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TffE POST OFFlCE TELEGRAPIiS. 299
sequence, if, as many people wished, a uniform sixpenny rata
had been adopted instead of a shilling rate. Some of the
Select Committee seemed to bo in fwrour of such a rete, and
Xr. Scudamore almost committed hirnsdf to it, saying
(Q. 2103), “ I am very much of opiuioll that a sixpenny rate
will eventuelly pay very well,” and (0. 2608, see ala0
QQ. 2541-3546), “I should Le very uuch surprised if we did
not come to a sixpenny rate in R few years,” One member of
the Select Committee actually argued that tho tclegrnphs
would produce a larger net revcnue nt sixpence thnn nt a
shilling, on the groucd that d:lily newspapcrs pit1 better llow
at a penny than formerly at sixpence. Hc appears to have
entirely overlooked the fact that newspapers look somewhat to
the revenue from ailvertiscments, and that in mnny cases they
would continue t’o pay handsomely if t.he printed sheets mcre
given away.
The blunders into which so m:~ny have fallen about low
telegraphic charges are the less excusaLlc‘, because there W ~ B
abundant evidence to show what mould be the results. Tho
United Kiugclom Telegraph Company had introduccd a
uniform shilliug rate between all the priucipal largo towns,
which give the most remunerative traffic, and had found it
impossible to make a fair profit. The London District Company
had tried sixpenny and fourpenny rates, nnd could not pay
their working expenses. Mr. Grimston, the Chairmu1 of tho
Electric and International Telegraph Company, wrote a roviow
of the schemo of Messrs. Chndmick and Scudamore, in which
he showed various strong reasons for Lclicving that it could
not pay. Subsequently, in it very able pamphlet, entitled
‘I Government and the Telegraphs, a Statement of tho Case of
the Electric and International Telegraph Company,” ho stated
these arguments at greater length, and showed what seem to
me conclusive reasons for believing that, in the State telegraphs
of Belgium and Switzerland, low charges had never
reany paid the working expenses, the international telegrams
at a higher charge being the real source of profit. These
warnings were well known to Mr. Scudamore, to the Select
Committee, and to all concerned in the business, and Mr.