CO129-218 - Administrator Marsh Governor Sir Bowen & Others - 1884 [11-12] — Page 345

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1883, relative to the same company's Cable between

Hongkong and Shanghai, in which I explained why

it was desirable to impose

accession

to the Convention

ow

private telegraph companies whose lines linke

contracting States together; and to these reports I

would now add that the effect of not insisting

upon the adherence of the company to the obligatory

clauses would be to leave the Company free to

transmit telegrams in any manner they chose, so

that they might thus give favour or preference to

any particular class of messages it might be to

their interest to expedite, or to the messages of

any

to

individual member of the public; and they

would not be under any obligation to give priority

of transmission to government despatches. There

would also be nothing to prevent their charging

differential rates.

In

fact the effect of not insisting upon

the

observance

of

the obligatory

clauses

would be to

all

relieve the company from the observance

of

the salutary restrictions and regulations which the

parties to the Convention have deemed it necessary

to impose upon themselves for the proper regulation

of the traffic and the general interests of the

public, whilst the effect of insisting upon their

observance is to safeguard those interests and to

ensure the carrying out by the company of

Regulations which must obviously be necessary

an International Telegraph System ·

in

The French Administration, with whom I havė

been in communication in the matter and who

have already granted the company permission to

land at Tonquin, inform

me that it has been

stipulated

as part of the concession that the service

In

}

shall