The Sun.
London, England, 1854-03-14 00:00:00

THE BALTIC TRADE.

Lord JOCELYN said that he wished to put two ques-
tions to the Government—one related to the present state
of the Baltic trade and the intentions of her Majesty's
Government with respect to that trade. Since he had
come into the house he had receive i a communication from
the Secretary of the Treasury informing him that he would
not be able to answer the question to-day. He (Lord
Jocelyn) that the question was one which ought t e be
answered without delay, for many of his constituents were
much alarmed, owing to Government not having made the
statement promised a short time ago by the First Lord of
the Admiralty, in reply to the right hon. member for
Manchester, in reference to neutrals. As he understood
that the right hon. gentleman intended to bring the ques-
tion forward, he (Lord Jocelyn) would be content to leave
the question in his hands. (Hear, hear.)
POSTAL ARRANGEMENTS WITH AUSTRALIA.
Lord JOCELYN said that the second question which
he wished to ask was this. He wished to ask the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer what arrangements had been made
with the Royal Screw Steam-packet Company for the
transmission of the mails to Australia ; and whether such
arrangements were to be considered as the principle upon
which the colonial postal service would be conducted iu
future as opportunities occurred ? He might be permitted
to state, as chairman of the committee which last year in-
vestigated this subject, that their inquiries had led them
to believe that the large sums of money which were given
for these postal servicies had tended to create monopolies
in the hands of particular companies.
Tho CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that
with respect to the question put by his noble friend as to
the arrangements which had been entered into with the
Screw Steam-packet Company to Australia, he was quite
correct in stating that the Government had adopted a
plan different from that which had hitherto been usually
made in cases of this kind. He hoped soon to be able to
lay papers connected with the transaction on the table of
the house, and those papers would afford a better explana-
tion of the matter than any which he could now offer. He
would state generally that the principle was this :—The
postage charged as sea postage between this country and
Australia, namely, 4d., was to be divided in certain pro-
portions between the Government and the company which
carried the letters. The company would not be paid by a
fixed sum, as its remuneration would depend on the
amount of postal accommodation afforded. The company
would receive 3d. and the Government id. for the sea
postage ; the entire sum charged being (id. There was also
a provision in the arrangement that when the receipts of
the company arrived at a certain point the company might
be required by the Postmaster-General to put on an in-
creased number of steamers, so as to ensure more frequent
communication. And the Postmaster-General would be at
liberty to send letters by other ships to Australia, when
specially marked by the persons sending them to be sent
in such manner. With respect to the latter part of the
question, he had only to state that the general viewsof the
Government on the subject of packet communication coin-
cided with those of the committee appointed to consider
the subject last year. The recommendations of the com-
mittee had been generally adopted by the Government,
and, therefore, as opportunities occurred, they hoped to
effect many improvements in reference to the performance
of these postal services. (Hear, hear.)
SALE OF RUSSIAN SHIPS OF WAR.

Sir G. PECHELL said he wished to put a question to
the noble lord the member for the-city-of London with
respect to a report which had appeared in the public papers
a few days ago. It appeared that accounts hail been re-
ceived from the port of Trieste that three Russian frigates,
which might have gone out amongst our merchantmen,
had either been hauled out of the way or sold, and the
crews permitted to go through the Austrian territories, to
meet, perhaps, his gallant friend, Admiral Napier, in the
Baltic. (Hear, hoar.) This showed what the Russians
intended to de with the ships. If they intended to sell
them and to transport their crews overland to other places,
this would give the people of this country some idea of the
mode in which Russia intended to carry on the war. He
wished to ask the noble lord whether the Government had
received any information on the subject?
Lord J. RUSSELL—According to the information re-
ceived by the Government, three Russian corvettes of war
had been at Trieste ; two of them had been taken into the
inner harbour at Trieste, where they had been disarmed
and sold, and the third had proceeded to another harbour
to be sold.