into the heart of Australia. The total cost was £1,750,000.[1]
It was at this juncture that a most severe blow was inflicted upon British cable enterprise. The British Government, in combination with the Governments of New Zealand, Australia, and Canada, initiated, in December, 1902, a State-owned cable running from Australia to Canada, viâ Brisbane, Norfolk Island (whence a branch ran to New Zealand), Fiji, Fanning Island, and Vancouver. The length was nearly 8,000 miles, and the cost nearly £1,800,000, or at the rate of £225 a mile. The capital was raised at a cheap rate by the British Government, and the four Governments concerned agreed to share the loss or profit of the undertaking among them. It was decided to run it as 'a competitive line[2] against the existing British private enterprise; and a Government Committee, composed of four Colonials and only two Englishmen, declared that, 'actuated by extreme caution,' they hoped to abstract upwards of one-half of the entire Australasian traffic from those British citizens who, during thirty years, had risked over £8,000,000 of British capital in obtaining it. No wonder that in June, 1901, the British Treasury declared itself * opposed to the venture.[3] Nevertheless, to quote the same authority, 'opposition was overcome by various other countries interested.'[4] At this point I must make a digression as to the Australian rate. It has a considerable bearing on the sequel.
As regards the rate to Australia, the system of charging so much per word was introduced in 1876, and fluctuated at first between 10s. 6d. or 10s. 8d. per word. In 1886 it was reduced to 9s. 4d., and thence to 4s. in 1891. Most of the Australian Governments, together with New Zealand, united to guarantee one-half of any
