The Sun.
London, England, 1851-06-12 00:00:00

tas
, N°. 18 321.]
LONDON, THURSDAY Y.
- ebAgg • .1 • 14,
S N 7 JUNE 10 1851,

CATHOLIC LAW AND GENERAL LIFE
ASSURANCE COMANY,
8, NEW COVENTRY STREET, LEICESTER-SQUARE, LONDON.
The FOURTH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of the Proprie-
tors of this Company took place on the 25th instant, at the Head
Office, at One o'clock precisely. The following is extracted from the
report, which is too lengthy for publication :
During the past year no claims have arisen from deaths in England.
and but two in Ireland—one for 500/. and the other for 2801.—making
together 700/., which have been paid. This is far below the expected
mortality, and is especially favourable, when it is remembered how
severely the life offices generally suffered from the epidemic of last
year.

The number of lives assured between the Ist of June, 1849, and
the 31st of May, 1850, was more than double the number issued in
the twelve months preceding.
Proposals were made for 138 Policies, amounting to 52,9631.25. 6d.:
of these 123, comprising 106 lives, were accepted for 45,1251. 6s.
Sixteen Policies lapsed, representing 6,0481., upon which 3201. gi.
was received by the Company in the shape of premiums.
Since the commencement of the Company to the let of June last,
assurances were effected to the extent of 110,9721. 12s Gd., pro-
ducing in annual premiums 3,7321. 1 Is. 6d. Of these 54 lapsed,
amounting to 23,9901. 16s. 6d., of which the annual premiums were
7411. Is., leaving the yearly income on the Ist of June last equal to
2,9911. 15s. 11 d.

Since last meeting loans were applied for to the extent of 17,7001.,
but 1,183/. 1 Is. 10d. only was advanced.
The Directors were also highly gratified to report that within the
last four months they had considerably extended their business on
the Continent, having appointed, as Head Agent in France, Monsieur
de l'Etaug, a gentleman of high standing in Paris, distinguished for
his integrity and ability in financial and in all assurance matters,
who, under the sanction and patronage of the Archbishop of Paris,
the Cardinal Archbishop of Lyons, and Monseigneur Parisis, Eveque
de Langres, has already within the last three months effected a con-
siderable amount of business, not only in Life Assurances, but in An-
nuities both Immediate and Deferred.
After various resolutions, approving of the Report, and returning
thanks to the Right Reverend Chairman, Bishop Morris, the Vice-
Chairman, Actuary, Secretary, and Medical Officers of the establish-
ment, the meeting separated, highly gratified at its present results
and future prospects.

lIOLYDAYS.
ROYAL POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION
Rotation of the Earth, exhibited by Foucault's Experiment.

—Roasting, Boiling, and Stewing, &c., by Gas, its great economy, as
shown by numerous ingenious contrivances deposited by the Gas-
fitters Association.—Electric Eel, the only living specimen in Eu-
rope.—Lectures on Science with brilliant experiments.—A Lecture
on the History of the Harp, by Frederick Chatterton, Esq., with
Vocal Illustrations by Miss Blanche Yonne, R.A. of Music.—Two
Series of splendid Dissolving Views.—The Diver and Living Bell, &c.
Admission, Is. ; Schools, Half-price.

LAURENT'S GRAND CASINO,
Licensed by Act of Parliament.
AIRGYLL ROOMS, GREAT WINDMILL-
STREET, ST. JAMES'S.
(Sole Lessee, Charles Emile Laurent, jun., 57, Brompton-square.)
OPEN EVERY EVENING,
With LAURENT'S UNRIVALLED BAND.
Principal Cornet-a-Pistons, M. Boulcourt.
Doors open at Half-past Eight o'clock—Dancing to commence at
Vine and terminate at Half-past Eleven o'clock precisely.

SHIP NEWS.
NOTICE TO MARINERS.

RESPECTING THE NAVIGATION OF THE
GULF OF FINLAND AND THAT OF RIGA.

