The Sun.
London, England, 1849-06-21 00:00:00

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LONDON, THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 1849.

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So long as naval architecture continues to present
all the characteristics of a strictly experimental
science—so long as the public money continues to be
squandered in patching and cobbling our war-
steamers, and in razeing three-deckers into frigates—
solong will this useless and profligate expenditure
by the Admiralty continue to be inveighed against
as baneful to the interests and ruinous to the cha-
racter of our great national profession. Time by
time the agitation against the prevailing extravagance
of the maritime authorities may appear to die away
from the exhaustion resulting from so many pro-
longed and ineffectual efforts at [improvement; but
the matter is certain before long to be revived
with more and more earnestness. Sometimes
the revival has been consequent upon the
arguments cf the journalist; sometimes upon
the strictures of the pamphleteer ; and some-
times upon the remonstrances of some one or other
of our more independent class of naval officers. in
the present instance the people are indebted to
Admiral Sir CHARLES NAPIER for the stimulus im-
parted to the question relating to naval reforms in
our steam war-vessels. Through the medium of the
letter addressed by that distinguished officer to Lord
JOHN RUSSELL another opportunity is afforded for
the discussion of a matter which we are by no means
willing to overlook—a matter which to our compre-
hension appears to be intimately associated with the
present agitation for a judicious financial retrench-
ment. We say this advisedly, for although the fol-
lowers of the Hon. Gentleman, the Member for Mont-
rose, may be disposed to wince at anything like the
suggestion hinted at by the late commander of the
Channel squadron, to the effect that the 3,000 or 4,000
seamen recently discharged from the service should
be at once recalled, yet we are satisfied that in the
end, with the appointment of the proposed committee,
and with 3 careful revision of the absurd system so
long practised, of building ships without any unison
of plan among its different fabricators, the result
would be manifest in a timely and wholesome
economy.
The attempt to quash the matter by vague con-
tradictions, seasoned with a little peppery derision
and personality, has been made over and over again
with miserably ill-success. We are conse-
quently amazed to observe that one of
our morning Contemporaries has seized this
old and blunted weapon with the intention of
overcoming the keen truths and solid arguments of
those who are clamorous for the reform of our naval
aduniaistrtion. The mere denial of the assertion of
such a man 29 Sir CHARLES Nal-ma, that the French
steam navy is, in guns, if not in tonnage, superior to
the English—goes just exactly for nothing. Facts
must be adduced in proof before the national mind
can be satisfied to the contrary. Until this glaring
testimony is given the presumption of the generality
will inevitably and naturally be that an officer
of such eminent reputation as that acquired for
himself by Sir
ChARLES NAPIER, would not
advance statements so very positive without
posse,sin4 some substantial data, much less that he
would embody those statements rashly in a letter
addressed through the public journals to the Prime
Minister of the country. As to the insulting remarks,
remarks totally devoid of anything like even a pre-
tension to argument, with which the comments of our
y are brought to a conclusion, one would
ed that the achievements of the gallant
to would have afforded sufficient reason
publication. As it is, mere scurrilities
be em
injure those by whom they may

ployed—grains of dust so light that when flung up
by the hand, only fly back into the eyes of the assailant.
Upon thispoint, however, the public at large has not one
iota of interest. Entertaining but one opinion of the
character of Sir CHARLES NAPIER as a maritime
chief, the people, when endeavouring to form a cor-
rect estimate of the amount of consideration to which
he is entitled, look rather to the events and the deeds
which have illustrated his professional career than to
the sneers of a cantankerous opponent.
There are but two things to be borne in recollec-
tion, and those two things in their way are certainly
conclusive and unanswerable. First, That while the
present arrangements for building war steamers entail
the necessity of an extraordinary and exorbitant expen-
diture, that expenditure is productive only of vessels
clumsy, inconvenient, and altogether ineffective, defi-
cient in stowage, low in the water, or slow in sailing,
besides being liable to a variety of terrible casualties,
such as that of heeling over on the first puff of a
storm, or that of being crippled by the destruction of
the engines on the first broadside discharged in an
engagement. Secondly, That these evils being the
result of the blemishes which are glaring on the very
face of the system—foremost amongst which ble-
mishes is the fact, that there is no immediate co-
operation or coincidence of opinion between the ship
builder and the engine builder—it is undeniable that
some instant improvement is urgently required of the
Government. Until these facts are clearly disproved, and
they certainly yet remain to be disproved—hut one
deduction can be arrived at by any possibility. That
deduction is of course the necessity for a change, the
change being no partial change either, but a total and
definitive re-organization.
The more we weigh the merits of the different
propositions which have been made at intervals,
the more we are convinced that the appointment of
a Committee of Naval Officers and Engineers is, of
all means, the cnly one that can prove at once secure,
rapid, and effectual. After the investigation of the
wants of the service and of the difficulties which re-
main to be vanquished in naval architecture—it would
then remain with that professional and scientific, and
therefore competent, committee to decide upon the
advimbility or non-advisability of the numerous
ulterior measures of improvement. Unlike the majo-
rity of critics upon the difficulties and dangers of any
existing system of administration, Sir CHARLES NA-
PIER does not by any means come forward destitute
of any project of amendment. His notions upon this
point are plainly and sequentially advanced. They
are these :

