The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-18 00:00:00

ouse under the act which had been brought into
Government proposed to take any measures for the more to the proceedings which had been taken by the
on in the course of last year, and with regard ,tO ;
certain transmission of the mails to Australia, andwfo.r oethcrertp
effectually enforcing the contract for that purpose
Thiratn. Pc
the Australian Royal Mail Steam Navigation (-) _ 7,3:_il_c_l! several._ other messages of the same_lcind might yet
ire ceived by their- -lordships. This was the first in-
whefichthetheayethaedf blecsetnyecaarlleted
pany I (Hear, hear.) - ---- -
uepoenenuruwnditehr thethe
Viscount CANNING said that no apology was needed si:rcar
,Veiseieinns
,h
from his noble friend for bringing. under
the notice', of
. H• ouse of Commons for the purpose of effectually pre-
their lordships an occurrence which. had
calmed so nil! c, Vf :rating acts of bribery, and he thought it was impor-
public inconvenience, and had led to so much disappoill t' ant that they should ascertain from the Government
'went and anxiety on the part of private inclividuals.., ' ivhat course they intended to pursue with reference
Before,, proceeding to answer the' questions which hi; e with reference to the message. He conceived that it
it was necessary was now the duty of the Government to suggest the
noble friend had put to him, he thought
with regard f 0 eJ
y "r urse which the would advise their lordships tpursue,
that,he should refer to one or two points. . and he had expected that some communication would
have been made by some member of the Government
the contract between the Government and the Australis in .
Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, and the mode in 'before the motion for the adjournment of the house, but
which it was performed by the latter. -He (Viscou at probably it had been from inadvertence that no such
made. He now wished to ask
had been
Can
C nine) had no wish to be considered as thechampi an communication
what course her Majesty's Government were prepared
of this company, and if he had such a wish his task wor 4 d
to suggest in reference to the communication which had
certainly be a difficult one, but he thought it right tl La t been received from the other house of Parliament ?
there should be no appearance of overcharge in why t The Duke of NEWCASTLE apprehended that the
was stated against the company ; and, in the first play 3, only reason for the Government not having stated their
he might remind their lordships of the exact nature of views to their lordships in reference to the subject al-
lude dto by the noble earl was that they were not aware
the communication which existed atthe present momei itthat
such
a communication would be sent up from the
between this country and Australia. The Australis bra other house that day. He was quite prepared. to state
Royal Mail Company did not provide the only means of the course which the Government proposed to take. An
postal communication between England and the As 9- alteration 'had been introduced into the measure on
tralian colonies. There was, or there ought to be, a which these commissions rested, to the effect that on
an
occasion when the House of Commons should call on
regular monthly mail, starting alternately from, Ply- • their
lordships' house to join with them in an address to
mouth and Southampton, proceeding on each alternate the Crown, a message should be sent down to request
month by the Cape of Good Hope to Australia, and the ' the House of Commons to favour them with a copy of
other months by the Mediterranean and Singapore. On the evidence taken before the committee of that house .
every alternate month of the year the service was per- H"e for one had objected to the introduction of that pro-
formed by the Australian Mail Steam Navigation Com- visi on, but of course, apart from any individual opinion,
pany, their -vessels sailing by way of St., Vincent and as to the advisability of such a provision, it was the dirty
the Cape of Good Hope ; but however imperfectly the of the Government to carry it out in the proper spirFit.
service might be performed by them, there was not the He believed therefore that the proper course would be
absence of all sure communication which his noble friend for their lordships to ask the House of Commons to
had seemed to suppose. He (Viscount Canning) had no favour them with any evidence taken before any election
wish to 'extenuate the conduct of the company in failing committee, and after a sufficient time had been given for,
to perform' their contract, but he simply desired to assure considering the evidence, it would be proposed that that
their lordships and the public as to the fact of there being house should agree with the House of Commons in an
a safe and reliable means of communication between this address to
.the Crown.
country and Australia. His noble friend had also found The Earl of DERBY said the course' proposed by the
fault with phe low rate of speed at which the vessels of Government appeared to be that which was required
the company had performed their voyages ; but he (Vis- under the circumstances of the case, for it was only pro-
count Canning) could not help thinking- that ' his noble per that they should have the evidence before them on
friend had left out of his calculations the stoppages which 'which they were invited to join in an address to the
the veseels were obliged to make, being compelled to Crown. It might be more in accordance with the usual
stop at St.. Vincent's, and at the Cape, besides further ; courtesy between the, two houses that they should not
stoppages in Australia, before they arrived at Sydney. separate without taking some step, and perhaps it would
These stoppages ought to be taken into consideration. be better that the evidence should be moved for before
He was not praising the company for their punctuality the adjournment of the house.