ST. PETERSBURGH,APRIL 22.—The hydrographicde-
partment of the Minister of Marine gives notice to ma-
riners that in order to facilitate the entry of vessels into
the Gulf of Riga, in the Baltic, a round stone tower,
with a conical roof, was built in the year 1850, on the
hill called Blsubergen, situated on the coast of Cour-
land. This tower, from its base, is 89 English feet in
height, and 273 feet above the level of the sea. It is
covered with white plaster, and the roof is painted red.
It is situated at 121 Italian miles, 52 deg. 30 min. S.W.
of the Domesnas lighthouse; it is 57 deg. 37 min. 45
sec. north lat., and longitude 22 deg. 17 min. 29 sec.
east of Greenwich.
Notice is given to mariners by the same department,
that in order to mark the south coast upon the approach
to Cronstadt, a wooden octangular tower was built in the
year 1850, on a hill called Bronna, near Oranienbaum,
the height of which, including the ball which is above
the root, is 49 English feet from the ground, and 294
feet from the level of the sea. This tower is situated
59 deg. 55 min. 7 sec. N. lat., and 29 deg. :19 min. 16
sec. long., Greenwich meridian. The roof and the ball
are painted black
the middle. black, the walls white, with a black belt in

Notice is also given by the aforesaid department that
on account of some hydrographic works which are to be
completed during the summer of 1851, temporary buoys
will be placed at the places where the work is in pro-
gress; namely (a) in the skerries of Finland, near the
islands of Digscher; (b) in the middle of the Gulf of
Finland, between the islands of Nargue and Cape Da-
gerot; and (c) in A.lonsund and round the island of
Dago; and which, order to be distinguished from the
ordinary buoys, will have yellow and other coloured
brooms above their blue flags,

a navigator, named James Sones, about charged with having attempted
ATTEMPTED MURDER AT WOLVERITAM
the
.. t
t thirty-
five n 'l3.'u.eeasrdaaeyf
age,
o
murder a female of the name of Caroline Morris,e
pre-
vious night, by cutting her throat. The woman
in a very dangerous state, and but little hopes being inmg
enter-
tained of her recovery, an application for a remand u-a
granted. Her depositions have been taken in the presence
of the prisoner, whom she swears to as being the person
who committed the deed. The prisoner and his victim have
been living together for some time past at various towns in
Staffordshire, but the woman deserted him about three
weeks back, and came to the above town, whither the pri-
soner came on Monday, and made inquiries at e.everal places
to endeavour to find her. In the evening he discovered her
at a house of resort for persons of an abandoned character,
and called her into a yard at the back of the public-house,
where, without speaking a word to her, he cut her throat
from ear to ear. When taken into custody he acknowledged
that he had committed the crime, and expreeted a regret
that be WA not Ogo destroyed Lirabeifs

STEAM COMMUNICATION WITH INDIA.

The Select Committee appointed to inquire into the
existing steam communications with India and China,
and into the practicability of affecting any improve-
ment therein, and also into the best mode of estab-
lishing steam communications between England,
India, China, Australia, New Zealand, or any of
them, as well as any points upon the several routes
between them, and who were empowered to report
their observations, together with the minutes of evi-
dence taken before them from time to time to the
House, have considered the matters to them referred,
and have agreed to their first report, as follows :
Your Committee, in considering the best mode of
carrying out the inquiry submitted to them by your
Honourable House, were led to believe that it would
give the most general satisfaction to enter—first,
upon the question of the different routes by which it
has been proposed to connect, by means of steam com-
munication, the Australian colonies with the mother
country, in order to come, at as early a period as pos-
sible, to some definite conclusion as to the respective
merits of these lines ; leaving for subsequent consi-
deration the other matters included in the order of re-
ference.

Your Committee have adopted this course, believ-
ing that the information furnished by the witnesses
who have appeared before them may materially facili-
tate the efforts of the Government in making the ar-
rangements necessary for effecting that important
communication.

With this object, your Committee have examined
witnesses of different views, and representing various
interests.

They first called 'for evidence from persons con-
nected with, and long resident in, the colonies of
Australia, who, they have a right to believe, were
acquainted with the wants and wishes of the colo-
nists, and others whose commercial transactions with
the colonies, and whose knowledge of imperial con-
siderations involved in the question, rendered their
opinions of value.
They have likewise taken the evidence of officers in
her Majesty's naval service, as well as commanders
and owners of vessels in the mercantile marine, who
have practical acquaintance with the navigation of
the seas proposed to be traversed by the vessels of the
companies tendering for the different routes.
Without entering at length into scientific details as
regards the comparative merits of the screw and pad-
dle, when applied to steamers intended for ocean voy,
ages, your Committee were of opinion that as two
of the lines for which tenders have been sent in pro-
posed to effect the communication by means of auxi-
liary screw steamers, it was their duty to take the
evidence of practical men, as to the probability that
vessels so propelled would be able, under all circum-
stances, to perform with sufficient punctuality the
services for which they were tendered.
The question, it appears to your Committee, in-
volves the following considerations :-
1. Expedition, certainty, and extent of postal com-
munication.