" Put the whole strength of your dockyards on the
steam-vessels (such as they are) now on the stocks, and
get them ready for service. Tne Q'ieen has been corn•
missioned—man her and fit her out as fast as possible;
complete the crews of the Superb and Ganges; man the
Blenheim and Ajax screw steamers out of the Excellent;
fit out and arm your hest steaul-vessda ; and
do this at once before your sailors go to I),n-
-mark and Germany; let this squadron assemble
at Spithead. You will then be in a position to arbitrate
or remonstrate if you will. Watch well the progress
of events in the Mediterranean, and if any war take
place, order the fleet home for the protection of our
own shores; Parliament cannot object to this ; Mr.
Cobden could not object to it. It is a pre •
caution ; it will not be an expensive precaution. It
you do not want to press for money at present,
you may suspend works in progress in the dock-
yards that are not pressing. Search closely into all
your departments; ransack the dockyards, and you will
find the means of saving thousands and thousands of
ponnds ; appoint a committee of experienced steam
officers to decide how your future steam-vessels shall be
built; give up cutting and carving and changing ships'
bows and sterns; give up converting good sailing ships
into bad steamers at an enormous expense ; and look
more strictly at the expense of your dockyards ; and
you will have no occasion to go to Parliament for more
money."
How far these various changes might be advanta-
geous would remain to be decided by the projected
committee. To that committee would be en-
trusted the responsibility not only of selecting
the best measures of innovation, but of guiding
the question cautiously between the opposite dangers,
of the ultra-Alarmists and of the ultra-Conservatives,
between the Scylla of over-anxiety, and the Cha-
rybdis of over-confidence. That mediation between
the disputants is now more than ever requisite, seeing
that to the pamphlet of the Prince DI JOIN T ILLE and
to the letter of the Duke of WELLINGTON, has now
been added the communication addressed to the Prime
Minister by an eminent sea captain like Sir CHARLES
NAPIEII. Further blinking of the matter is imps-
, sible. The agitation must at length elicit a first con-
cession from the Government ; and the acquisition of
a first concession is the insertion of the point of the
wedge that only requires to be driven home.

The assertion of the Hon. Member for Glasgow,
that the " Post-office is not a proper subject for
revenue," and that " its receipts should be expended
in increasing accommodation at home and abroad,"
has met with universal assent. In a commercial
country there is no object of greater importance than
that a safe and expeditious mode of communication
should be provided between the different localities.
" Time is money," and not a single hour should be
wasted which by any possibility could be saved.
Since the general construction of railways, and the
great improvements in steam machinery that have
lately been effected, many opportunities exist for
affording increased facilities for the transmission of
correspondence that were formerly unknown. 'What
cost our fathers days to accomplish may now be per-
formed within almost as many hours, and the most
beneficial effects have resulted from the change.
Still, we regret to say that many facilities are
neglected that might easily be made available, and
that in several instances much valuable
time is lost that might be economised. We believe
that the Post-office authorities are anxious to provide
the best possible accommodation for the public, but
there is unfortunately a controlling power that
neutralizes their best efforts, in order to effect some
paltry saving. The mere question of" profit or loss"
on a transaction should not alone be taken into con-
sideration. The rapidity and certainty of postal
communications is of paramount importance, and
should nevee be lost sight of for a single moment.
There is, perhaps, little to be complained of
in the arrangements for these internal communica-
tions in England and Scotland ; but we regret to say
that the intercourse with many parts of Ireland, and
with the western hemisphere, does not receive the at-
tention which its importance so imperatively demands.
No attempt has yet been made to establish a packet
station on the west coast of Ireland, by which no less
than three or four days might be saved in the trans-
mission of letters and dispatches from this country to
the United States and to the British trans-Atlantic
possessions. The mails are still carried round one of
the most dangerous coasts in the world, by which
they are subjected not only to great delay, but very
considerable risk is also incurred. Life and pro-
perty are wantonly and unnecessarily exposed in
order to avoid, or rather to postpone, a moderate ex-
penditure, that would speedily be repaid in the in-
creased revenues that would be obtained from the
change,
nt
asto be derived fromindependent of
the
the
more incalculable
orespeedy
communications between the old and the
new world. What enormous expenditure has been
saved to the country from the early intelligence of
the Indian victories!
What mightyPreparations
avvvhoiicdhed7oußlcla
But unfortunately
have been whollyno Western WAG.
unnecessary were
HORN has forced the attention of the Government to
neglected and misapplied opporetxutnriatoierschnaanryd ysektiltlhetyo
are patent to all, requiring no
develop or to understand.
h IT.eh e
beencommunicationse c we l letrha t e
d the lrish
of
ate
years,m e t metropolis
paonl ids
a further improvement will take place on the com-
pletion of the gigantic work now in progress, the last
link of which, the passage across the Menai Straits,
will speedily be added. It is, however, contemplated
to deprive the north of the benefit of a separate estab-
lishment by the abandonment of the existing mail
communication between Port Patrick and Do-

