Calls Marconi The Best System.

New York Times 100 years ago today, May 2, 1913:
British Post Office Committee Satisfied as to Its Practicability.
OTHERS FAILED IN TESTS
Still, the Experts Think the "Imperial Chain" Should Exercise Freedom of Choice.
By Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph to The New York Times.
    LONDON, May 1.— The report of the technical committee appointed by the Postmaster General to consider various systems of long-distance wireless telegraphy, particularly in relation to the proposed imperial chain of wireless stations, was issued to-night.
    The report says: "The Marconi system is at present the only system of which it can be said with any certainty that it is capable of fulfilling the requirements of the imperial chain, but this must not be taken to imply that, in our opinion, the Marconi Company must necessarily be employed as contractors for all the work required for the imperial chain. Indeed, in some respects it might, we think, be better for the Government themselves to undertake the construction and equipment of the necessary stations."
    The committee considers wireless telegraphy to be in a condition of rapid development and thinks it undesirable that the Post Office should be pledged to the continued use of any existing apparatus, or subject to any penalty by way of continued royalties. With a trained staff and with an engineer of special knowledge and standing at the head for testing, and, if necessary, further developing any new invention or improvement, the committee sees "no reason why the Post Office wireless stations should not be ultimately equipped with apparatus far more efficient than that now used in any so-called system, more especially as the Post Office will be able to combine, in spite of existing patent rights, apparatus or devices which, because of the existence of such rights, cannot now be combined by any one else."
    The committee also investigated the following wireless systems: Telefunken, Poulsen, Goldschmidt, and Gallette.
    One of the Post Office requirements is for continuous communication by day and night over land and water for, distances ranging from 2,000 to 2,500 miles. The companies controlling the various systems were invited to give practical demonstrations. The report says:
    "Except in the case of the Marconi system we did not obtain any demonstration on a commercial scale, or any demonstration over a distance of even 1,000 miles."
    But the committee points out the fact that it was apparently impossible for some companies to arrange a demonstration within the three months allowed for the purpose.
    In order to test the Marconi plant, a continuous watch was kept for a week by skilled operators on the actual commercial working between Clifden and Glace Bay. The report says:
    "The Marconi Company, we are satisfied, is working on a commercial scale between Clifden and Glace Bay. We were present when messages were transmitted automatically at the rate of fifty words (of five letters) a minute. We see no reason why the rate should not considerably increase if it becomes necessary."
    With regard to the Telefunken system, the committee reports that its practicability on a commercial scale for a distance of 2,000 miles has not yet been proved.
    It is satisfied that the Poulsen system is practicable for short distances but, though it has been tried between San Francisco and Honolulu, there is no evidence regarding its practicability.
    The committee reports that the Goldschmidt system is, no doubt, successful over short distances; the only thing required to make it practicable over long distances is a machine of the necessary power.
    No evidence regarding the practicability of the Gallette system, even over short distances, was forthcoming.