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378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
102
Mr.
Benjamin
said:
"The
sum
of
money
that
this
Government
proposes
to
give
for
the
use
of
this
telegraph
will
amount,
in
the
twenty-five
years,
to
something
between
L300,000
and
L400,000.
Now,
if
this
be
a
matter
of
such
immense
importance
to
Great
Britain--if
this
be
the
golden
opportunity--and
if,
indeed,
her
control
of
this
line
be
such
a
powerful
engine,
whether
in
war
or
in
peace,
is
it
not
most
extraordinary
that
she
proposes
to
us
a
full
share
in
its
benefits
and
in
its
control,
and
allows
to
our
Government
equal
rights
with
herself
in
the
transmission
of
communications
for
the
sum
of
about
L300,000,
to
be
paid
in
annual
instalments
through
twenty-five
years?
If
this
be,
indeed,
a
very
important
instrumentality
in
behalf
of
Great
Britain
for
the
conduct
of
her
commerce,
the
government
of
her
possessions,
or
the
efficient
action
of
her
troops
in
time
of
war,
the
L300,000
expended
upon
it
are
but
as
a
drop
in
the
bucket
when
compared
with
the
immense
resources
of
that
empire.
I
think,
therefore,
we
may
as
well
discard
from
our
consideration
of
this
subject
all
these
visions
about
the
immense
importance
of
the
governmental
aid
in
this
matter,
to
be
rendered
under
the
provisions
of
this
bill.
"Mr.
President,
let
us
not
always
be
thinking
of
war;
let
us
be
using
means
to
preserve
peace.
The
amount
that
would
be
expended
by
this
Government
in
six
months'
war
with
Great
Britain,
would
far
exceed
every
thing
that
we
shall
have
to
pay
for
the
use
of
this
telegraphic
line
for
the
entire
twenty-five
years
of
the
contract;
and
do
you
not
believe
that
this
instrumentality
will
be
sufficiently
efficient
to
bind
together
the
peace,
the
commerce,
and
the
interests
of
the
two
countries,
so
as
even
to
defer
a
war
for
six
months
or
twelve
months,
if
one
should
ever
become
inevitable,
beyond
the
period
at
which
it
would
otherwise
occur?
If
it
does
that,
it
will
in
six
or
eight
or
nine
months
repay
the
expenditures
of
twenty-five
years.
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