In 1860 the U.S. Congress arranged among the telegraph companies a competition to create a national line. The winner was Western Union. Another invention of Western Union - time synchronization. The size of the commission fee for the transfer is charged according to the Western Union tariffs and depends on the amount of money sent. In 1864, fearing the laying of long underwater lines, Western Union offered to carry out laying of telegraph lines to Europe through the Russian Alaska under the narrow Bering Strait and then to Siberia with branching in the major cities of Europe. The Western Union Company is a financial services and communications company based in the United States. In 1856, in 7 years after the foundation of New York State Printing Telegraph Company, the company changed its name to Western Union Telegraph Company.