trancit between England and Australia, which will un- doubtedly form the bulk of the traffic, and which will pass through Canada, there will not be that necessity for the lengthy indications whicn, as Mr. L'imb points out, are used for purposes of International account, &c., on lines which pass through varlotis 'fweisif COtJntriee. Mr. Lamb expresses an opinion that every one of such indications would have to be sent on a Pacific cable, because the Australian Colonies are parties to the International Con- vention, but in ([uestion 2,255, this witness says, in reference to the creation of competition in charges between existing routes, " where States are concerned, the intention of the International Telegraph Convention is that one set of States shall not disregard the interests of anothe''. In this case I think it might be shown that the Mother Country and the Australian Colonies — who are all parties to the International Convention — would be disregarding the interests * In their report the Oommittee Btate that the non-paying traflic la given as 15 per cent, in the case of Mr. CarBon, and 17 per cent, the ca<)e8 of Messra. B. Kaye Gray and Ffinch, but an examination the evidence will shovr that the figures which wo have naed more Bccnrately represent the evidence given. t ^ re If 36 of India, which is also a separate member of the International Union." In Mr. Ffinch'fl evidence we find the followicg in a letter from the Secretary of State for India : — "I am to enclose, for the information of Mr. Chamberlain, a statement showing the extent to which the Indian revenues are concerned in the exieticf? lines ; but, having regard to the considerations represented in your letter, Ijord George Hamilton is not dis- posed to make this a ground of preliminary objection against any scheme for nn alternative route to which Her Majesty's Crovernment may attach commercial or strategic importance." This does away with the fear of any objection from India as an adherent to the Convention. As regards the amount of traffic which would probably be directed over the Pacific cable, Sir Sandford Fleming has assumed this amount to be equal to half the existing traffic between Europe and Australasia ; and this seems a very fair assumption, a?, given etjual rates over the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean cables, ar^^. supposing both of these to be equally efficient, the Paciiic cable has the advantage of landing in the vicioity of the business centres of Australia, the joint population of New Zealand, New South Wales, (t)aeen6land, and Victoria being 8,700,000, as against the 530,000 in Western Australia and South AuPtralia. where the existing cables land, at Roebuck Bay and Port Darwin respectively. These latter landing places are connected to the first-named group of colonies by very long landlines, which do not give a satisfactory service. The land dietance from the Port Darwin landing to Sydney is about 3,000 miles, while the length of landlinefrom Roebuck Bay to Sydney is about 3,800 miles. For the above reasons, and also because the majority of the unronted traffic will probably be sent via the Pacific, it appears to us that Sir Sandford Fleming has not been over sanguine in claiming 50 per cent, as the amount of traffic which will probably accrue to the Pacific cable. The total number of words transmitted between Australia and Europe in 1896 is given as 2,326,984. The representatives of the PI astern Extension Company assume that their line would retain all the West Australia and South Australia traffic, also one-half of that of Victoria and Tasmania, and one-quarter of the messages to and from New Zealand and New South Wales. We must say we cannot see on what foundation this reasoning is based ; such a division seems an extremely hopeful one on the part of the company. Sir W. H. Preece goes into an interesting calculation; by 87 which he showB that assamiDg a cable which can only transmit three (paying) words per minute, and which is only worked for 10 hours per day, owing to the clerks being " tired," and only 300 working days in the year, then such a cable will not carry more than 540,000 words in 12 months. As the particular cable referred to was calculated by Dr. Muirhead and given when working duplex 20 eight-letter words per minute, and as the evidence shows that 25 per cent, is a very liberal deduction to make for non-paying traffic, we get 15 words per minute instead of three, and by the simple process of doubling the 10 hours (and Sir W. H. Preece gives no good reason why this should not be done), we get 20 out of the 24 ; this, at the narrow estimate of 300 days to the year, gives us 5,400,000 words per annum. Sir W. H. Preece seeks to reduce the possible working day of this cable to 10 hours by such reasoning as the following, in reply to Lord Selborne : — 1.370. I will asBume your three words per minute, bat I want to go very closely into this qaestioa of 10 hoars. Ten hoars, you tell us, is by practical experience what these telegraph cables work at ? — It was my practical experience of the work of telegraphs generally. I want particularly to consider this part of the business as absolute estimate, and I want to have it confirmed or upset, 1.371. All business that comes to the telegraptiH over which you have control can be cleared in 10 hours' working ?— Yes, certainly. That is much more than our telegraph experience in England. It will be more like four or five hours. 1.372. Thea supposing the work to be double, would it not be merely a question of stafE to work 20 hours a day? — It; woald be a question of business more than staff, because you cannot attract it. 1.373. I said suppose tha baiMness to be doubled, coald not that business bt worked oft x the same line in 20 hours by merely increasing the s^aff? — JT;,, because I have assumed that the high pressure of course with tiulo work cannot be maintained during tae 24 hours, nven w ith a fresh aUS of clerks. 1.374. Ifiiy nol ?— For thf; reason that I gay,', that clerks tire, and you cannck maintain high pvesiure for a long period. Mb. Mubrat. 1.375. And you canno*- get the work at the right; time?— That i^ another element. That in where the work does not ('ome : it only comes in driblets, as a ma.tter of fact. Chaibman. 1,373. But supposing one ou3je, -ve will siy going to Am^iici*, suppose on some gru%t occasion an immense amren well withiu the knowledge of the representa- tives of the Eastern Extension, &3., Company. We could cite many instances in support of our opinion that the durability of well depia;ned cables, laid after a careful survey has been made, is much underrated, owing to the shortness of the life of many ill-designed lines, but space will not permit us to enter on this. The Committee adviee the laying of a duplicate cable, which they think would be advantageous, although not an immediate necessity. There are many points of minor interest on which we might enlarge, but it is sufficient that the principal considera- tions have been laid before the readers of the Review, fairly and impartially, we believe. We cannot leave this subject without an expression of hope that the Pacific cable project, now on the verge of accomplishment, and which we have consistently and continuously advocated ever since its incep- tion, may be successfully achieved, and we also hope that in time even those who have not strenuously opposed it, may agree with us in the opinion that the establishment of such a cable ii of the greatest importance to the progress and unity of our empire. e^ ^^^