[Inclosure.]
Report of a committee of the privy council,
Canada, approved by the Governor-General in council on the
11th of June, 1884.
The committee of the privy council have had before them a dispatch,
dated February 20, 1884, from Her Majesty’s minister at Washington,
inclosing a copy of a note-from the Hon. Mr. Frelinghuysen,
Secretary of State for the United States, in regard [Page 250] to the application made, under the
authority of an order in council of the 13th of June, 1883, by the
Canadian Government, through Her Majesty’s minister at Washington,
for permission to land a cable upon the shores of Washington
Territory to connect the Canadian Government telegraph system near
Victoria, Vancouver’s Island, with the telegraph station of the
United States Government, or with the Puget Sound or other company’s
station, at or near Point Angelos, Washington Territory.
The minister of public works, to whom the dispatch and inclosure were
referred, observes that the Hon. Mr. Frelinghuysen inquires whether
the telegraph system in British Columbia is owned by the Government,
as, if the line which is the subject of the application made by the
Dominion was controlled by private individuals or by a private
corporation, there might be danger that the proposed connections
would, if effected, work detrimentally to the business of the Puget
Sound Company.
The minister further observes that the Hon. Mr. Frelinghuysen,
Secretary of State of the United States, states that if his
Government can receive from the Dominion Government “assurances that
the Puget Sound Company, upon connecting with the Canadian line on
the shores of British Columbia, will be afforded equal advantages,
privileges, and facilities in the transaction of its own proper
business and the prompt and regular transmission of its messages
with those accorded to or possessed by the managers of the Canadian
line in British Columbia, or with those which may be granted to any
other connecting cable,” the privileges now asked by the Canadian
authorities will be at once accorded.
The minister states that the telegraph system of British Columbia is
owned and controlled by the Government of Canada; that the cable
from Victoria to Washington Territory will be laid forthwith, and
that should the United States Government, the Puget Sound or any
other United States company desire to lay a submarine cable from
American to Canadian territory, and there connect with the
Government telegraph station at, for instance, Victoria, they shall,
upon proper application, be free to do so; it being clearly
understood, however, that the retransmission and distribution of all
messages received through said cable or cables shall, within
Canadian territory, be under the exclusive control and direction of
the Canadian authorities; and, in like manner, that when the
Canadian Government lay a cable between British Columbia and
Washington Territory and there connect with the United States
Government, the Puget Sound or other company’s station at or near
Point Angelos, the retransmission and distribution of all messages
conveyed by said cable or cables shall, within American territory,
be under the exclusive control and direction of the United States
Government, the Puget Sound or other telegraph company; it being
furthermore understood that both the Canadian and United States
authorities shall, within their respective territories, have the
option of forwarding all messages to or from British Columbia either
via the Point Angelos or Point Grey cable routes.
The committee concur in the report of the minister of public works,
and they recommend that your excellency be moved to transmit a copy
of this minute, if approved, to Her Majesty’s minister at
Washington, for the information of the honorable the Secretary of
State for the United States.
JOHN J. McGEE,
Cleric, Privy Council for
Canada.
