standpoint. He urges the construction of the long talked-of Pacific cable and branch cables that would bring Downing Street in direct touch with all the far-off centres of empire, without danger of foreign interference or leakage. The scheme is all-British. From England to Halifax runs a cable which has been already referred to in connection with the West Indies. From Halifax, across the continent of North America to Vancouver, the line follows the route of the Canadian-Pacific Railway. Vancouver is the point from which Sir Sandford Fleming's cables would radiate. The schemes fall under three heads cables in the Pacific, in the Indian Ocean, and in the Atlantic.

I. CABLES IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

The cable from Vancouver would first find a mid-ocean station at Fanning Island, second at Fiji Islands, third at Norfolk Island; at Norfolk Island it would bifurcate, one branch extending to New Zealand, the other to the eastern coast of Australia. . . . The land lines of Australia would complete telegraphic connection with the western coast, or it may be deemed expedient to substitute a cable for the land lines over that portion of the interior between Adelaide and King George's Sound.

II. CABLES IN THE INDIAN OCEAN.

From King George's Sound, or other point in Western Australia, the cable would extend to Cocos Island, thence to Mauritius, and thence to Natal or Capetown, as might be found expedient. Cocos would become an important telegraphic centre; it would be a convenient point for connecting Singapore by a branch cable. Singapore is already in connection with Hongkong by an all-British cable, via Labuan, and Her Majesty's Government can take possession by giving twelve months' notice. India could be reached by a branch from Cocos to Colombo or Trincomalee in Ceylon. At Mauritius a connection would be formed with the existing cable to Seychelles, Aden, and Bombay.

III. CABLES IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN.

In order to avoid the shallow seas along the West Coast of Africa, Spain, Portugal, and France, it is proposed that the cable should extend from Capetown to Bermuda, touching at St. Helena, Ascension, and Barbadoes as mid-ocean stations. At Bermuda a connection would be formed with the existing cable to Halifax, and at that point with the Canadian and transatlantic lines.

From a defensive point of view these three schemes offer many important advantages. Canada is the porter's gate to the Empire.

In time of war it would almost certainly be the route, under certain conditions, by which any necessary troops would be sent to Australia and New Zealand, and the land lines running by the side of the Canadian-Pacific Railway would be continually under inspection, and in case of mishap or foul play could be readily repaired. Vancouver Island, guarded by sea by the ships of the British Pacific Squadron -the dominating naval force in those waters and with the Australian Squadron within call-and protected by adequate shore fortifications, would be as admirable as the point for dropping the Pacific cable as the well-defended and garrisoned town of Halifax is for the landing of the transatlantic line. Lying in the depths of the Pacific Ocean, the cable would be absolutely safe from interference.

This scheme of connecting Great Britain with Australasia is no longer an idle dream. It has been discussed for several years, and Canada at least is not merely passively friendly to the project, but is understood to be willing to make a heavy contribution towards the cost. There would, of course, be no hesitation on the part of the British Colonial Office as soon as Canada and Australasia have agreed what part they will take in the enterprise. The Pacific line is the first link in this scheme of all-British cables, and that the oldest of us will live to see it an accomplished fact seems beyond doubt, since only the details of the disposition of the financial burden now remain to be settled. Once this link is forged, the cable in the Indian Ocean must be only a matter of time, a short time. When the first link is complete, and Great Britain and Australasia grasp hands without any foreigner looking on, who will be able to resist the claim to complete the project? To lay the whole of the cables suggested by Sir Sandford Fleming would not be necessary, though desirable. If South Africa and India (and therefore Hongkong and Wei-Hai-Wei also) are joined up so as to end the present danger, the cable from Capetown to Bermuda and Halifax might be permitted to wait until the commercial success of the lines in the Pacific and Indian Oceans justified another forward move.

Whatever importance the scheme has from a commercial point of view-and Sir Sandford Fleming in his letter to Mr. Chamberlain has made out an unanswerable case-that importance is at least equalled on the grounds of the defensive needs of the Empire. These cables would end the present anomalous position of many of our most important coaling and naval bases, give them a double route to the imperial naval and military authorities in London, and render the cutting of the existing lines a matter of comparative indifference. These cables would give one or two routes of communication between Great Britain and the following ports, whose importance in the imperial chain of defences it would be impossible to exaggerate: Hongkong, Singapore, Trincomalee, Colombo, Aden, Capetown, Simon's Bay, St

Helena, Ascension, St. Lucia, Jamaica, Bermuda, Halifax and Esquimalt, Durban, Karachi, Bombay, Madras, Calcutta, Rangoon, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart, Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane, Townsville, Auckland, Wellington, Lytteltown, Dunedin, King George's Sound, and Thursday Island.