2. Expedition, accommodation, and economy, in
the conveyance of passengers.
3. Facility, accommodation, and cheapness, with
reference to the peculiar kind of merchandise passing
between England and Australia.
4. That the line or lines selected should be as free
as possible from those political objections which ne-
cessarily attach to a line dependent on other countries
for its communications.

There are three routes proposed by which this com-
munication may be established :-
1. The Panama route—a line of auxiliary screw
steamers by the Pacific Steam Packet Company, in
connexion with the West India Royal Mail Steam
Packet Company, from a channel port to Chagres, or
Navy Buy, in the Gulf of Mexico, across the Isthmus
of Panama, by means of a railway—as described to be
in process of construction by an American company,
—and thence from Panama, via Tahiti and New Zea-
land to Sydney.
2. The Cape route—a line of auxiliary screw
steamers from a channel port round the Cape of
Good Hope, either by an extension of the existing line
to the Cape, or a separate line throughout, not touch-
ing, on the outward passage, at that colony, but call-
ing off Port Philip, making Sydney the terminus, and
from the former port it is contemplated to run branch
steamers to swan River, Van Diemen's Land, and
New Zealand.

3. The India❑ Route—A line following the pre-
sent overland mail route, from a channel port via
Alexandria, Suez, Aden, to Point de Galle :---From
Point de Galle there are three proposed modes of
reaching Australia:

Ist. From Point de Galle to Singapore, and then
via Torres Straits to Sydney.
23. From Point de Galle direct to the west coast of
Australia, reaching Sydney via S wan River and Port
Phillip.
3d. From Point de Galle to Singapore, and then via
the Straits of Sunda, Batavia, Swan River, and Ade-
laide, to Sydney.
It is in evidence before your Committee that the
average number of days now occupied in the voyage
from England to Sydney by the Cape of Good Hope
is 119, and from Sydney to England 138 ; and upon
this basis the course of post between England and
Australia may be stated at present at not less than
257 days, or eight months.
The Pacific Steam Packet Company proposed to
perform the distance from England to Sydney, by
the Panama line, in screw-steamers of 1,000 tons,
and 200 horse power, in 62 days and some hours, at
an average rate of 9 knots the hour ; and allowing,
as they propose, eight days at Sydney for the reply
to letters, the current of post would be reduced to
133 days.
The General Screw Steam Navigation Company
proposed to perform the service from England to
Sydney, by the Cape route, in auxiliary screw-
steamers of 1,400 or 1,700 tons, with 250 or 300.
horse power, at an average rate of knots the hour ;
they engaged to perform the outward passage in 64
days, and the homeward in 68 ; and allowing, as
they propose, three days fur the reply to letters, the
course of post by this line would be reduced to 135
days.

The projected Eastern Steam Navigation Company,
proposed to perform the service via Trieste and Sin-
gapore in 53 days, in paddle steamers of 1,200 tons
burden, with 400 horse power, and allowing three
days for the reply to letters at Sydney, it would re-
duce the course of post to 109 days.
The Peninsular and Oriental Company stated their
readiness to undertake the service via Marseilles,