nfighadee.
No point is perhaps better established than
that the shortest sea passage possible should be
resorted to, even though the land journey should be
more than proportionately increased. The latter is
not subjected to the innumerable casualties to which
the former is exposed, and a very small margin will
be sufficient to allow for any probable contingency.
A greater degree of certainty is therefore attained,
an element in the calculation of even more vital im-
portance than a greater degree of general speed, if
liable to frequent fluctuations. Now the passage from
Portpatrick to Donaghadee is by far the shortest

between the two countries. It is less than 20 miles
from harbour to harbour, and the distance could
be performed with the greatest ease in an hour and
twenty minutes by steamers of ordinary capabilities,
such as those plying between Folkstone and Bou-
logne, or between Holyhead and Kingstown. Even
with the very inferior class of packets at present
employed in the service, which have been well de-
scribed as " Lilliputian craft, with engines of 25-
horse power, which creep along at a rate of six
miles an hour," the average time consumed in the
passage does not exceed two hours and a half, a pe-
riod that might be reduced by one-half. Btit it is not
only the shortest, but by far the safest mode
of communication between the countries. No case
has yet occurred of the loss of a vessel engaged in the
service, and in this respect it stands alone. No
other instance can be cited of similar immunity from
the ordinary maritime risks, an uncertainty which
can only be accounted for by the shortness of the
distance and the total absence of all hidden dangers.
It is also by far the cheapest of any of the packet
stations, so that every consideration of speed, of
safety, and economy, combine to render its mainte-
nance a wise and prudent measure.
Unfortunately, however, an offer has recently been
made by a company to carry the mails from Greenock
to Belfast, and vice versa, either for nothing, or for
the merely nominal sum of 301. per annum, being
about 10d. for each voyage of ninety miles !! This
proposition, however, is merely for a single year; and
if the Post-office, acting thereon, should break up the
establishment at Portpatrick and Donaghadee, it is
obvious that at the end of the term a vastly increased
expense must be encountered, either in giving
a fair remuneration for the increased distance
to be traversed, or in re-establishing the
former stations, which would cost far more than the
saving to be effected from breaking them up for a
brief time. It is impossible to suppose that a public
company w ill continue to work gratuitously or for a
mere illusory payment. It will be found better
economy to pay all contractors the fair value of their
service;, which will then be well and fairly performed;
otherwise, vice cannot justly complain if defects should
exist that might be far more injurious to the public
than the paltry saving that might be effected.
A numerous and influential deputation, consisting
of many noblesnen and gentlemen from the province
of Ulster, on Saturday waited en the Premier, to
urge a further consideration of this important sub-
ject before the contemplated arrangement should lat
fully carried out. The clear and satisfactory argu-
ments brought furward on the occasion appeared to
have heel much effect upon the Premier, who pro-
mised that nothing should be done until the question
had received mature and attentive consideration. The
Marquil of LONDONDERRY has also given notice that
on Monday he will bring the point under the notice
of the House of Lords. 'We trust, therefore, that
wise and politic counsel will ultimately prevail, and
that Government will not in this instance act on the
" penny wise and pound foolish " system, which,
whatever may be its temporary advantages, has
ever proved the most costly and expensive in the
long run.

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