Mr. Hubbard commences by saying:—
“The reasons that have induced the public to commit to the government the transmission of the mails by rail have induced most civilized nations to intrust it with the duty of transmitting correspondence by telegraph. England and America are the only important exceptions.”
As England and America are the only “civilized nations” where the public have any control of such matters, there need be no further discussion of this proposition.
ERRONEOUS STATEMENTS RELATIVE TO BELGIAN TELEGRAPHS.
Alluding to the Belgian telegraph, Mr. Hubbard says:—
“In 1850 the private lines then in operation were purchased by the government, and have since been under its management. The rates were originally one franc and a half for a message of twenty words. At these rates, the telegraph was little used for inland messages, and its development was very slow. In January, 1863, they were reduced to one franc, and December, 1865, to half a franc.”
By referring to the official tables published by the Belgian government, on page [94], it will be seen that the average cost per message on the Belgian lines in 1851 and 1852 was over 6 francs; in 1853, 5.10 francs; 1854 and 1855, over 4 francs; in 1856 and 1857, 3.62 and 3.42 francs; from 1858 to 1862, over 2 francs; and even in 1867 they averaged 0.85 francs.
We quote from Mr. Hubbard again:—
| In 1862, the inland messages, at 1½ francs, numbered | 105,274 | |
| In 1865, the inland messages, at 1 franc, numbered | 332,718 | |
| In 1867, the inland messages, at ½ franc, numbered | 819,668 | |
| Total receipts in 1866, | 961,112 | francs. |
| Total expenses in 1866, | 839,000 | „ |
| Estimated profits for 1866 on the entire business, if no reduction had been made, | 198,499 | „ |
| Actual profits for 1866, under the reduced rates, | 122,112 | „ |
| Actual loss by reducing the rates on inland messages one half, | 76,387 | „ |
By an examination of Table H, page [96], it will be seen that the total receipts of the Belgian telegraphs for 1866 were 962,213 francs; expenditures, 1,217,496 francs; loss, 255,283 francs. Of the receipts only 407,532 francs were for inland messages, of which there were transmitted 692,536, while 553,580 francs were received for 435,469 international and transit messages. As before stated, the expense of service upon transit messages is merely nominal. They simply pass through the kingdom, and require no labor in receiving, transmitting, or delivery. The greater part of the expense, therefore, was incurred upon the inland messages; and, had not the Belgian administration imposed a tax upon neighboring nations of 553,580 francs for messages coming from or going to other countries, there would have been a deficit of 809,964 francs on the year’s business instead of 255,283 francs.