The Tuapeka Times. THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 1870. " Measures, not Men."

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 112, 31 March 1870, Page 4

The Tuapeka Times. THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 1870. " Measures, not Men."

It has been remarked, and with truth, that that leviathan of the deep, the Great Eastern, has at last found its work in the laying of telegraphic cables. The success which has ultimately attended the Atlantic Telegraph Co. has caused numerous other companies to spring into existence; and many are the projects now under way for linking together the continents of the earth, and the islands of the seas. Before many years have elapsed a network of telegraph cables will span the ocean, and inter-communication will be held with all the important centres of civilisation over the known world. Events transpiring many thousand miles away will be known a few hours after their occurrence, and distance in time will almost be reduced to a thing of the past. The electric telegraph is, par excellence, the most wondrous achievement of modern science, if not the greatest blessing conferred upon society. Its services are becoming daily more and more appreciated, and in proportion to its utility will it become even more so. In England and the United States, the "wire" has been brought in acquisition for some years to a very large extent for commercial purposes, but in the Australasian Colonies a high tariff has hitherto greatly retarded its general usefulness. The Victorian Government, although late in the day, were the first in the Southern Hemisphere to adopt a cheap scale of charges, which, after a few months' trial, has exceeded the expectations of the most sanguine. The Melbourne "Age," in an article from which we quoted last week, says :—": — " During the last month no less than 11,055 messages were received at the Melbourne office, and 7,259 transmitted, bringing up the month's total to 18,302. This, compared with the same month of last year, presents the following significant facts : — The increase in the number of messages received was 4,397, and in the number transmitted, 1,177, showing a total increase of 5,674 messages in the month." Following the good example of Victoria, our Colonial Government intimate in another column that on and after to-morro w,auniform shilling rate will be inaugurated throughout the Colony. To have the command of the electric wires at any moment and at any price, is an incalculable boon to a community ; but when that boon is placed within the reach of the humblest individual in the land, its value is increased- a hundredfold. We have no fear whatever ,but,*fehe Gpvernment will find, by a large increase in the number of messages, that the step they have taken is a wise one, and one that will be fully. taken advantage of by the publiG, as well as a profitable one for the revenue. Speaking for ourselves, we shall now be able to supply our readers with a summary of any events of importance which may transpire in Dunedin, or which may be known there on the evening before our publication, which a high tariff has hitherto precluded us from doing.