TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION WITH AUSTRALIA, VIA INDIA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 175, 4 June 1864, Page 6

TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION WITH AUSTRALIA, VIA INDIA.

A NEW proposition has lieen started in London for connecting North Australia with India hy means of telegrapluc communication. Mr. Gisbor'ne's withdrawal trom the project has only stimulated others to take, his place. A prospectus' has been issued by the " Anglo-Australian and China Telegraph Company," of which Mr. Ebden, of Victoria, is chairman, whilst among the names of the directors are those, of Sir H. V. Young unci Mr. Elder. It is proposed by this company to revive the scheme of bringing'a telegraph line from tin; Gulf of Carpentaria t<. In order to do this they adopt an unnecessarily long sea route, tor they do not take advantage of the north-west coast as their nearest point at which to laud their cubic. Tho cost of this cable, it appears, would be i]Otit>,uOU, the estimate being £o7u per mile lor ISUO miles. This alone will ((how tflat the. new company lmve hit upon mi expensive pLtii. We some lime since published the particulars of a scheme prepared by Mr. Passmoie upon d:ita supplied by Mr. Xodd. In the scheme the submarine cablo would not have been of greater length than U4O miles, at £200 per mile instead oi £370, so that the total would be reduced to £23-5,000. Tiiis scheme ui .Mr. Pussmoru's had been submitted to competent engineers, and reported upon iu favomable terms. In every respect it seemed the best for connecting the iiortli eoait with Java, for it reduced the length of the tea cable to the smallest possible dimensions, and this is well known to be a point of vital importance in the construction of telegraph lines. The new company have doubtless been influenced jn the clioice of their proposed route, by the fact that tho Queensland Parliament have recently voted £80,000 for the construction of a telegraph line to Toit Denisou. Uut the country between l'ort Denis, n and the Gulf oi Carpentaria is rough ai.d mountainous, und the comparatively short distance pf this liud route will nut at all compensate for a greatly-increased length of sea line, 'besides, the new company would lcuid ti.tir cable ut a spot where ut present there is no prospect of a settlement being tunned, whilst Mr. t'assmore. would have ciiuien for the terminus oi his sliort submarine cable wine point nuar the mouth oi the Adelaide- itiver, where u colony is uhoiii to v<3 established, and where the centre oi uomu.un cation with India and China will uud'jublcuy be formeil. If .North Australia is to lmve :t telegraph lint-, it mutb) adapted to meet the wants of settlement!mere as well as those of the southern colonics, mm must accordingly touch at those parts of tiiu coast wuere population congregate. To neglect this, ai;d to incur the cost and risk of :iu unnecessarily loiiy eubmiiriiio cablo tor the mere sake of obtaining a short land route by way of ljueeiisland, would b(i u latal mistake. Why should not the most direct route by cea and land be adopted:- The cost oi taking a line through Central Australia to the.se colonies would be tar less than the cost of stretching one across the Gulf of Carpentaria and thence to Uueeusland. On this point, the engineer to whom tho Agent-Gener.tl reiened Mr. Passmorc's scheme, **""—" it may be doubted, perhaps, whether an aerial line can be constructed and maintained across the comparatively wild country ofCViiird Australi.;. But this most important question has been solved in America, between New York anil San Francisco, a distance embracing more three hours of longitude This line of telegraph is entirely over ground, and crosses the snow-covered Sierra .Nevada und Kocky Mountains, passing through deserts and over l.Ou'lj miles of country inhabited by savnge tribes. The stations are trom thirty to seventy-five miles ajiarl.' , Wiien the loregoing facts are considered the scheme of the new company will probably be modified. Al all events tiie promoters will not be able to ignore ISorih-West Australia, and carry their line by sea to the eastern shores of the Gull, ii tuey tiud a. prosperous celtleim-iit glowing i>p at tl.e inouth ol the Adelaide liivcr. Captain iiagol's suggestion, it will Le seen, is to lanu. the cable on the north-west coast, and thence cany it overland in Cooper'd Cioek, iioisi wiiicli contral point it migh; radiate to all the colonics. Ii we mistake not, this would tint Victoria, New South Wales, and the Riverine interest much bolter than the other route. Hat, alter all, we lc-ei ceiUiiu [hat tiie question ol route will be decided by considerations us to the necessity of avoiding the use of a long submarine cable, and by the euoue oi site.-* for early settlement !ii -Norlh Australia. Where population goes '.in: line of telegraph must go.— Huuth liujhlcr.