'Memorandum on the Indo-European Telegraph Department and Narrative of Events to the end of 1898' [‎1v] (2/20)

2
service between England and India. Alternative schemes were submitted
and diplomatic representations made, but the difficulty was first solved by
Messrs Siemens who on the 7th February 1867, offered to Major Champain*
then Assistant Director of the Indo-European Telegraph Department! to
fW T 1 ' lde I ) ' m . deut , d ° ubIe llne of telegraph from London to Teheran,
provided that Her Majesty s Government would grant them certain assistance.
lUiv ‘!v, eS 'T',r ien l < r tl? ' P r °P osa,s havin S Peing submitted to the Secretary of
State for India, Major Champam was, in April 1867, authorised to proceed
TeWr. ^ eterSb A U JF and - COn - fer Wlth the Rl,ssian Director-General of
W wn P ' S ' r Aft a r Ta , rl0us “terviews, including one with the Czar, the
line was sanctioned and an agreement was entered into between the Russian
cnnc r ™ SSlan Dlrectors ; General of Telegraphs to promote the line, and finally
concessions were granted to Messrs. Siemens by the Russian and Persian
Governments to construct and work the line for 25 years, after which
unless the concessions were extended, the lines would become the property of
the respective Governments. The Prussian Government also granted a com
cession on the same terms except that the actual line was constructed by the
?Xmen?alRv n T^ p he - P “ c ~ io “ obtained through 1 the
^"187“ G0Yemment - This ,ine WaS 0 P- Cd f °r
9. On the 26th March 1870 the British India Submarine TeWranli Prim
toFmdand 6 completed, and eommunicSopenTd
t in rm S " ez ’ Alexamlna, Malta, Marseilles, and Paris On the lith
June 1870 the Falmouth, Gibraltar, and Malta TeW,feh Pe h Utb
pleted their cable from Malta to Falmouth ^d Cd'
and Bombav ^^Th’ WaS d - ireCt Cable comniun ication between Falmouth
title!!?^^i'tern^Telegraiffi^ompany.™ ^—^amalgamated under the
Srhours fn 1871 anrO homsIn^vT'^Gef^" 1 ° f , 37 h ° UrS “ 187 °’
spending improvement vid Turkey, and mess^L'ttm avL™ neTrly 0 ^'
days m-transit. The result was that most of flip n a !V ^7°
poTtfr 1 "’ HneS ’ and ‘ he TUrkiSb r ° Ute haS neTer s ' nce re”d itflost
an!ReTl1ea U LteS®Zugh\7eirwrs 0 I f ide f b f- e ? n the Russiaa
total amount of traffic, the Companies found that th^rate ptr
message was unremunerative, and from Fehnnrv + * P?
41. 10, per message, Turkey still worng^hTolfra e Durffit 9 IS^n
the Department s receipts fell to 56,196/? 3 J-o^U-71
12. When the Indo-European Company was first nroippfprl u
arranged that Russia and Prussia would allow a special translf™^ n u
tlmse countries which would give a reveZe toThelmXt afen
This sy e stenro e f S makffif t^t e rar: U em:nt s aa w1th P p™T t dminiStrati0n3 -
ihaTthT Stl ' 0nS t lj ° bjeCted t0 - 3t tb ° ” Vienua C 0“feooce, and tlmTsult was
that the present system was introduced, under which the Company receives
~ ^ transit rate of the different countries through wffichTs Hue
tQ 6 wre^ffiis^rasMeraMy reduced^and^liiey^ad
Department m return for an annual subsidy, and the Company couSTo?
# Julfa on the Russo-Persian Frontier. ^ h ® refore get any profit from the * Julfa-
nf flip 13*0 , ediei i an sec tioii 5 but, under the Concession
of 1868, the Persian Government promised to allow the Company one-third
?f tb V b T. g t K t ^. BSlt rate °n the expiration of the Anglo-PeJan Treaty
m 18,0. At the Vienna Conference in 1868, the Indian Government agreed to