ELECTRIC CABLE COMMITTEE.

9

F.—No. 4.

The only way to deal with this matter in its present stage, would be to invite the heads of the several telegraph departments to meet in Sydney, during the sitting of the delegates on the Customs Union, to be held in October next, when some uniform plan for dealing with the whole matter could be devised. 21st July, 1869. E. C. Cbacknell. No. 6. Sic,— Electric Telegraphs, Chief Office, Sydney, 23rd July, 1869. The extension of the electric telegraph to connect the several Australian Colonies with India, Europe, and America, having now assumed a more simple form, so that it can be easily dealt with, I would respectfully recommend, for the consideration of the Honorable the Postmaster-General, to meet the difficulty in obtaining the desired co-operation of the several Colonial Governments, that representatives be invited from the Colonies of Victoria, South Australia, and Queensland, to meet in Sydney, at an early date, to discuss the matter in all its bearings, with a view of preparing resolutions for Parliamentary approval. I consider it desirable that the representatives should consist of the heads of the Telegraph Departments in the above Colonies, as there are urgent matters in connection with the intercolonial telegraphic system which could then be taken into consideration. I have, &c, E. C. Ceacknell, The Secretary, General Post Office. Superintendent of Telegraphs.

No. 7. Sic,— Batavia, 15th July, 1809. With reference to my letter of 30th April last, I have now the honor to hand you a certified extract, with translation annexed, of a resolution of the Govern or-Gen oral of Netherlands-India, dated Bth July, No. 1, from which you will observe that my petition to the Netherlands-Indian Government for a concession for laying submarine cables between Java and Australia, and between the North-east coast of Sumatra and Malacca, for the purpose of effecting a through telegraphic communication between Europe and the Australian Colonies via Java, has been forwarded to the Imperial Government at the Hague, and that negotiations have been entered into with the view of obtaining the sanction of the Legislature in Holland to the terms of subsidy or guarantee specified in the preamble of the resolution. This mode of procedure has been considered by the Java Government to be more regular than that of granting a provisional concession, as the main question, which is that of the subsidy or guarantee, has in every case to be sanctioned by the Dutch Parliament. In order that you may be informed of the terms on which the concession in question has been treated for with the Netherlands-Indian authorities, I beg to hand you, as additional enclosures with this letter, copies of the following documents : — No. 2. My petition to the Java Government, dated sth April, 1869. „ 3. Proposed conditions of the concession. „ 4. Memorandum explanatory of these conditions. These two last documents having formed enclosures Nos. 1 and 2 of my petition to the GovernorGeneral (here marked No. 2). Until the question of the subsidy or guarantee has been determined, the other conditions of enclosure No. 3 may, without inconvenience, be left for subsequent mutual arrangement. Articles 2 and 7, having been framed with the view to a fixed annual subsidy, will have to be modified if a fluctuating guarantee is preferred, and articles 11 and 12 will also have to be revised, as the right of purchase, if stipulated for at all by the Netherlands Government, will not extend beyond those portions of the cable within their own possessions,—say between Pampang Bay and Timoor, and between Siak and Bangkalis. Tou will observe that the Government of Netherlands-India is bound, by article 8, to maintain in working order the land lines between Pampang Bay and Siak, and a cable or cables across the Straits •of Sunda, and to construct a special line to be used exclusively for the transmission of the Australian messages ; and an obligation to a similar effect would probably have to be undertaken by the Australian Governments, to insure the prompt transmission of the European and Indian messages. The uniform transit charge of 3f. or 55., for the transmission of each message of twenty words through the Netherlands-Indian Telegraph Lines, stipulated for in article 9, will, I believe, be considered moderate. From the cordial support which my proposals have met with from all departments of the Java Government, and the favourable resolution which has been adopted by tho Governor-General on the advice of his Council, I have every reason to anticipate an equally favourable reception in Holland. The only difficulty that is likely to be raised there, in the way of an immediate decision on the proposals, is the uncertainty as to the adhesion of the Australian Colonies to the principle of an equal division of the guarantee of interest, or of bearing an equal share of the entire subsidy, which last, for each of the two subsidizing parties, would be 200,000f. yearly, equal to £16,666 13s. 4d. of our money. My letter of 30th April did not call for a reply, being merely intended to prepare you for the present communication ; but with a view to further negotiations with the Government in Holland, where I propose to proceed by the Suez steamer, leaving this on the 24th instant, it will be of the utmost consequence for me to know, as soon as possible, the views of your Government on the subject of my proposals; and I should feel greatly obliged by your addressing me a few lines to state whether, in event of the subsidy or partial guarantee before referred to being sanctioned by the Dutch Government, the Government of New South Wales is prepared to submit to the Legislature of the Colony proposals for pecuniary aid of the same amount or character, to be granted in concert with the Colonies of South Australia, Victoria, and Queensland, for effecting tho telegraphic communication in question. 3