Alexandria, and Singapore, but without mentioning
the class of vessels they propose to employ. The
service, as in the offer of the former company, to be
performed at the rate of 10} knots the hour; the out-
ward passage to be made in 52 days, and the home-
ward in 55 ; allowing, according to their proposal,
five days for the reply to letters, the current of post
would be reduced to 112 days.
It is proper to remark, in reference to the expecta-
tions held out by the two last companies, as to the
time in which this communication may be maintained,
that in order to effect the object proposed, the speed
must be greatly increased beyond the rates stipulated
for in the existing contract with the Peninsular and
Oriental Company.
In reference to the nautical questions which came
before your Committee, and upon which they called
for the opinions of practical seamen, they were
anxious to elicit facts relative to the navigation of
Torres Straits, the navigation of the Australian coast
in the region of Cape Leeuwin, and the practicability
of performing with regularity the homeward voyage
from Sydney to the Cape of Good Hope in vessels to
which the auxiliary screw propeller is proposed to be
applied.
As regards the first of these, your Committee have
bad in evidence from several eminent naval officers,
who are practically conversant with the navigation of
Torres Straits and the neighbouring seas, that
dangers and difficulties abound ; and although the
admirable surveys of the scientific officers, employed
under the direction of the Admiralty, have done much
to render that passage less hazardous than formerly,
your Committee, nevertheless, do not feel justified in
recommending it as a regular route for steam-vessels
carrying mails, passengers, and cargo, running day
and night, and bound under heavy penalties to per-
form the service in a given time.
With reference to the navigation of the seas in the
vicinity of Cape Leeuwin, it does not appear to your
Committee, from the evidence laid before them, that
the difficulties, owing to the severe gales said to pre-
vail for many months of the year in that region, are
more severe than those encountered about the same
latitudes in other parts of the world, or that they are
such as a well• found steam-vessel of adequate tonnage
and power may not successfully contend against.
This observation applies more, especially to the
prertaucrncavboiyi
iaty of which,gef from
at Sydney
certain v ( /
periods Cap e
L e
of
thew
in; the
tiyear,
with adequate regularity, some of the witnesses have
questioned.
With reference to the application of the screw pro-
peller to steamers intended for ocean voyages, there
seems to be a general opinion that either as an auxi-
liary or principal motive power, it has been emi-
nently successful ; and that when used as an auxi-
liary, it is singularly well adapted for vessels com-
bining the carriage of mails, passengers and cargo on
long voyages; While at the Earae time it i 3 the nwst

economical mode in which steam may be applied to
effect a rapid communication.
From the evidence taken before your Committee,
it appears that the screw itself, and the machinery
connected with it, are in a state of continued improve-
ment.

........
The discussions which took place in the Australian
colonies on steam communication with England
seem to have had reference to the question generally
rather than to the advantages of any one line as,
compared with another. The votes of certain sums
of money by the legislative councils at Sydney and
Adelaide seem to have been influenced, in a great
measure, by local considerations. At Sydney more
especially, where the sum of 6,0001. was voted by the
Legislative Council for the Torres Straits Passage, it
was admitted by one of the witnesses that the object
of that vote was to secure to Sydney the terminus of
the mail line.
The questions of the navigation of Torres Straits
and the passage by Cape Leeuwin, of the return
voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, and of the employ-
ment of screw steamers, being settled, the considera-
tion of the relative merits of the three routes is very
much simplified, and may be viewed with advantage,
in reference to the four fundamental conditions laid
down in the commencement of this report.
1. As ,regards expedition, certainty, and extent of
postal communication.
Although it does not appear from the evidence that
any one of these lines has any advantage over the
others in these respects, of so decided a character as
lead the Committee to recommend it solely on that
ground, the Committee are led to believe that the direct
line from Point de Galle, via" Singapore to Swan
River, would be the most expeditious that could be es-
tablished; and of the three lines for which tenders
have been sent in, that from Point de Galle vid Singa-
pore, Batavia, and Cape Leen win, promises a greater
security for rapid and certain postal communication
with England than either the route by Panama or the
Cape of Good Hope; this, however, must depend, as has
already been remarked, upon the speed being greatly
increased beyond that stipulated for in the existing
contract from England to Singapore, and it is hardly
necessary to observe that no such increase could be
effected without a corresponding augmentation of ex-
penditure.
In regard to the Panama route, your Committee
believe that its promoters have not overstated the
punctuality or facility with which they would be
enabled to maintain a postal communication within
the period they offer for the service.
In respect to the Cape line, it seems not impossible
that there may be a degree of uncertanty at first, ex-
tending to six or seven days in the arrival of the
homeward mails from Sydney. This uncertainty
would arise from the navigation of tha Indian Seas
westward. At the same time, it is to be remem-
bered that the experiment of navigating that ocean in
a well-found screw steamer has not yet been tried ;
while from the evidence received from masters of
sailing ships, who have made the passage at all sea-
sons of the year, it appears that there can be little
doubt of the steamers proposed for this service main-
taining their engagements.
2. As regards expedition, accommodation, and eco-
nomy in the conveyance of passengers.
It will no doubt be admitted that expedition for
passenger purposes is of not so great isoportance as
where postal arrangements are alone to be considered ;
but at the same time, as has already been shown, any
one of these lines offers nearly equal advantages in
this respect.
In point of accommodation, the Panaraa line pro-
mises a tranquil and regular passage across the Pacific
Ocean, the trade winds securing regularity, both on
the outward and homeward route. The inconve-
nience to which the passenger would be subject being
the transit across the Isthmus of Panama, including
the trouble and difficulty attendant on the tranship-
ment of heavy baggage in a tropical climate, at cer-
tain periods of the year of a most unhealthy character,
though not wholly removed, will be materially dimi-
nished when the railway, which your Committee have
every reason to believe is in the course of construction
between Navy Bay and Panama, shall be completed.
By this line it is contemplated to carry first-class
and intermediate passengers, at the cost of 105/. for
the first class and 601. for the intermediate.
The Cape line offers to the passenger the advantage
of the only direct communication between England
and the colonies of Australia, without any change of
vessel, through a climate comparatively free from the
tropical heats of the other two routes.
It is true that by this line, at certain periods of
the year, some inconvenience may be experienced
from the severe weather common to the latitudes to
be traversed, but there is no reason to believe that
this inconvenience will be as great as that to which
passengers by the North American steamers are liable
in the winter months.

