TABLE L.
| Statement showing the Progress of Telegraphy in Prussia. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date. | Number of Messages. | Gross Receipts in Thalers. | Average Cost per Message in Thalers. |
| 1852 | 48,751 | 114,539 | 2.350 |
| 1853 | 85,161 | 209,944 | 2.460 |
| 1854 | 116,313 | 328,506 | 2.820 |
| 1855 | 152,820 | 434,122 | 2.840 |
| 1856 | 221,411 | 591,038 | 2.670 |
| 1857 | 241,545 | 726,517 | 3.010 |
| 1858 | 247,202 | 730,584 | 2.950 |
| 1859 | 349,997 | 808,521 | 2.310 |
| 1860 | 384,335 | 791,101 | 2.060 |
| 1861 | 459,002 | 875,783 | 1.988 |
| 1862 | 660,501 | 954,550 | 1.450 |
| 1863 | 877,583 | 1,039,961 | 1.180 |
| 1864 | 1,259,590 | 1,150,008 | 0.913 |
| 1865 | 1,527,455 | 1,242,489 | 0.812 |
| 1866 | 1,964,030 | 1,275,785 | 0.656 |
It will be observed that the number of messages transmitted in 1852 was 48,751, and in 1860, 384,335, being an increase in nine years of nearly 800 per cent, although there was no reduction in the average tariff during this period. From 1860 to 1866 there was an increase of only 500 per cent, notwithstanding a reduction in the rates from 2.06 to 0.656 thalers per message.
Prussia was among the earliest of Continental countries to adopt the electric telegraph, and it is still far in advance of most of its neighbors in the practical development of the enterprise; and yet, with a population more than half as great as the United States, she only transmits one sixth as many messages per annum. Were the system left to private enterprise, as in this country, there can be no doubt that this enlightened and thrifty people would greatly extend the system, and in place of the meagre supply of 538 offices she would have upwards of 2,000, and in place of 1,964,030 messages per annum would transmit seven or eight millions.