or rapidity ; far_ from it ; but he wished their lordships The Duke of NEWCASTLE said that there might be
to be informed of the whole of the facts of the case. The some irregularity in that course, but he should give
Australian, on her first voyage, had occupied'9s days in notice on the subject to-morrow. ,
reaching Sydney ; according to the time tables attached Their lordships then adjourned at a quarter-past seven
to the contract 79 days was the time allowed to her for . o'clock.
completing the voyage. Upon her retrirn she had oc-
cupied 113 days in going over the same space. That
therefore gave, in the one instance, adelay of 16, and'in
the other a delay of 34 days over and above the right
time. With respect to touching at King George's
Sound, he Was not prepared to defend the arrangement
under which that provision made a part of the contract.
The contract had been signed in June last, and he was
ignorant of the motive which had induced the Govern-
ment of the day to put this and some other provisions
into the contract, though he was sure that they had not
been inserted without due consideration. However, he
was inclined to think that the stoppage at King George's
Sound was on the whole objectionabl. His noble friend
had stated correctly all that had happened in reference
• to this unfortunate vessel the Australian: She ought to
have left Plymouth on her last voyage on the 3d of Feb.,
but the company had made application that she should
not sail until the 23d, as she was not likely to be reaoiy
for sea before that day. The Lords of the Admiralty
had given their sanction to the delay, and the 'mails had
been sent down to Plymouth on the 23d, but the vessel
was not then ready, and did not sail until the 24th. This
Legit delay had been without the sanction of the Lords of
the Admiralty, aan.l.a fine had been inflicted on the occa
casion, which would be enforced against the company.
On the 24th, the Australian put to sea, but on the 25th
she was obliged to put back to Plymouth; herself disabled
and her mails very seriously damaged. So far as re-
garded the performance of the public service, her Ma-
jesty's Government felt it to be their duty to provide for
the immediate dispatch of the letter part of the mails, and
it had so happened that when the accident occurred to
the Australian, it was within seven days of the dispatch
of the next monthly steamer. Accordingly, the letter
portion of the mail had been immediately sent to South-
ampton, and was now on its way, by the Mediterranean
and Singapore, to Australia. He did . not apprehend
that much inconvenience would be suffered by parties;
from this brief delay of seven days, because the means of
communication by which the letters had been dispatched
was so much shorter than the other that the letters would
reach their destination nearly as soon as if the Australian
had, proceeded on her voyrge. After sundry repairs, it
had been announced to Government that the Australian
would be ready to start again from Plymouth on the 10th
of this month. She did start, with a new mail, and,
as their lordships were aware, was obliged to put back
into Plymouth, more than ever disabled ; the mails, how-
ever, had suffered no injury, and the vessel was now on
her way up the Channel to the port of London. That
portion of the last mail which was addressed to the Cape
' of Good Hope had been immediately transhipped to a
vessel belonging to the Screw Steam Company, which.
sailed the following day ; and, in fact, the only portion
of the mail which would be at all delayed, and by which
any inconvenience would be caused, was the newspapers.
