P. RYBIE, Esq.,
Chairman of the
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DET STORE NORDISKE TELEGRAF SELSKAB, KJOBENHAVN, den 8 July, 1878,
Hongkong General Chamber of Commerce,
Hongkong,
Sir,
In acknowledging receipt of your letter of the 18th March, I must, on behalf of this Company, express a regret that any dissatisfaction should exist in the minds of the members of your Chamber with regard to the Telegraph arrangements between Hongkong and Europe. At the same time, however, I am glad that you have afforded the Company an opportunity of rendering some explanations respecting the relations of the Company towards the public, because, whilst on the one hand the Company must guard the interests of its shareholders and carry on its business in such a manner that it yields a fair remuneration for the capital invested in an undertaking which is by no means free from risk, and whilst the Company has in many respects its hands tied by the International Telegraph Laws, to which this Company, the same as all other Companies, is subject, it is, on the other hand, and has always been the object of the Company, as far as possible, to study the interest of those who support this undertaking.
With these general remarks, I shall proceed to reply to the different suggestions contained in your letter:--
1. You object to the present rate to Europe of Two Dollars per word, and suggest a reduction to $1.50 per word. In replying to this point, I beg leave to inform you, that this Company has, from the very beginning of its existence, been in favour of low rates. Thus the rate then charged was £4.6/- for a message of 20 words; experience, however, soon proved that the support which had been calculated upon was not given to the new lines, and the rate being inadequate, it became a matter of absolute necessity, in imitation of the Companies forwarding Chinese traffic by way of India, to resort to the increase which has subsequently been made. It is quite true that a 20-word message is now more costly than it was before the 1st January last, but sight should not be lost of the great facility which has been granted by the introduction of the word rate, in consequence of which the charge is very moderate for short messages which formerly were subject to the full 20-word rate, and it may here be observed that the Company's present position, as far as revenue is concerned, is in reality not as favourable as it was at the time when the lower rates existed, because not only was the Company then sure of its 20-word rate for short messages which must now often be transmitted at a price of only one-third of that old minimum rate, but the late depreciation in the value of Silver is in itself sufficient to reduce the Sterling value of the $2 to a very alarming extent. As, however, already mentioned, the Company is in favour of low rates, and I hope that the traffic may soon be so far developed that the Company can see its way to a reduction. In order, however, to enable the Company to take the initiative in this respect, it will become necessary that their lines should be better supported by your Colony than has hitherto been the case. I much regret that the lines are at this present moment not working as efficiently as could be desired, but this is owing to exceptional causes, which, I trust, may soon be removed; otherwise, however, the work has, during the last few years, both as regards speed and correctness, been done in a manner which should compare favourably with the work on other lines.
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2. You take exception to the limitation of the word to the number of ten letters, and suggest that words of not exceeding five syllables should be admissible. In reply to this point, I beg to remind you that on a former occasion, the Companies had some difficulty in inducing the European Government Administration to admit secret Code words at ordinary rates. This privilege has, however, been abused, as nearly all codes were soon composed of words which were not only the longest which could be found under the 7-syllable rule, but were of such extraordinary a character, that not only did the transmission occupy much time, but it became subject to a greater amount of errors than in the case of ordinary words. In consequence of this, the Administrations referred to insisted upon a reasonable limitation, and it was considered that, as a very great majority of the messages are composed of Code words, sufficient real words of not exceeding ten letters could be found to form a perfect Code. Your members will, however, be aware that the Company interprets this new regulation as liberally as possible, and I may here mention that on lines which are entirely under the control of the Company, say the local...
282
P. RYBIE, Esq.,
Chairman of the
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DET STORE NORDISKE TELEGRAF SELSKAB, KJOBENHAVN, den 8 July, 1878,
Hongkong General Chamber of Commerce,
Ilongkong,
Sin, In acknowledging receipt of your letter of the 18th March, I must, on behalf of this Company, express a regret that any dissatisfaction should exist in the minds of the members of your Chamber with regard to the Tele- graph arrangements between Hongkong and Europe. At the same time, however, I am glad that you have afforded the Company an opportunity of rendering some explanations respecting the relations of the Company towaris the public, because, whilst on the one hand the Company must guard the interests of its shareholders and carry on its business in such a manner that it yields a fair remuneration for the capital invested in an undertaking which is by no means free from risk, and whilst the Company has in many respects its hands tied by the International Telegraph Laws, to which this Company, the same as all other Companies, is subject, it is, on the other hand, and has always been the object of the Company, as far as possible, to study the interest of those who support this undertaking.
With these general remarks, I shall proceed to reply to the different suggestions contained in your letter:--
1. You object to the present rate to Europe of Two Dollars per word, and suggest a reduction to $1.50 per word. In replying to this point, I beg leave to inform you, that this Company has, from the very beginning of its existence, been in favour of low rates. Thus the rate then charged was £4.6/ for a message of 20 words; experience, however, soon proved that the support which had been calculated upon was not given to the new lines, and the rate being inadequate, it became a matter of absolute necessity, in imitation of the Com- panies forwarding Chinese traffic by way of India, to resort to the increase which has subsequently been made. It is quite true that a 20 word message is now more costly than it was before the 1st January last, but sight should not be lost of the great facility which has been granted by the introduction of the word rate, in consequence of which the charge is very moderate for short messages which
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formerly were subject to the full 20 word rate, and it may here be observed that the Company's present position, as far as revenue is concerned, is in reality not as favourable as it was at the time when the lower rates existed, because not only was the Company then sure of its 20 word rate for short messages which must now often be transmitted at a price of only one-third of that old minimum rate, but the late depreciation in the value of Silver is in itself enth- cient to reduce the Sterling value of the $2 to a very alarining extent. As however already mentioned, the Company is in favour of low rates, and I hope that the traffic may soon be so far developed that the Company can see its way to a reduction. In order, however, to enable the Company to take the initiative in this respect, it will be- come necessary that their lines should be better supported by your Colony than has hitherto been the case. I much regret that the lines are at this present moment not working as efficiently as could be desired, but this is owing to exceptional causes, which, I trust, may soon be removed, otherwise, however, the work has, during the last few years, both as regards speed and correctness, been done in a man- ner which should compare favourably with the work on other lines.
f
2. You take exception to the limitation of the word to the number of ten letters, and suggest that words of not exceeding five syllables should be admissible. In reply to this point, I beg to remind you that on a former occasion, the Corepanies had some difficulty in inducing the European Government Administration to admit secret Code words at ordinary rates. This privilege luns, however, been abused, as nearly all codes were soon composed of words which were not only the longest which could be found under the 7 syllable rule, but were cf such extraordinary a character, that not only did the transmission occupy much time, but it became subject to a greater amount of errors than in the case of ordinary words. In consequence of this, the Administrations referred to insisted upon a reasonable limitation, and it was considered, that as a very great majority of the messages are composed of Code words, sufficient real words of not exceeding ten letters could be found to form a perfect Code. Your mel ers will however be aware, that the Company interprets this new regn- lation us liberally as possible, and I may here mention that on lines which are entirely under the control of the Company, say the local
282
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