PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
TITLE CO. 885 / 5
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
SIR,
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No. 41.
PROPOSED CABLE FROM VANCOUVER ISLAND TO AUSTRALIA.
Pacific Telegraph Company (Limited),
34, Clement's Lane, London, May 3, 1887. REFERRING to the proposal submitted by the Pacific Telegraph Company for the consideration of the Colonial Conference on the 20th April, 1887, I am now instructed by the directors of the company to submit, as an amended proposal, the following:-
1. The Pacific Telegraph Company shall lay a line of cable from Vancouver Island to Australia, touching at Hawaii, Fanning Island, Samoa, Fiji, and New Zealand.
2. The Governments of Great Britain, of Canada, and of the Australian Colonies, shall guarantee to the Pacific Telegraph Company, government traffic to the amount of 75,000 per annum, in such proportions as may be mutually agreed upon by the said Governments.
3. The above guarantee shall date from the completion of telegraphic communication between Canada and Australia by the company, and shall continue in force for 25 years from that date, subject to the following conditions:-
4. In the event of telegraphic communication being interrupted, 35 days shall be allowed to the company for repairs; if at the expiration of 35 days, telegraphic communication shall continue to be interrupted, then the guarantee shall be suspended from that date until telegraphic communication be re-established.
5. The rate per word payable by the Governments shall be the current rate charged by the company to the general public, but such rate shall never exceed 4s. per word for the transmission of messages from England to Australasia.
In my statement to the Colonial Conference on the 27th April, I mentioned that the proposal of the Pacific Telegraph Company, which was then before the Conference, for an annual subsidy of 100,0007. for 25 years was based upon calculations as to the approximate cost of constructing and laying a cable which were made some time ago.
I further stated that the company was at that very time actually engaged in collecting expert evidence as to the most recent improvements in the manufacture of cables, and the consequent reduction in the cost of constructing and laying them. The result of the investigation has been to convince the directors that the original estimate for the cost of the undertaking will bear some reduction.
In
In addition to the above, the directors have been influenced by considerations of even greater weight. Events of very recent date point to the certainty of the Pacific Occan being shortly developed as one of the main waterways of the world's commerce. view of the very largely increased intercolonial telegraphic traffic which must inevitably follow any such development, the directors feel justified in accepting the extra risk which the reduction of the guarantee from 100,000l. to 75,000l. per annum will entail.
As above stated (in clause 5), the directors of the Pacific Telegraph Company bind themselves to start by reducing the rate to 4s. per word for the transmission of ordinary messages from England to Australasia, and further bind themselves not to exceed such
rate.
The reduction to 4s. per word, however, is by no means intended to be final, for if the estimates of increased traffic are in any way realized, the company will be in a position to effect very considerable further reductions.
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It is stated that formerly there existed in various countries publications containing information of this nature which were supported by private enterprise, but that the particulars which they contained were often inaccurate, and that these works soon became dangerously misleading. To avoid inaccuracies several Governments, notably those of Germany, England, Austria, Hungary, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and the United States, undertook severally the publication of foreign Customs' tariffs for the use of their own nationals.
This system, though naturally superior to that previously carried out by private individuals, has, nevertheless, in the opinion of the Belgian Government left much to be desired. A comparative examination at the Foreign Office at Brussels, which has taken place periodically for some years past, has tended to show that the tariffs as given by the various countries do not always correspond, and that the greater part of the collections are incomplete, and do not in every case present the most recent modi- fications, while additional confusion is caused in some cases by modifications being placed in the body of the publications where they pass unnoticed. In any case the tariffs and their modifications generally appear so late that the usefulness of these publications is considered to be contestable from a practical point of view.
The complaints of traders and manufacturers have led to the idea, on the part of the Belgian Government, of organising at Brussels, with the co-operation of all Governments concerned, an International Bureau, which would undertake the duty of publishing, as they came out, all Customs' duties of the world, with their modifications, and of translating them into the languages most generally used in trade, such as German, English, French, and Spanish, though there would probably be no incon- venience in adding to the number of languages if the Governments interested expressed a desire to this effect.
The advantage of centralisation in a work of this character is apparent, and the creation of an organ receiving directly and promptly particulars from the Govern- ments concerned would offer to traders and manufacturers of all countries guarantees and advantages not hitherto known.
It is unnecessary to inquire whether Governments which have already a service of this nature would care to continue it after the establishment of the proposed inter- national service at Brussels. Great Britain, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland, which have
cach a regularly organised national service of this description, have given their adhesion to the proposals of the Belgian Government, and assuming that these countries still adhere to their separate service, there can be no doubt that they would receive much assistance from the proposed International Bureau at Brussels.
A sketch of complete organisation will be submitted to the countries interested in the principle of the International Bureau as soon as the Belgian Government knows exactly what countries are prepared to entertain the project.
The States which have so far accepted the principle are 22 in number, being England, Switzerland, Mexico, Spain, Russia, Roumania, Italy, the State of the Congo, Servia, the Republic of South Africa, Turkey, Sweden and Norway, Portugal, the Argentine Republic, Salvador, Venezuela, Denmark, Siam, Costa Rica, Hayti, the Netherlands, and Belgium.
The Belgian Government, through the Belgian Legation in this country, has now invited the Governments of Her Majesty's Colonies to consider the subject.
April 22, 1887.
I have, &c.,
(Signed)
HAROLD FINCH HATTON.
To the Chairman of the Colonial Conference, London.
SECTION IV.-TRADE,
No. 42.
PROPOSED INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMS' TARIFF BUREAU. NOTE from the BELGIAN GOVERNMENT, received through the FOREIGN OFFICE. THE Belgian Government has, within the last year, drawn the attention of Her Majesty's Government to the want experienced by traders and manufacturers of authentic information as to the Customs' tariffs of tho countries with which trade is carried on.
No. 43.
NEGOTIATIONS WITH FOREIGN POWERS IN MATTERS OF TRADE.
MEMORANDUM BY SIR F. DILLON BELL.
I BEG permission to bring before the Conference the expediency of extending to the Governments of Australasia the same privilege which has been repeatedly granted to Canada, of entering into negotiations with foreign countries, under the sanction of the Foreign Office and in concert with Her Majesty's Ambassadors or Ministers at other courts, in matters of trade and commerce.
Without referring to transactions of an earlier date, I may mention that in 1878-9 the Government of the Dominion desired to negotiate with the French Government for a relaxation of the duties on Canadian products, and Sir Alexander Galt, G.C.M.G., who had already been charged with a mission of a similar character to the Spanish Government on behalf of Canada, was formally accredited by the Marquis of Salisbury
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