To make this more clear, I give an abstract both of the expenses and capacities of the ordinary visual telegraphs in some of the European countries.
In England, the semaphore telegraph, established between London and Portsmouth, a distance of 72 miles, is maintained by the British government at an average expense of £3,405, or $15,118 per annum. From a return [vol. 30, 1843, accounts and papers of House of Commons] of the number of days during which the telegraph was not available, on account of the weather, during a period of three years, it appears that there were, in that time, 323 days in which it was useless, or nearly one year out of three! But by a return made to the admiralty of the number of hours in the day appointed for working the telegraph, it appears that the hours appointed for the year are—from 1st October to 28th February, from 10 o’clock, a. m., to 3 p. m.; 5 hours. From 1st March to 30th September, from 10 a. m., to 5 p. m.; 7 hours.
Average number of hours per day, in the most favourable weather, 6 hours!
Deducting 1 year from the 3, for unavailable days, the average time per day for the 3 years would be but 4 hours. So that, for the use of their telegraph for 72 miles, and for only 4 hours in the day, the British government expend $15,118 per annum.
The French system of telegraphs is more extensive and perfect than that of any other nation. It consists, at present, of five great lines, extending from the capital to the extreme cities of the kingdom, to wit:
| The Calais line, from Paris to Calais, | 152 | miles |
| The Strasbourg line, from Paris to Strasbourg, | 255 | “ |
| The Brest line, from Paris to Brest, | 325 | “ |
| The Toulon line, from Paris to Toulon, | 317 | “ |
| The Bayonne line, from Paris to Bayonne, | 425 | “ |
| 1,474 | miles. |
Making a total of 1,474 miles of telegraphic intercourse. These telegraphs are maintained by the French government at an annual expense of over 1,000,000 of francs, or $202,000.
The whole extent, then, of the French lines of telegraph is 1,474 miles, with 519 stations; and (if the estimate for six stations, at an average cost of 4,400 francs, is a criterion for the rest) erected at a cost of at least $880 each—making a total of $456,720.
The electro magnetic telegraph, at the rate proposed in the bill, to wit, $461 per mile, (and which, it should be remembered, will construct not one line, only, but six,) could be constructed the same distance for $619,514—not one-third more than the cost of the French telegraphs. Even supposing each line to be only as efficient as the French telegraph, still there would be six times the facilities, for not one-third more cost. But when it is considered that the French telegraph, like the English, is unavailable the greater part of the time, the advantages in favour of the magnetic telegraph become more obvious.
An important difference between the two systems is, that the foreign telegraphs are all a burden upon the treasury of their respective countries; while the magnetic telegraph proposes, and is alone capable of sustaining itself and of producing a revenue.