The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph

"Again, Sir, I say, if Great Britain wants it for war, she will put it there at her own expense. It is not three hundred thousand pounds, or four hundred thousand pounds, that will arrest her. If, on the contrary, this be useful to commerce--useful in an eminent degree--useful for the preservation of peace, then I confess I feel some pride that my country should aid in establishing it. I confess I feel a glow of something like pride that I belong to the great human family when I see these triumphs of science, by which mind is brought into instant communication with mind across the intervening oceans, which, to our unenlightened forefathers, seemed placed there by Providence as an eternal barrier to communication between man and man. Now, Sir, we speak from minute to minute. Scarcely can a gun be fired in war on the European shore ere its echoes will reverberate among our own mountains, and be heard by every citizen in the land. All this is a triumph of science--of American genius, and I for one feel proud of it, and feel desirous of sustaining and promoting it." Mr. Douglas said: "Our policy is essentially a policy of peace. We want peace with the whole world, above all other considerations. There never has been a time in the history of this Republic, when peace was more essential to our prosperity, to our advancement, and to our progress, than it is now. We have made great progress in time of peace--an almost inconceivable progress since the last war with Great Britain. Twenty-five years more of peace will put us far in advance of any other nation on earth."