Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
213
To
raise
capital
for
a
new
cable,
it
was
necessary
to
have
some
better
security
than
the
hazards
of
a
vast
and
doubtful
undertaking.
Hence
the
Company
asked
the
Government
to
guarantee
the
interest
on
a
certain
amount
of
stock,
even
if
the
second
attempt
should
not
prove
a
success.
With
such
a
guarantee,
the
capital
could
be
raised
in
London
in
a
day.
In
this
application
they
might
have
been
successful,
but
for
an
untoward
event,
which
dampened
the
confidence
of
the
public
in
all
submarine
enterprises--the
failure
of
the
Red
Sea
Telegraph.
The
British
Government,
anxious
to
forward
communication
with
India,
had
given
that
Company
an
unconditional
guarantee,
on
the
strength
of
which
the
capital
was
raised,
and
the
cable
manufactured
and
laid.
But
in
a
short
time
it
ceased
to
work,
a
loss
which
the
treasury
of
Great
Britain
had
to
make
good.
To
the
public,
which
did
not
understand
the
cause
of
the
failure
to
be
the
imperfect
construction
of
the
cable,
the
effect
was
to
impair
confidence
in
all
long
submarine
telegraphs.
Of
course,
after
such
an
experience,
the
Government
was
not
disposed
to
bind
itself
by
such
pledges
again.
It
was,
however,
ready
to
aid
the
enterprise
by
any
safe
means.
It
therefore
increased
its
subsidy
from
fourteen
thousand
pounds
to
twenty
thousand
pounds;
and
guaranteed
eight
per
cent
on
six
hundred
thousand
pounds
of
new
capital
for
twenty-five
years,
with
only
one
condition--that
the
cable
should
work.
This
was
a
liberal
grant,
and
under
the
circumstances,
was
all
that
could
be
expected.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
