sand or in ten thousand
miles; and then will be presented for the consideration of the Government
the propriety of completely organizing this _new telegraphic system as a
part of the Government_, attaching it to some department already
existing, or creating a new one which may be called for by the
accumulating duties of the present departments.

"It is obvious, at the slightest glance, that this mode of instantaneous
communication must inevitably become an instrument of immense power, to
be wielded for good or for evil, as it shall be properly or improperly
directed. In the hands of a company of speculators, who should monopolize
it for themselves, it might be the means of enriching the corporation at
the expense of the bankruptcy of thousands; and even in the hands of
Government alone it might become the means of working vast mischief to
the Republic.

"In considering these prospective evils, I would respectfully suggest a
remedy which offers itself to my mind. Let the sole right of using the
Telegraph belong, in the first place, to the Government, who should
grant, for a specified sum or bonus, to any individual or company of
individuals who may apply for it, and under such restrictions and
regulations as the Government may think proper, the right to lay down a
communication between any two points for the purpose of transmitting
intelligence, and thus would be promoted a general competition. The
Government would have a Telegraph of its own, and have its modes of
communicating with its own officers and agents, independent of private
permission or interference with and interruption to the ordinary
transmissions on the private telegraphs. Thus there would be a system of
checks and preventives of abuse operating to restrain the action of this
otherwise dangerous power within those bounds which will permit only the
good and neutralize the evil. Should the Government thus take the
Telegraph solely under its own control, the revenue derived from the
bonuses alone, it must be plain, will be of vast amount.

"From the enterprising character of our countrymen, shown in the manner
in which they carry forward any new project which promises private or
public advantage, it is not visionary to suppose that it would not be
long ere the whole surface of this country would be channelled for those
_nerves_ which are to diffuse, with the speed of thought, a knowledge of
all that is occurring throughout the land, making, in fact, one
n