In general, the lesson in Europe is this, that the telephone is what a nation makes it.

Its usefulness depends upon the sense and enterprise with which it is handled.

It may be either an invaluable asset or a nuisance.
Too much government! That has been the basic reason for failure in most countries.

Before the telephone was invented, the telegraph had been made a State monopoly; and the tele-phone was regarded as a species of telegraph.

The public officials did not see that a telephone system is a highly complex and technical problem, much more like a piano factory or a steel-mill.