The importance of coal as an-if not the-dominant factor in the defence of an oversea empire was urged in this Review of November 1898. Coaling stations are the larders of the navy, to which warships must resort to fill their empty bunkers. How often these visits are made depends upon the coal-carrying capacity of our ships, all of which are superior in this respect to the vessels of any other Power. The conditions which render it necessary for ships to call at coaling stations with considerable frequency may be modified by the use of briquettes and liquid fuel, but there is little likelihood that any warships will ever be constructed that will be more independent of their bases than the battleships of the Majestic type. These ships, in theory, carry 900 tons of coal. In practice they take about 2,000 tons, and this amount could in war time be increased by nearly another 1,000 tons, giving a radius of independent cruising of from 7,000 to 9,000 miles at a moderate speed. These vessels represent the highest standard, but even they must look to coaling bases for fresh supplies at more or less frequent intervals. The tendency, however, is towards a reduction in bunker-room, and the ships of the future will probably be less, instead of more, self-reliant. Apart from the use of coaling stations for replenishing stores, ammunition, and coal, they should be news-centres, points to which information would be secretly and swiftly transmitted from the headquarters in London, and thus distributed to the fleet. It is a debatable question how far the actions of an admiral should be hampered by definite home instructions. The danger was illustrated in the recent war. There can, however, be no difference on the broad statement that every coaling base should become a branch Intelligence Department, kept posted in the latest news of the enemy's movements. It is only in these circumstances that the best use can be made of our necessarily scattered forces in war time. It requires little effort of imagination to picture the fate of a closely contested engagement decided by the advantage gained by effectua) means of communication. Sea power is efficient or non-efficient according to its disposition. Inviolable cable communication is thus an increasingly important factor in the defence of the Empire. Shall it be ours?

Here in brief detail is an imperial cable scheme worthy of the Empire, which can be recommended on defensive and commercial grounds as necessary to its due development and security. Its merits as an auxiliary of defence have already been dealt with, and to complete

the arguments from the commercial side it may be well to quote from Sir Sandford Fleming:

We can as yet but faintly appreciate the extent to which the telegraph may be employed, because its use heretofore has been restricted, on long-distance messages, by almost prohibitory charges. . . . Existing long-distance cables are little used by the general public; it may be said not at all, except in emergencies. They are used in connection with commerce, the growing needs of which demand more and more the employment of the telegraph, but owing to the high charges exacted its use is limited to business which would suffer by delay. Were the cables owned by the State, large profits would not be the main object, and, precisely as in the case of the land lines of the United Kingdom, it would be possible to reduce charges so as to remove restrictions on trade and bring the service within reach of many now debarred from using it.

When the Government assumed control of the inland telegraphs of the United Kingdom it was found possible greatly to reduce charges. In 1869, the year before the transfer, less than 7,000,000 messages were carried. At the transfer the rate

...

was reduced to 18. per message; in the tenth year, 29,000,000 messages were transmitted, with a surplus of revenue over expenditure of 354,0607. In another decade the total annual business equalled 94,000,000, the operations still resulting in a surplus of 251,8067., although the charge for a message had been meanwhile reduced from one shilling to sixpence. It is indisputable that high charges restrict the utility of sea cables as well as of land lines, while low charges have the opposite effect. A few years ago the tariff of charges between Australia and London was 9s. 4d. per word. The proposal to establish the Pacific cable and the discussion which followed led to the cheapening of the rate to 48. 9d. per word. In 1890, the year before the rates were lowered, the gross business consisted of 827,278 words. Last year (1897) it had increased to 2,349,901 words. In 1890, with high charges, the revenue was 331,4687. In 1897, with reduced charges, the revenue was 567,852/., or 236,3847. in excess of 1890, when the highest rates were exacted.

Such is the scheme for placing a girdle round the globe by means of the electric cable, annihilating time and distance.

And the cost? it will be asked. It could all be carried out for probably less than 6,000,000l., and the Pacific cable alone would probably come within 2,000,000l. of this total sum-merely the price of two first-class battleships. Who shall say that at a time of warfare this single line under the Pacific Ocean would not be worth a whole fleet of warships? Moreover, there are the commercial considerations. Every penny spent on this cable would be primarily not in the interest of defence but of the commerce between Great Britain and her colonies; and would pay-how much who can foreshadow? There is no reason for believing that it would be less profitable than the inland telegraph system has been to Great Britain.

Finally, the advantages of this great scheme would be these: (1) the cable would be State-owned; (2) the present tax on intercommunication would cease, since the State would do all in its power to foster business; (3) the Empire and its distant outposts would be in close connection without fear of foreign interference; (4) all the more important coaling stations, except Malta and Gibraltar, would be linked to the War Office and the Admiralty by a double route.

The price for these blessings is 6,000,000/. Are they worth it? There can be no doubt as to the answer. On a single street improvement scheme the London County Council propose to invest 4,442,000l.!

ARCHIBALD S. HURD.

P.S.-The subjoined note from Mr. Rhodes to the writer will be read with interest, and is published by his permission:

Burlington Hotel, W. 17th January, 1899.

Dear Sir, I have received your note of the 14th instant forwarding a proof copy of your article entitled 'An All-British Cable System.'

I think you are too sanguine in stating that this year will see the completion of the Trans-Continental Telegraph.' I consider that it will take quite three years to complete, even if the line is constructed from both ends.

Naturally, for the security of the British Empire, an all-British cable would be better, but I looked on my line as the greatest civiliser for Central Africa. At the same time it will be rendered payable by carrying the South African cablegrams to London. The real object of the line was of course to give England a grip of the African continent right through.

Yours,

C. J. RHODES.