GEO. M. BIBB,
Secretary of the Treasury.
Hon. Isaac E. Holmes,
Chairman of Committee on Commerce,
House of Representatives.
[No. 17.]
Letter from Prof. Morse to the Hon. G. M. Bibb.
Washington, December 12, 1844.
Sir: I have the honour respectfully to submit some facts in relation to the electro magnetic telegraph, bearing upon the bill now before Congress, reported from the Committee on Commerce of the House, for the extension of the telegraphic line from Baltimore to New York.
By a reference to documents in the records of the government, it will appear, that the subject of establishing a system of telegraphs for the use of the United States has been, occasionally, for many years, before Congress; but nothing effective was ever done in relation to the matter, until the Hon. Levi Woodbury, while Secretary of the Treasury, by addressing circular letters to various individuals in the United States, (among which was one to me,) drew forth from me a general description of the advantages of a system of electro magnetic telegraphs which I had invented in 1832, on my passage from France to the United States. For my answer to this circular letter, [see No. 2], taken from House report, No. 753, 25th Congress, second session; and I refer to it now, to show that the assertions respecting the practicability and utility of my system have been fully and satisfactorily sustained by the result of the experimental essay, authorized by the government, establishing the line between Washington and Baltimore.
That which seemed to many chimerical at the time, is now completely realized. The most sceptical are convinced; and the daily and hourly operations of the telegraph in transmitting information of any kind are so publicly known, and the public feeling in regard to it so universally expressed, that I need here only give a few instances of its action, further to illustrate its character.
The facts in relation to the transmission of the proceedings of the democratic convention of Baltimore, in May last are well known, and are alluded to in my report to the department, June 3d, 1844, [No. 15]. Since the adjournment of Congress in June last, and during the summer and the autumn, the telegraph has been in constant readiness for operation, and there has been time to test many points in relation to it, which needed experience to settle.
For more now than eight months, the conductors for the telegraph, carried on elevated posts for 40 miles, have remained undisturbed from the wantonness or evil disposition of any one. Not a single instance of the kind has occurred. In several instances, indeed, the communication has been interrupted by accidents, but then only for a very brief period. One of these was by the great fire in Pratt street, Baltimore, which destroyed one of the posts, and consequently, temporarily stopped the communication; but in two or three hours the damage was repaired, and the first notice of the accident and all the particulars were transmitted to Washington by the telegraph itself.