The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-12 00:00:00

THE CONFEDERATE STATES.

Mr. J. WHITE asked the Secretary of State for the
home Department, owing to the absence of the noble lord
the First Lord •f the Treasury, whether the Government
had determined to withdraw its recognition of the belli-
gerent rights of the (so-called) Confederate States of
America ?

Sir G.
OREY thought it better to postpone the motion
fora few days.

Sir
F.
KELLY FOREIGN WINES.
asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
p
in reference to a
quoted by him, whether he was
prepared to state in 13;:har t mama er,and upon what principle,
the price orvalueolign wines were estimated or ascer-
tained upon the
portation ? payment of the customs duty upon im-
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the
manner iu which the value of the wine
ipayment
by an organised system and on the
of customs'
i lle was arrived at was
duties. The course pursued Was
stated in the
hand, Which y
the right
customs' instructions he held in his lie
hon. gentleman could have if he moved for them.
Sir F. KELLY then moved for a copy
of the documents
referred to, viz., the instructions of the Inspector_General
of Imports and Exports.
NORTH AIIyn:RICAN FORTIFICATIONS
Mr. B. cOCHRANE asked the Secretary of State for
the Colonies whether the communications which had
passed between her Majesty's Government and the com-
missioners from Canada had led to any change of view re-
specting the amount to be expended on fortifications in our
North American colonies?
Mr. CARDWELL said as soon as the commissioners
arrived at a result no time would be lost in communicating
it to Parliament. In the meantime he did not think it de-
sirable to mention anything further connected with the
matter.

LAND TENURE IN OUDE.
Lord STANLEY asked the Secretary of State for India

whether he had received any recent reports relative to the
investigation into the land tenures of Oude ; and if so,
whether he was able to state the substance of such reports,
or to lay them upon the table.

Sir C. WOOD said he had not received any official papers,
and therefore he could not lay them on the table of the
house.

INDIAN TRANSPORTS.

Lord STANLEY asked the Secretary of State for India
what amount of expenditure it was intended to incur in
the establishment of a line of steam transports to convey
troops by the overland route ; whether all transport of
troops to and from India was to take place hereafter by
that line ; and, if so, at what seasons of the year, and
what use, if any, would be made of the transports during
the months not available for the conveyance of troops.

Sir C. WOOD said the matter had been for some time
under discussion, and it had been thought that a great
gain of time and money would be made if the overland
route was adopted. The result of the inquiry was, even
though at the outset additional expense would be
incurred, that a line of transports should be esta-
blished between this country and Alexandria and
Suez to India. It was proposed to build five transports,
and the Admiralty having been consulted contracts for the
construction of these vessels had been entered into. To
show the advantage of having such vessels, he might in-
form the house that the Himalaya had saved her own cost
three times over. The vessels would not enter the Red Sea
from the end of October to the beginning of March. When
not engaged in the service for which they were constructed
the vessels would be available for taking troops from India
to other colonies.

An HON. MEMBER asked whether the expense would be
borne by the Indian Government.
Sir C. WOOD, in reply, said the expense would be borne
as the service was performed. The Indian Government
had advanced the million of money for the construction of
the vessels.