By this time the company state their ability to
carry first-class, intermediate, and steerage passen-
gers, at the same rates as those charged by sailing
vessels, namely, 701. first-class outwards, and 801.
homeward ; 301. second-class outwarl, and 351. home-
ward ; and 121. steerage passengers ; the latter being
the charge at which emigrants are at present con-
veyed from England to Australia.
By the Indian line, the communication may be
more rapid than by either of the two other routes ;
but the inconvenience of three transhipments, and of
the tropical heats, continued during a much longer
period than by the Cape route, together with the
probability of crowded vessels, at certain seasons of
the year, along those portions of the line traversed
by the India and China passengers, Tender it, as an
Australian route, the least preferable, in point of
comfort.

If any inference can be drawn from the charges
now made for the conveyance of first-class passen-
gers as far as Singapore, to which clam this service
would be confined, and likewise from the evidence
which has been given on the part of the Eastern
Steam Navigation Company, your Committee are
led to believe they would be considerably higher
than by either of the two other lines; indeed, it has
been admitted by witnesses—even those most
favourable to this route for postal purposes—that
few persons would be able to avail themselves of the
more rapid communication it would afford between
England and Australia, it being certsin that the ma-
jority would prefer the longer voyage in sailing
ves-
sels to incurring the cost which a passage by this
line would require.
3. Facility, accommodation, and cheapness in re-
ference to the peculiar kind of merchandise passing
between England and Sydney.
It has been stated by the promoters of the Panama
line that they calculate on little, if ally, merchandise
being conveyed by this route. It Eppears to your
Committee that the increasing traffic across the Pa-
cific, between California and New Zealand, consists
of articles not likely to be conveyed by these steamers,
whilst the present cost for transit of merchandise
across the Isthmus of Panama would preclude the
transmission of any but the most valuable articles.
The Cape line, your Committee are, led to believe
from the evidence they have received, is peculiarly
adapted to the carriage of merchandise of such a de-
scription as would bear a higher rate of freight in
consideration of a proportionate increase of speed.
The size of the vessels and their mnstruction will
enable them to devote a considerable portion of their
tonnage to this object.
The inconvenience arising from transhipment on
the Panama route, which renders it inapplicable to
the conveyance of merchandise, extends to a far
greater degree to that by Singapore. Indeed it has
been readily admitted, by the promoters of that line,
that no goods are expected to be couveyed by the
steamers between England and Australia.
The trade between India and Australia cannot be
said at present to be of any very great extent; and
although with China and the Indiaa Archipelago
there is a considerable and increasing traffic iu teas,
sugars, and other merchandise, it does not seem to
your Committee that the transport of such merchan-
dise would be aided very materially by means of steam
communication, or that it would beat the cost of tran-
shipment at Singapore.
4. That the line or lines selectee should be as free
as possible from those political objections which ne-
cessarily attach to a line dependent on other countries
for its communications.
The only line before your Committee wholly free
from these objections, end entirely under the control
of the Government, is that via the Cape of Good
Hope, the safety of which depends exclusively uponthe
maritime superiority of the empire ; whilst the route
across the Isthmus of Panama, and the routes through
the heart of Europe and Egypt, must always be liable
to the interruption consequent upon a breach of
friendly relations with foreign powers.
As regards the expense to the public necessary for
the maintenance of these several lines, it appears to
your Committee, on reference to the tenders and to
the evidence, that the Panama route would require
for its establishment to Sydney alone a grant of
50,000/. in addition to that already paid for that por-
tion of the line conducted by the Royal Mail Steam
Packet Company. To effect the extension of the
Cape route, including the cost for intercolonial com-
munication, about 39,000/. would be required, in ad-
dition to the sum already granted to the General
Screw Company for the present line as far as the
Cape of Good Hope ; whilst from the proposals made
for e6tablisbiDg A lino from 'iDgapore to Sydney it