That, no doubt, would occasion serious inconvenience to
parties in Australia, but it had been quite ont of the
power of the Post-office to make arrangements for the
transmission of the newspapers, inasmuch as it would
have been utterly hopeless to attempt to convey the 150
large boxes which would be required for the purpose
across the Isthmus of Suez, unless due notice were given
beforehand. Those newspapers would in all pro:
bability be conveyed in a day or two by some fast-'
sailing passenger vessel, and in the ordinary course
of things they would be delivered in the Australian
colonies within ninety-five dayi. He believed that he'
had now replied to the inquiry of his noble friend so far
as it related to the transport of the present mails. As
regarded the question whether the Government would
take any steps for enforcing the contract with the Aus-
tralian Royal Mail Steam-packet Company, it was neces-
sary that he should state that, during the delay which
had occurred in consequence of the mishaps of the Aus-
tralian, the Lords of the Admiralty had received a letter
from the chairman of the company, setting forth the dif-
ficulties under which the company conceived that they
had been called upon to perform the service, and pray-
ing for a favourable consideration, and requesting that,
as it would be impossible for them to provide a vessel
for the conveyance of the mail which ought to leave
England in due course on the 3d of April, their lord-
ships would consent to forego that service, and would be
satisfied if the vessel were ready by the 3d of .Tune. That
letter had been referred to a committee which was now
sitting for the purpose of investigating the state of the
Post-office packet service. The committee having had
the letter before them, had yesterday reported their
opinion to the Lords of the Admiralty ; but as he (Vis-
count Canning) was not then in a position to state that
any action had been taken on that opinion, he hoped
that his noble friend' would not press him to give any
distinct explanation of the terms in which it had been
conveyed. It would be perhaps sufficient to state that
the spirit in which the committee had approached the
' subject had been, that while, on the one hand, it was
most desirable that the Government should not jastly
undergo the charge of straining their legal rights or of
pressing hard upon the company, yet, on the other
hand, it was their firm conviction that the system of con-
tracts for the packet service of this country was to 'be
carried on, and if the public was to be called upon to pay
large subsidies for such service, it was the duty of the
Government to insure to the public the enjoyment of all
contracts' of a reasonable amount of punctuality, cer-
tainty, and dispatch. (Hear, hear.) He had only to
add that, if the contract between the company and the
Government were not already on the table of both houses
of Parliament, it should be placed on their lordships'
table forthwith.
Lord COLCHESTER was understood to observe that
1t was for' the convenience of Western Australia that it
had_ been provided by the contract that vessels should
call at Ring George's Sound. In reply to a further re-
mark by the noble lord, which did not reach the gallery,
v
count CANNING said he belieyee that the por-
tion
of the Australian's mail which had 'suffered most
were 1y,,,,,,
the
,c, for Melbourne. Those bags had been
opened and the letters dried, which was an operation
that had occupied
which had therd* a considerable time. The letters
bos,
and
drrions still legible had then been,
packed in'
There were, and Oriental Steam packetabeen sent off by the Peninsular
Company's vessel along the
overland route.
letters, the addresses of 'which
however, about 60 or 70
tested that it was quite impossible
had been so entirely obli-
their destination, and under these
to forward them to
circumstances
had been dealt with in the usual they
Dead Letter-office. About half of thl.veraayia and sent to the
and about 30 still remained, which
Cad
;11:)een claimed,
called letters, and could not be distingeis7 d hardly be
ed from mere
scraps of paper.
In reply to a question by Lord \Vila p
---I`I.CLIFFE,
Which did not reach us,
Viscount CANNING said he feared he could not give
a very satisfactory answer to the question of hi, noble '
friend, because it related so entirely to Admiralty busi-
ness that he was not fully informed on the subject. Re
had seen a 'report from Captain Lowe, the Admiralty
surveyor at Plymouth, to the effect that, on examina-
tion, it a•Ppeared that the Australian had started on her
second voyage with something like 400 tons weight, in
the shape of coals, stores, and cargo, beyond that which
she had had on a former voyage, which, although not
performed at the stipulated rate of speed, had been
safe and prosperous. It was conjectured that this
cause, together with severe weather, had led to the
opening of her seams, through which the water had got
in, and the safety of the vessel had been risked. This
supposition appeared to be borne out by the fact that
she had been carefully examined by the surveyor, and
so long as she was in smooth water she had been ap-
parently perfectly watertight.
Utees,, The conversation then dropped.
, ....,,.. 1
4c...1., 4% ttN.
4-- -9- t BRIBERY AT ELECTIONS.
~. th. On the motion that the house do '
C'eci
now adjourn,
e-'10,.. . The Earl of DERBY'
1 ; adjourne 1 said he wished, before the house
c ......„ . (to ask a question of
e ',oe ,fie terry of State forthe
the Colonies, -or of the noble and
j ..., tlyz,,
_. ceired in the woolsack.
Their lordships had re-
, .
,c 4 X';',,A, very course_. of that day a communication on a
important subject fr
5.. r. ~,y.i,fi it was due, in point from the other house, to whom
int of courtesy
-.l.—C-0 ,
. - ---' should pay the earliest at
attention
=-'r and respect, that they
abetter of such deep interest. , more especially on a
The communication re-

HOUSE OF COMMONS—(YESTERDAY.)
The SPEAKER took the chair at 4 o'clock.
NEW MEMBER.
Mr. ALEXANDER took the oaths and his seat for
Carlow.