I remark that the Russian line to Nicolaivski, at the mouth of the Amoor
river, is completed to Omsk, on the river Irtysch, about 74° east from
Greenwich, 55° north latitude. It is proposed to run it on to Irkoutsk,
about 105° east, and thence, making a detour somewhat south, to the
Pacific. The Russians will complete this, they say, in three years. Mr.
Collins thinks, under a favorable charter, the American Telegraph
Company would complete their portion of the line, from Nicolaivski, to
San Francisco in the same or less time.
General Ignatieff told me last night that the committee, so far as they
had considered the proposition made by Mr. Collins, which my paper (A)
embraces, were favorably inclined to grant all asked, except that the
demand for exclusive control of the Indian tribes through which the line
passed, might conflict with the privileges already granted to Russian
fur companies, but that he hoped some line of mutual accord would be
struck out.
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington,
D. C.
P. S.—I ask your attention to addendum, marked A, on next page.
C. M. C.
A.
Legation of the United
States, St.
Petersburgh,
May 1—13, 1863.
The undersigned, minister plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinary of
the United States of America, under the instructions of his
government in 1861, called upon Prince Gortchacow, the
vice-chancellor of the Russian empire, and asked his co-operation in
the making of a telegraph line, connecting Russia with [Page 869] the United States. His
excellency the Prince then said that the Russian government was
building and would build the line itself. Under these circumstances,
the undersigned did not feel at liberty to renew the application in
favor of a charter to Perry McD. Collins, esq., who had at great
personal risk and expense explored the route from Moscow to the
mouth of the Amoor. Since then, however, great progress has been
made in the science and art of telegraphing, and citizens of the
United States, aided by the government, have completed a telegraph
line from New York city, on the Atlantic ocean, to San Francisco, on
the Pacific sea. The completion of that road renders more anxious
the people of the United States to perfect their original design of
uniting with the Russian line, and thus connecting with all the
continents.
Under these circumstances, the American minister, invited by his
excellency the vice-chancellor, called upon and had a frank
conversation with your excellency upon the proposed telegraphic
line. And as your excellency was pleased to invite the undersigned
to make a written statement of his views for the use of the
committee named by his Imperial Majesty for the consideration of Mr.
Collins’s project, he would respectfully present the following
scheme and arguments for the use of said committee. Let the Russian
government grant to P. McD. Collins and company the following
privileges:
1. The name.—“The Russian and American Telegraph Company.”
2 A perpetual charter to build a telegraphic line of two wires from
Nicolaiefsky, in Russian Siberia, to San Francisco, in the United
States of America, say 5,000 English miles, or 7,500 Russian versts,
by way of Behring’s straits, or by way of the Aleutian islands, at
the option of said company.
3. Right of way without restriction.
4. Exclusive privilege of telegraphing over Russian territory with
the North American continent.
5. Pecuniary conditions.—The said company to
be allowed forty per cent. of all the gross proceeds of such
telegrams as shall pass over the Russian lines to or from America,
and the Russian government to retain sixty per cent. of the same.
After fifteen years from the completion of said line the Russian
government to pay said company one hundred thousand dollars subsidy
for ten years, then said subsidy and said forty per cent. to cease
forever, the said company having only the profits of their own
telegrams passed over their own lines under their tariff.
6. The Russian government to grant said company the exclusive control
of the native tribes through which said line shall pass, who, at
present, are not under the directing authority of the Russian
government, in order to prevent the sale of arms, munitions of war,
ardent spirits, &c., on the part of persons not under the employ
of the said company, and in order to secure their friendship and
protection of said line by subsidy and other pacific means.
The undersigned takes the liberty to make a few remarks upon each of
the above heads.
1 The name is proper, and such company necessary.
2. The route is the best one in the world for the union of the
continents. Both routes, by the said straits, and by said islands,
should be open for the company’s best selection, after proper
surveys. That by the straits would seem to be preferable, because it
does not so much jeopard the cable as the island route, and because,
as population advances, it may be made useful for intermediate
telegrams. It could also, perhaps, be best secured to Russia from
damage in times of war with other nations.
3. Right of way without restriction need not be argued, as no
capitalist would invest money upon any condition short of this.
4. Exclusive right of telegraphing—necessary for the same reasons.
For who would make the outlays of exploration for others’ use?
5. With respect to the subsidy of forty per cent., it seems equitable
and [Page 870] highly advantageous to
the Russian government. Because it brings sixty percent. of new
profits created entirely out of the enterprise and capital of said
company by pouring the telegrams of a continent upon her lines. The
undersigned believes that said sixty per cent. of new profits will
greatly more than pay the annual subsidy of $100,000, which is only
asked after fifteen years from the completion of said line. To the
San Francisco line the United States have given a subsidy of $40,000
per annum for ten years, and to the Atlantic Telegraph Company they
have given a subsidy of $70,000 per annum for twenty-five years, to
which England has added as much more, making in all a subsidy of
$140,000 per annum, besides the large amount granted said company in
surveys, and the laying of the cable, which amounted to many
hundreds of thousands of dollars. When such subsidies of forty per
cent. and $100,000 per annum, at the end of ten years, shall have
ceased, Russia will have poured upon her telegraphic wires the
intelligence of a continent, which will probably more than support
the telegraphic system of the whole empire forever.
6. The control of the native tribes is altogether necessary to the
company; for no man would invest millions of dollars to be under the
good or ill will of other persons. There can be no objections to
this on the part of Russia, because all the care and civilization of
said tribes inures to the benefit of the Russian government; for the
company, at their own expense, are but pioneers to the extension of
the arms, the trade, the population, and the revenues of Russia.
The undersigned might stop here, but the Russian government will not
fail to see how much the United States, as well as Russia, are
interested in not having the telegraphic intelligence of the world
confined to the Atlantic line, in the sole possession of the British
nation. And in asking for a liberal charter to the said company, he
does not seek exclusive privileges for his own countrymen, for in
the pecuniary investment Russian and American citizens may alike
enter, whilst the interests of civilization and world-wide commerce
will be indefinitely advanced.
The undersigned confidently reposes these, his own and his country’s,
hopes upon the liberality and good sense of the committee, and
prays, as an excuse for these lengthy remarks, the great interest
which his government, the telegraphic companies of the United
States, and the people of his country, take in the vast project
which, in the providence of God, they have the honor to decide.
He begs you, general, to accept the assurances of his most sincere
regard.
General Ignatieff, Aide-de-Camp General and Chief of the Asiatic Department,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, St. Petersburgh,
Russia.