would appear that the public would be called upon to
contribute a sum of not less than 60,0001. for full
p ,wer paddle steamers.
It is possible that this line might be carried out at
less cost were the auxiliary screw propeller to be sub-
stituted for the full power paddle; but in such an
arrangement the main argument in favour of this
line would be weakened, as it would then become
impossible to obtain with any certainty that punc-
tuality and rapidity necessary to insure the perfect
combination at Singapore, and render it complete, as
a postal line.
In referring to the tenders which have been sent in
by the various parties who have proposed to undertake
these lines, your Committee have regarded them
merely as means of pointing out with distinctness
what might be effected upon each route; they consi-
der that it is a question for the decision of Govern-
ment, whether, after the evidence which has been
taken, it would not be advisable, and a fairer course
to the public, to call for fresh tenders for the line
which may be selected.
In the selection of a line to recommend to the at-
tention of the Government, your Committee consider
that there are objects essential to the welfare of the
colonies quite as important as those political conside-
rations which, in other cases (such as India), render
a rapidity of postal communication the paramount
object.
Your Committee believe that, with a view to the
welfare of the colonies, the pre-eminence of any one
of the requisites which they have laid dow❑ is, on the
whole, less important than a due combination of all.
They do not consider themselves bound to give the
preference to a route merely on account of its fur-
nishing the most rapid means of postal communica-
tion; they believe, from the evidence they have re-
ceived, that there are other great interests involved in
this question, affecting not less deeply the develop-
ment of the rising colonies of Australia, and the inte-
rests of the empire generally.
Your Committee, after maturely weighing the
merits of the lines they have bad before them, together
with the objections which, in the course of this in-
quiry, have been urged against each, have come to the
conclusion that the line proposed to be extended from
the Cape of Good Hope to Sydney is the one which
combines these advantages to the greatest extent, at
the smallest cost to the public. They do not con
Sider that the gain of six days, which it has been
stated in evidence would be obtained by a direct line,
not touching at the Cape on the outward passage, is of
sufficient importance to justify them in recommend-
ing its present establishment ; and they believe that
the service might be performed in vessels of such a
size as would meet the wants of both the Cape of
Good Hope and the Australian colonies.
Looking at tlie prospect of remuneration which this
line holds out to its promoters, and likewise at the
great changes rapidly taking place in the require-
ments and commercial communications of those dis-
tant parts of the world, your Committee would re-
commend that whatever arrangements may be en-
tered into, should be for as short a period as may
be consistent with the adequate performance of the
service.

In arriving at these conclusions, your Committee
are not blind to the merits of the Panama line ; they
believe that it would afford a regular and sufficiently
rapid postal communication, securing to the passenger
a voyage comparatively free from storms, and at the
same time it would bring the rising colony of New
Zealand into the main line of communication.

Neither have they overlooked the -importance of
the more rapid postal communication which they are
led to believe the line vid the Straits of Singapore
would afford; nor the advantage to the Australian co-
lonies of opening between Sydney or Adelaide steam
communication with the Indian Archipelago.
They consider, however, that it has been satisfac-
torily proved that, by the Cape, postal service with
England may b,e conducted with sufficient regularity
and rapidity to meet the present requirements of the
colonies; that it would bring into direct communica-
tion with each other the principal colonies of Aus-
tralia; that it would furnish the most economical, and
at the same time the least inconvenient means of transit
to passengers, including even the labouring classes ;
that it would offer facilities for the transmission of
merchandise at a moderate cost, without the inconve-
nience of transhipment; and that it would establish
a line of communication, independent of other na-
tions, between the mother country and her distant
colonies, which might, in the case of any sudden
emergency, be useful i❑ keeping open the commu-
nication between England and her empire in the
East.

