AUSTRIA.
The telegraph is under the control and management of the State.
At the end of 1866 the system comprised 851 stations, with an extent of 73,854 geographical miles of wire.
The total number of persons employed by the telegraphic department is 1,884.
TABLE C.
| Statement showing the Progress of Telegraphy in Austria. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date. | Number of Messages. | Gross Receipts in Florins. | Average Cost per Message in Florins. |
| 1851 | 44,911 | 128,736 | 2.86 |
| 1852 | 62,716 | 209,547 | 3.34 |
| 1853 | 109,347 | 308,159 | 2.81 |
| 1854 | 190,522 | 549,697 | 2.88 |
| 1855 | 204,221 | 607,745 | 2.97 |
| 1856 | 251,948 | 778,294 | 3.08 |
| 1857 | 381,720 | 888,905 | 2.32 |
| 1858 | 419,449 | 760,811 | 1.81 |
| 1859 | 692,379 | 951,240 | 1.37 |
| 1860 | 700,795 | 991,275 | 1.41 |
| 1861 | 846,953 | 1,226,404 | 1.44 |
| 1862 | 946,675 | 1,267,966 | 1.33 |
| 1863 | 1,130,625 | 1,290,447 | 1.14 |
| 1864 | 1,610,663 | 1,322,948 | 0.82 |
| 1865 | 1,786,955 | 1,435,478 | 0.80 |
| 1866 | 2,507,472 | 1,644,742 | 0.65 |
Austria transmitted 44,911 messages in 1851, and 381,720 in 1857, being an increase of over 800 per cent without any average reduction in rates. The increase in the number of messages from 1857 to 1866 was less than 700 per cent, notwithstanding the great reduction in the rates from 2.32 to 0.65 florins.
BELGIUM.
The statistics respecting the working of the telegraph in Belgium are used by Mr. Washburne primarily to prove the superior advantages and excellence of the Belgian telegraphic system and arrangement, but chiefly to show that a cheapened rate has increased its use, and that to secure that result in this country the telegraph must be placed under governmental control.
Scarcely any two nations could be named whose conditions are more unlike.