“ ‘5. That one-half net profits above six per cent. per annum be set apart as a sinking fund for return of capital, and the balance divided equally between the stockholders and the government.
“ ‘6. That at the end of twenty-five years of guarantee the company shall retain the cable and other property, but without any exclusive right.
“ ‘Memorialist believes that with such assistance as is indicated above the cables could be made and laid within three years.
“ ‘The following eminent citizens of the United States have expressed their willingness to join memorialist in this important enterprise:
| “ ‘Peter Cooper, | Prof. S. F. B. Morse, |
| Moses Taylor, | Dudley Field, |
| Marshall O. Roberts, | Wm. H. Webb, |
| Wilson G. Hunt, | Darius Ogden Mills. |
“ ‘Memorialist now humbly seeks your Majesty’s approval of the above project, believing that if so approved the government of the United States will give their concurrence, and that the work will be speedily accomplished.
“ ‘Cyrus W. Field,
“ ‘of New York.’ ”
“Gramercy Park,
“New York, 19th September, 1871.
“Sir,—Referring to my personal interviews with you, and to my letter of 11th ultimo, in which I enclosed a memorial to His Majesty the Emperor of Russia respecting the establishment of a submarine telegraph cable between Russia and the United States of America, I now beg respectfully to submit to your Imperial Highness the following modifications of the propositions contained in that memorial, which I think will commend themselves to your good judgment: