In conformity with what the Minister of State for Home Affairs has proposed to me, for the concession of telegraph lines and stations.
I have decreed as follows:—
The districts, towns, and public establishments, who wish to form new lines or stations, can solicit them from the government, which will inquire into the influence of the establishment of the said lines or stations upon the state telegraphic system.
The necessary cost of the lines and service must be paid by the petitioners, and they must also give sufficient guaranty for the cost of repairs and service.
The petitioners will be obliged to pay to the state the difference that may result between the annual income and the cost of the service.
If at the expiration of five years the expenses exceed the returns, the line or station will be considered as property of the state. No line or station can be formed without the consent of the ministers in council.
Service in all kinds of stations and lines can only be performed by a staff from the government telegraph corps.
All despatches passing through Spain (including the Balearic Islands) and France (including Corsica) will pay the rate of five francs per message of 20 words, no matter from what telegraph office they proceed or to what station they are addressed. Each ten words or part of ten words, beyond 20, will pay half the amount of a single message.
The cost of a single message transmitted from France to Algeria, or vice versa, passing through the Spanish or submarine lines, as also of the messages between Spain and Algeria, transmitted either by land or French cables, will always be eight francs. The messages received or forwarded to Tunis will pay two francs more.
The messages exceeding 20 words will pay an extra charge, in accordance with the rule already established.