THE ASIATIC TELEGRAPH.

West Coast Times, Issue 288, 25 August 1866, Page 3

THE ASIATIC TELEGRAPH.

(FROM THE SYDNEY MOSNING HERALD.)

Closely connected with the subject of steam navigation from Sydney to Singapore is that of telegraphic communication between AustralAsia and Northern Asia, and so through to Europe, The two enterprises follow the same route,

and bring us into relations with the same people. A year or two ago, the latter enterprise seemed to be adjourned sine die, pending experimental operations in India. It now assumes the shape of a practical Undertaking, easily realisable within a couple of years. it is time, therefore, for the various Australian Governments to' look at it fairly, and to arrange for mutual concert to promote it. When Mr, Gisborne was here some years ago, all that was asked of us was to subsidise an English company. The idea then was that all the way from Suez to Brisbane , the line would have to be by submarine cable, except for the part across India and along Java; A few years have made a great change in this respect. Valuable . as the invention of the submarine cable is, where it is absolutely essential, it is costly, and liable to sudden interruptions. Land lines are preferable wherever they are possible, and experience has shown that they are possible to an extent that was not credited till lately, and the belief in which, was • nqt encouraged by those who were interested in, the manufacture of submarine cables, dr ifa getting and selling concessions for them. The Red Sea cable, having proved a failure, has been largely superseded by a land line through Asiatic Turkey. The submarine part of the route from England tp India, has thus been reduced to the crossing" of the Straits of.D.over, the crossing of the Straits of Constantinople, and the length of the Persian Gulf. This last-named portion is itself threatened with supercession. For a route has been examined for a la»d line along the north coast of the gulf, through the territory of Beloochistan, and is thought hot to be impracticable. And another scheme is to take a line through Northern Persia to Cabul, and to enter India on the north-west. In a few years perhaps both lines Avill be at work, for even half-civilised or decayed nations are beginning to appreciate the telegraph, and enterprise now-a-days moves on apace, Tracing the route further eastward, we find the same tendency tp substitute land lines for sea lines. The Indian telegraph .stops at present at Rangoon, on the eastern shore of the Bay of Bengal. Mr Gisborne's project was to extend it from that point to Singapore by a cable, landed only at Tenaserim and Penang. But while this project was in abeyance, the feasibility of a land line down the Malayan peninsula has been reconsidered, and this plan is now declared practicable. A company of Englishmen at Singapore are so satisfied of the practicability and profitableness of the plan that they have taken the preliminary steps to carry it out. A concession has been obtained from. the. King of .Siam, through whose territory a large part of the line passes. Negotiations have been also carried on with the minor potentates along the route. Permission has been thus obtained to trayerse the tyb,oie ( Jeiigfh of the peninsula, with the exception >of ,otic jsmall piece of territory, and if there should be any permanent difficulty there it can be avoided by a detour in the rear of the einall territory in question. Labour is Cheap in those quarters, and by hanging the wire to the trees a telegraph line is constructed for' &£ loft edst ef L 22 10s a mile. 'phis is the actual cost to tlie Batavian (joVernnxent in.Sujnatra. ';The Eastern Asia Teldgrapn Company" — for that is the title of the Singapore association of gentlemen alluded to — calculates th.atitjwill be able to construct the line frbni Rangoon io Singapore in eighteen months, that is to say, by the end of next year, - It is also part of this company's project to take the line across the neck of the Malayan peninsula tti Bangkok, the capital of Siam, and from there to extend it overland to the French' settlement at Saigon.. From that point a submarine line may be extended to. Hong Kong ; the eoajjt, line by way of Hainan being at present infested with pirates, who must be civilised or extirpated before a land line is possible along that route. Continuing the route from Singapore on towards Australia, we still find land lines superseding sea-lines. Some years ago the Batavian Government laid, or subsidised the laying of a submarine cable from Singapore to Batavia. It was a tpirited but premature enterprise. The cable was made after an early pattern, and in too slender a style. It repeatedly broke, and at last collapsed altogether. The Government entered intd a contract for another and better cable, but that contract was cancelled, and a land line through Sumatra \^as decided on as practicable and preferable. The greater part of this land line is now constructed. Starting from the south-east end of Sumatra, it runs up the centre of the island, and then throwing off a branch to the right to Palembang, it strikes leftward to the coast to Padano, and then northward across the island to a point opposite Malacca, where it will cross to the peninsula. Through Java there has long been a land line from west to east, terminating at Sourabaya, When the Sumatra line is finished, therefore, there will be communication from Singapore to Sourabaya, the only submarine portions of which will be the short lines crossing the Straits of Malacca and the Straits of Sunda. And when the land line along the Malayan peninsula is finished, which may be — and is expected to be — in eighteen months, there will be unbroken telegraphic communication between London and Sourabaya.

The Dutch Government declines to carry the line beyond that point, although its territory comes as near to Australia as Timor The Australian task, therefore, will begin at Sourabaya, and we shall have to carry a cable from there to Adam Bay, or Port Essington, or the mouth of the Victorian River,

as may prove most suitable. It is true that there is a chain of islands from Java to Timor, along each of which a portion of land line could be stretched. But the islands are uncivilised, and the breaks would be numerous. It is considered, therefore, in this case, that the advantages of a land line are more than counterbalanced, and that it is best to take boldly to the sea. The route now proposed is fi'om or rather from Toelian — which is in its neighborhood, and which is the best point of departure — tb Macassar, a distance of about 460 miles ; from there to Koepang, which is about 480 miles, and from there to Adam Bay, which is also about 480 miles. These are easy lengths for a submarine cable, and, so far as is known, the soundings are favorable. But, to settle the best route, further surveys may be requisite. The total length of cable required will be about 142Q miles. , From Adam Bay to the head of the (jtvtlt a land Jjne will be practicable, and from the Gfulf to Port Denison the Queensland Government has a line, if not underway, at least under c/nsideration.

But, for the present, the Queensland line trill terminate at Bourke Town. From that point to Java the Australian colonies must carry out the work in concert. They are all equally interested in it, and it fortunately leaves little or no i-dotlt for the play of local jealousies. There need bes ho quarrels about the fii-3t point of departure an,d_the last of departure, as there is with the steam routes, for the telegraphic arrivals are almost instantaneous. It is time that the different Governments came to a mutual understanding, and decided whether the work should be undertaken by a joint commission, or whether a subsidy should, be jointly gauranteed to any company that would carry out the work. The latter would be the simpler plan, and the proportion of contributions might be easily arranged. It would take eighteen months to make the preliminary agreements, to order the cable, and to get it manufactured and laid. 'It is not premature, therefore, now to move in the matter.

Mr Alexander Fraser, of Batavia, who has recently, b,een on a visit to Australia, in connection with the tenders for the Torres Straits mail service, has, we understand, brought these facts formally under the notice of the Australian Governments, and his representations have been favorably received. But it need not require external stimulus to awaken us to, the importance of a matter in which we are all so strongly interested.