Your Committee consider that it is uncecessary to
enter into details as to the best mode of giving to the
different colonies comprised in the Australian group
the full advantages of such communication ; the evi-
dence which they lay betore the House will enable
those to whom the arrangements may be entrusted to
weigh fairly the respective interests of each ; and in
such arrangements your Committee consider that
those of New Zealand should certainly not be ne-
glected.
In reference to the establishment of steam commu-
nication between Singapore and Australia, your Coin-
inittee are prepared to view it as distinct from the
question of direct communication with England, having
reference to India and the trade of those seas ; and
whilst they fully admit the importance of that line,
and believe that ere long the increasing requirements
of Australia will demand its establishment, they are
firm in the opinion that if one line alone is to receive
the assistance of the Government, it is not at present
of sufficient consideration to entitle it to be selected
as the sole communication between England and
Australia.

Your Committee hope that each colony will contri-
bute to give full effect to the establishment of the in-
tercolonial steam communication necessary to perfect
these arrangements.
The attention of your Committee has been directed
to the effect of payments for contract postal packets
on the interests of the general body of shipowners ;
and they are of opinion that ample time should be
given to encourage full competition ; that the interval
between the acceptance of any contract and the com-
mencement of its performance should be sufficient to
enable the contractor to prepare for the duty he has
undertaken ; and that the fullest scope possible con-
sistent with the due performance of the service should
be granted in respect to the conditions set forth for
the tender.

In conclusion, your Committee earnestly press upon
the Government the importance of taking immediate
steps to effect the object to which this portion of their
inquiry has been directed, more especially upon the
ground of the ample time for preparation which they
consider that the public, in any tender for the ser-
vice, are entitled to require, so as to enable all com-
petent parties to compete for the proposed service.
June 5, 1351.

THE ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC RAILWAY
On Monday evening Mr. Asa -Whitney read a most
interesting paper on his gigantic railway scheme be-
fore the members of the Rqyal Geographical Society
at King's College. In addition to the ordinary mem-
bers of the society, there was a full attendance of
scientific and professional visitors, both British and
foreign, who paid the utmost attention to Mr. Whit-
ney's paper. The lecturer embraced the details of the
great scheme for connecting the shores of the Atlantic
and Pacific tceans, which has been already before
the public. At the conclusion of the reading a very
animated discussion ensued, which may be summed
up in the following manner :
Mr. R. STEPHENSON, C.E., stated his opinion that
the only difficulty, as regarded a long railway, was a
commercial one. He had no means of offering an
opinion as to the facilities for the execution•of Mr.
Whitney's project; but be would take it that what
Mr. Whitney himself stated on that point was cor-
rect, and that the plains abounded with timber and
every requisite for constructing the line from the
Atlantic to the Pacific. Yet the commercial q,rue.s-
tion outweighed almost everything which Mr. IN ha-
ney had adduced as to the distances ; for, as regarded
navigation, it all depended on the amount of money
charged for conveying goods from one place torrahr!-
other, rather than on the number of miles. This
was plain from the case of the line. by the Isthmus ofd
Suez, as compared with that via the Cape of. Good
Hope thTehediffieffcueclitieswoafs,natv.hia.gtattiohne
freights of goods from Liverpool to Alexandria ex.
ceeded those from Liverpool to Bombay. round the
Cape of Good Hope. The construction cf a railway
to save time, for mails and passengers, was a feasible
project, and deserving of the attention of England ;
but with regard to the opening of a canal, supposing
the facilities to be so great, and that, in fact, the
money question was as much sunk as Mr. Whitney
supposed it to be sunk as regarded his project, he
(Mr. Stephenson) believed that if a canal were made,
the commerce between England and India would
not then go by the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.
Captain FITZROY, R.N., said his humble opinion as
a seaman was, that in the case of the route by Pana-
ma being opened, the commerce with Asia would, as
a matter of course, take that line, for the simple
reason that it was the easiest line of navigation with
all parts of the world. The commerce of Europe
and of the greater part of the North America
would find favourable winds to carry it to the Isth-
mus, and also to carry it on its routs across the