A society develops in all facets through:
The telegraph was one such creative idea and it was adopted in various ways in many regions of the world. In the Australian Colonies, the discussions really began in the early 1850s but opposition continued for more than three decades.
One such creative vision was printed in The Argus on 12 July 1855 and it is reproduced here for easy reference.
The Argus.
I am in the place where I am demanded of conscience
to speak the truth, and therefore the truth I speak,
impugn it whoso list.
Both in Sydney and Melbourne, it has been admitted that a line of electric telegraph, connecting the two cities and so enabling instantaneous communication to take place would be of great advantage to both. At present the history of the war in Europe, as transmitted to us in fragments, engrosses public attention to the comparative exclusion of other topics But there is little doubt that a time will soon arrive in which due importance will be attached to the very best means of transmitting intelligence between the principal cities of these colonies.
The expense of laying down the wire between the two cities we have named has been regarded as presenting an, at present, insurmountable difficulty and those who are most anxious for the accomplishment of the project are compelled to admit that it must be postponed. The expense of such communication is variously estimated. We believe the estimates range as high as £250,000 and as low as £80,000. Even at the lowest sum, it is probable that the expenditure would be too great to allow of the project proving a profitable speculation if entered upon as a private enterprise. It is true that liberal aid might be reasonably expected from the Governments of the respective colonies but, just at present, the finances of neither are in such a state as to warrant the expectation that money would be granted to a public work so important even as this.
A proposal has lately been made by a correspondent of the Sydney Empire which meets, to a great extent, the objection to the project founded on its expense. The proposal is suggested by the following paragraph from the Times:
The Black Sea Telegraph.
Sunderland, January 19.The screw-steamer Black Sea left the Wear yesterday afternoon with the Balaclava and Varna submarine telegraph cable on board and Messrs. Newall and Co.'s staff of work people who will be employed to submerge it. The weight of the 400 miles of cable is 100 tons and the contract is stated to be £20,000. Messrs. Newall and Co. only received final instructions from the Government to make the 400 miles of cable on the 15th of December, 1851 and, in less than one month, the cable was completed and on board ship.
It is proposed that instead of an overland communication between Sydney and Melbourne, the connection should be established by sea. The distance is estimated at 600 miles. It is calculated that, if the 400 miles of cable required to connect Balaclava and Varna cost £20,000, the length required to bring Sydney and Melbourne together should be obtained for a sum not greatly exceeding £30,000. Such a cable could be furnished in a short time. Messrs. Newall and Co. completed their contract and had the cable on board ship in less than one month. The cost of its conveyance to our shores and of its deposition in its place would be immaterial and the whole expense of establishing the communication would certainly be amply justified by the advantage secured.
It is true that, whenever practicable, the land has been preferred to the sea for the channel of these communications but it has been clearly proved that submarine communication is effected with great facility and success. Mr. Dyer, the correspondent alluded to, proposes to deposit the cable along the line of ten fathoms depth. Such depth would be sufficiently great for safety and would yet leave the cable easily accessible for the repair of any injury which might be sustained by it. This line of communication would secure another advantage. It would bring all the places along the coast into communication with the two capitals as there might be stations at Kiama, Wollongong, Twofold Bay and Gabo Island. Mr. Dyer attaches much importance to the fact that by this means, information of the appearance of any predatory Russian squadron on the coast might be at once conveyed to Melbourne and Sydney. How far the inhabitants of these two cities would be benefited by such information would, of course, depend upon circumstances.
But a still more important proposal has recently been made to us in reference to telegraphic communication. Mr. Charles Mayes, the civil engineer, wrote us some time since to the following effect :
"On looking at a map of the world, it has occurred to me that it would not be impossible to lay down an electric telegraph between Australia and England. I have read the particulars of Mr. Catherwood's proposed expedition and Dr. Lang's proposal to lay down a tramway from the Murray to the Gulf of Carpentaria which appeared in The Argus. Supposing this King of Tramways is completed, what is to prevent a cheap but efficacious electric telegraph running by its side from post to post or from tree to tree, as in America, where there already exist telegraphs of equal extent? Once on the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria, what is to prevent its continuation to Melville Island via Port Essington? Having reached this island (which in this scheme might be called the stepping-stone from Australia to England), men who could connect England with America by a telegraphic cable could probably connect Melville Island with Timor, which is not more than 800 miles distant or about one-seventh the distance from England to Newfoundland. Having reached Timor, the most eastern of the Isles of Sunda, we pass from one isle to another till we arrive at Batavia through Java. From the coast of Java we pass over the Straits of Sunda to the last and largest island, Sumatra, from whence we have one or two small gaps of water to Singapore where all the greatest physical difficulties vanish since, from Singapore via Calcutta to Alexandria, we have no sea water to pass.
It is already in contemplation in England to connect Alexandria with the existing line of telegraph through France, England, India and Australia would then be in immediate contact, since theoretically the actual time for the transmission of a word from Melbourne to London, supposing the communication perfect and disconnected, would not exceed a minute and a half. It might be impossible to send a message throughout without intervening stations - which might be so numerous as to prolong the minute and a half to even a day by loss of time in receiving and transmitting the message, etc. The only real obstacle I can at present conceive as to its practicability is the interference (through ignorance or malice) of inhabitants of the various islands and countries through which the line would pass. But I leave these remarks to the friendly criticism of your numerous scientific readers".
Our readers may smile at this proposal and certainly it is a gigantic one. But the idea of receiving information from England in a "minute and a half" or even in the prolonged period of a day, is sufficiently attractive to warrant a careful inquiry into what the difficulties are which lie in the way of its attainment and how they may best be surmounted. That they would prove altogether insurmountable, if grappled with in a spirit worthy of British enterprise and skill, will scarcely be admitted by any one.
The subject is at present occupying a large share of public attention in the adjoining colony. Pamphlets have been published, lectures have been delivered and leading articles have been written about it. It is not to the establishment of instantaneous inter-colonial communication that our neighbors solely or indeed chiefly aspire. A London and Australian telegraph is regarded as not only a perfectly practicable but also as a highly profitable speculation. Every day is regarded as bringing nearer the "accomplishment of this immeasurable benefit".
The progress of telegraphic communication in India has powerfully stimulated the hopes of our Sydney friends as the four great cities of India are already in instantaneous communication. The Lahore line to Peshawur is in course of construction and one connecting Madras and Galle is proposed. There can be no doubt but that the line which extends along the south of Europe to the Black Sea will soon be extended to the nearest point of the opposite coast of Africa; and although an expanse of land and sea intervenes between Alexandria and Bombay, the paramount importance of an immediate interchange of intelligence between England and her Indian territory will lead to efforts commensurate with the difficulty.
We may reckon on the extension of this mode of communication, as likely rapidly to abridge the interval in intelligence between London and Australia. Such successive installments of increased rapidity of communication will but stimulate the desire for instantaneous intercourse".