the time may be approaching when, in the words of the Cable Committee of 1902, private enterprise 'may require support,' although at present 'the competition to which we have alluded has not yet reached an acute stage,'[1] and although, I may add, it is to be hoped that South Africa may recover her prosperity.
Great Britain and Australasia.
But perhaps the greatest achievement was to connect Britain with Australasia. In 1870, while India was being joined up to Britain, a single line of cables was laid from Madras to Penang and Singapore, and thence to Batavia, in Java. In 1871 a cable was laid from Banjoewangie, in Java, to Port Darwin, on the north coast of Australia, completing the connection. This was a length of 8,500 miles, and cost slightly over £1,000,000, or about £280 a mile. Unfortunately, the centres of Australian population are in the south, and so a land-line of 2,000 miles had to be laid overland, across the deserts, from Adelaide to Port Darwin, in order to unite the principal capitals of Australia with London. This was accomplished in 1872, and Sir Charles Todd, the Postmaster-General of South Australia, deserves great credit for the resourcefulness and perseverance which he displayed in overcoming the many difficulties and delays encountered during the construction of this long land-line. I have seen him at one end of his land-line in Adelaide, and sent him a message from Port Darwin at the other.
No duplicate cable was laid as yet from Madras to Penang, but the sections from Penang to Port Darwin were duplicated in 1879-1880. There were two reasons for this duplication. The land-line across Java from Batavia to Banjoewangie worked badly, so that an alternative line had to be laid direct from Singapore to Banjoewangie. Next, 'between Singapore and Penang
- ↑ Second Report, paragraph 52.
