The Sun.
London, England, 1854-02-23 00:00:00

THE DUBLIN MAIL.

Mr. VANCE wished to ask the Secretary of the
Treasury, whether any and what steps have been taken
to carry into effect the recommendation of the select
committee appointed to examine and report upon the
present state of the communication between London
and Dublin, which committee reported to the house on
the 11th day of July last, and recommended " that im-
mediate measures be taken by Government for acce-
lerating the mail communication between London and
Holyhead, and for providing a class of steam
veesela with adequate accommodation for passen-
gers, and with greater capabilities as regards speed than
theme at present employed.
Mr. WILSON said negotiations were on foot for ac-
a:aerating the transit of the half-past 8 o'clock mail both
11 the railway and the steam-boats which, if carried out,
would render the 5 o'clock mail almost unnecessary.
Th• mail would leave London at half-past 8 o'clock at
sight and reach Dublin at 8 o'clock the following morn-
ing' and though this acceleration might be attended
with increased expense to the country in the first in-
tion of
ee' yet, as it might ultimately lead to the aboli-
the 5 o'clock mail, the Postmaster-General felt
disposed to
rcpt the arrangement.
Viscount C THE MALLOW MAIL.
tart' to the TreasuLEROSSE wished to aF.k the Seere-
, if
nterit the
intenti the
is on of Post-
office authorities to e into a new contract for the
conveyance of the mails by car between Mallow and
Killarney, and, if so, for what eriod.
Mr. WILSON said the existing contract would expire
on the 21st of ay, and if no arrangement could be
the contract for carrying
wade with the railway. if
for carrying the mail,
it
by car would haveto be re-
mewed.

COPPER COIN.
Sir DE L. EVANS wished to ask.
the Secretary of
this
deficieney
the Treasury, in reference to the inconvenient
of copper money felt in the trade of
this ti
what steps were being taken to remedy deficienthimetropolis,
Mr. WILSON reminded the house that latealr
he announced that a contract had been entereds
1
with a Birmingham house for the supply of 500,000°
tens of copper coinage ; owing to the scarcity of iron,
Borne difficulty had been fait in carrying out the con•
tract, but that scarcity
no longer existed, and the con.
tract was now in the course of execution. (Rear, hear.)
This, it was hoped, would be sufficient to remove the
inconvenience that was now felt. (Hear, hear.)

GREECE.
Sir J. WALSH wished to ask the noble lord the
member for the city of London, if her 'Majesty's Govern-
ment had received any inteiligence of a remonstrance hav-
ing been addressed by the Emperor of France to the Go-
?ernment of the King of Greece on the subject of their
interference with the Ottoman empire, and if so, whether

Mr. WILSON said if members would look to the
paper they would find the hon. camber had put a notice
of motion for "Dublin Hospitals," without giving any
notice of the specific nature of the::motion. But while find-
ing fault with the notice, he did not find fault with the rea-
sonable proposition of the hon_ member, and he could
state the Government would offermo opposition to the com-
mittee which the hon. member asked fur. But while
saying this, he felt bound to, ' say that unless Dub-
lin could show some special claim for exemption, he
feared the Government could ncrt consent to the Dublin
hospitals being put on a different footing from the hos-
pitals of other large towns.
Mr. COWAN could not see any ground for the com-
mittee which the hon. member for Dublin asked for,
because he thought increased grants of money
to those institutions would have the effect of doing away
in a great measure with private "benevolence and charity.
He thought moreover that the hospitals of Edinburgh
had an equal claim to those of Dublin, and he thought it
unwise to make such institutions depend upon State
support.

Mr. VANCE differed from tb e last hon. member (Mr.
Cowan) in his view of those institutions, and conceived
that the system of centralisation. to which both Dublin
and Edinburgh have been subjected, and to the evils of
which the eyes of both Ireland and Scotland were now
at last opened, had taken away front those cities
those classes of inhabitants—the nobility and com•
moners—who were to a large extent the moans of
supporting their public institutions, though even now
there was no city in the empiro which contributed more
to charitable institutions than Dublin did.

Mr. V. SMITH, as one of the committee who inquired
into this subject in 1846-7, denied the accuracy of the
Ilan. gentleman (Mr. Grogan) as to the course adopted
b y that committee. But the question he conceived was
one of principle, and he agreed with the hon. member
for E dinburgh (Mr. Cowan) that public grants to those
institutions was a bad principle, for in every other
country they were supported by voluntary contribu-
tions.

Mr. O'BRIEN next rose, and was
[LEFT SPEAKING.]

The facts of the case were shortly these. In the spring
of last year the plaintiff shipped himself and his gold, at
Melbourne, for England, on board a vessel named
the Condor ; and which vessel had on hoard alto-
gether about 22,000 ounces of gold, besides passengers
awl a general carg ). All went on well until they arrived
near the Brazils, when the vessel was found to be on fire.
This discovery was made at about half-past 11 a.m., on
the 9th June, and in spite of all efforts the fire increased
until about six in the evening, when they sighted a
French vessel, the Charles A'Pauline. The French cap-
tain agreed to keep company during the night, but the
fire progressed so rapidly that about midnight the pas-
sengers and crew wore removed on board the Charles
A' Pauline. The gold was also removed, in which ope-
ration the plaintiff rendered considerable assistance, and
the vessel proceeded to Pernambuco. Salvage was
claimed by the French captain, and some dispute having
arisen the English and French Consuls arranged that
the matter should be referred to three merchants, one
English, one French, and one German ; and although
the French captain had been put to but little trouble,
and although his vessel had been detained only about 12
hours, he was awarded for salvage the large sum of 12,000/.
The plaintiff claimed to have his gold delivered up to him,
but the consuls declined to accede to his request and said it
should be sent to England. The plaintiff then sailed in the
Fay, and soon after he reached this country he found
that the whole of the gold had been consigned to Mr.
Codd, who is an army agent at the West-end of the
town. The plaintiff applied to that gentleman, who
offered to deliver the gold upon his claim in respect of it
being discharged. First he asked for 12,0001. which
had been paid to the French captain for salvage ; two-
and-a-half per cent., the consul's charge for taking charge
of the gold at Pernambuco, 2,0001. ; deposit, one per
cent., 800/. ; commission on advance of 12,0001. at 5
per cent., 6001. ; and Messrs. Codd and Co.'s commis-
sion at two-and-a-half per cent., 2,0001., making a total
of 17,400/. This sum was paid under protest, and the
plaintiff sued to recover the part of this amount which
had been paid by him.
The Chief Justice suggested that the matter should be
arranged. It was quite clear the jury would not sanc-
tion the large amounts which had been charged. He
thought if 1,000/. were allowed, it would be ample.
Mr. Sorjeant Shee said that the expenses incurred,
and which had been paid out of pocket, actually amounted
to between 1,2001. and 1,3001.
After considerable discussion, it was arranged that
1,0001. should be taken, instead of 5,4001., which had
been charged, and a verdict was taken for the plaintiff
for his share, 2101. 14s. 3d.

In two other a.ctions of a similar nature, by other
owners of gold, verdicts were taken by consent. In the
case of the "Bank of Australia v. Codd" the verdict was
for 1,896/. Hs.; and in that of the "Bank of New South
%Vales v. Codd " for 2,1071. 2s. 4d.
Mr. 3erjeant Shee said, after what the plaintiff had
stated as to the understanding that his gold should be
free of any charge for salvage, the other plaintiffs had
agreed that he should have the whole of his share of the
5,400/. free from any deduction in respect of the 1,000.