The Sun.
London, England, 1860-07-30 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JULY 20, ig66.

WICK AS A NAT(AL-ST.ATION AND :REFUGE
FOR VESSELS.

(From the Northern Ensign of July 5, 1860.)
All parties are now agreed that the erection of a
harbour of refuge at Wick is essentially necessary
for the protection of the 10,000 men who prosecute
the herring fishing on these rocky and dangerous
coasts ; but the recent debate on Mr. Lindsay's
motion shows that the claims of Wick, on the grounds
of its being a highly important naval station and
refuge for our commercial marine, were entirely
ignored, except by Mr. Lindsay, who adduced the
fact that 10,000 vessels annually pass these shores.
We have frequently had to remark on the
great national importance of the proposed break-
water here on other grounds than the necessity
of security for the lives of our fishermen ; and on
the present occasion we shall do little more than
direct public attention to the ♦iews which public
men of acknowledged ability and position and
other disinterested .witnesses entertain on the sub-
ject. Referring to the evidence given by compe-
tent authorities before the House of Commons' com-
mittee in 1857 and 185 S, we find some most im-
portant statements as to the eligibility of Wick as
a naval station, and the necessity of an erection
there for such a purpose. Thus Capt. Washington,
Hydrographer to the Navy, testified as follows :
Supposing a fleet during the time of war was
cruising in the North Sea or German Ocean, is there
any place they could run to for protection in bad
weather, in the case of steamers, for the purpose of
saving their coals ; is there any place they could
go to except Cromarty ?—Nothing but Cromarty.
Then, you consider, for national purposes, that
is, with regard to the protection of the fleet, that
Wick is a very important position for a harbour ?
—A very important position ; and it will be abso-
lutely necessary, in the event of another north of
Europe war, to have some station thereabouts.

Is there any harbour where vessels could lie for
the purpose of watching a fleet of cruisers coming
round the north of Scotland ?—None at all:

Then, after Captain Vetch had testified that the
proposed erection at Wick would accommodate any
number of ships of war that might be on the coast,
Captain Sullivan gave the following :
You said that Dunbar required increased har-
bour accommodation, in consequence of its hav-
ing the advantage of a large fishing trade, which
is the result of the advantage which it also pos-
sesses of having a railway; do you not think that
Wick requires a harbour to a greater extent, as
the whole of its produce is carried away by vessels,
and it has no land carriage P—l am not at all com-
paring the two places; the one is merely accom-
modation for fishing-boats ; Wick is a much more
important thing as a harbour of refuge for vessels
and for men of war in the event of a war. The
two things cannot be compared. Wick is far more
important than Dunbar; Dunbar is merely locally
important to the fishing people of that neighbour-
hood.
But Wick is of national importance ?—Wick is
of national importance.
In the case of our being at war with a maritime
power,awould not Wick be a very important place
as a naval station, for the purpose of enabling
vessels to lie there, watching the north
of Scotland; and also as a place where vessels might
run to for the purpose of protection against wea-
ther, or to save their coal, supposing a fleet was
cruising in the North Sea ?—lt would be the only
place north of the Firth of Forth—the only place
that would be at all useful for vessels ; the other
vessels might use Orkney and Shetland, but on the
coast of Scotland that would be the only place.
Another advantage of Wick would be, that a ves-
sel would be ready for either coast ; it is the most
important position as a naval station, in the event
of war, north of Edinburgh.
Rear-Admiral Sir James Ross also gave the fol-
lowing evidence :
Is there not the harbour of Longhope in the
Orkneys ?—Yes.
Would not that supersede to a great extent the
necessity of making a harbour at Wick P--The en-
trance to Longhope is intricate; you have to enter
the Pentland Firth, and to cross the stream, which
is rather a dangerous operation ; and it would be
far more advantageous if you could have your fleet
at a station like Wick, than it would be to have it
at Longhope.
There is a very great resort of fishing vessels to
Wick, is there not ?—I believe at some particular
parts of the year there is, for two or three months
in the year.
Would it not be a matter of great importance to
provide protection for those fishing vessels P—lt
would be an act of great humanity; there is a great
loss of life there every year for want of a harbour.
Taking the east coast of Scotland generally, with
regard to the trade to the Baltic and the northern
ports, would not a harbour at Peterhead be a matter
of more national advantage than a harbour at
Wick P—No ; because I think that any of the Bal-
tic powers proposing to attack any of our western
harbours, Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin, or Liverpool,
would run through the Pentland Firth ; with a
fleet at 'Wick it would be impossible for them to go
.through without detection.
With such evidence before the public, we think
we may safely aver that the case of Wick, in the
view under consideration, is clearly substantiated.
Coale we now to the necessities of the mercan-
tile marine, home and foreign, that frequent these
coasts. Passing by the very strong opinions by
Captains Washington, Vetch, and Sullivan, and
by Mr. R. W. Jackson, and also the very clear
evidence given before the Commissioners, when
prosecuting their inquiry at Wick, we refer to
that adduced at other ports. Thus, at Leith,
Mr. D. R. M'Gregor stated that " the fishing and
American trade render it necessary that there
should be a harbour of refuge constructed at
Wick." At Glasgow, Mr. Hugh Tennant thought
" it would be very desirable if a harbour of refuge
could be established at Wick, for the wants of all
descriptions of vessels.' Captain Crawford enter-
tained a very strong opinion on the subject,' stated
that a harbour at Wick would be very advantage-
ous,' and that the boats and vessel's had a ' very
urgent claim' for such a harbour. Capt. Goodwin
held that a refuge harbour at Wick would be very
advantageous' Capt. Kelso held, from personal
experience, that a harbour of refuge would be very
desirable about the locality of Wick,' from the vast
concourse of vessels that is always in that locality,'
and in answer to Mr. Lindsay, whose question com-
prehended the traffic with the Baltic, with Arch-
angel, and with America, and the number of ships
engaged in the coasting trade, the witness replied
that Wick is the most suitable locality.' Mr. John
Mitchell testified that vessels passing through the
Pentland Firth in winter pay a double premium of
insurance. Capt. Kelso, on re-examination, stated
that he did not know any place between the Firth
of Forth and the Pentland Firth where a
harbour would be more useful than at Wick or Sin-
clair's bay,' in its immediate neighbourhood. He
added, ' It would be of great advantage to all classes
of ships. There is a Treat concourse of vessels about
the Pentland Firth. Large ships to North America,
as well as vessels going to the North Sea and the
Baltic, and those engaged in the coasting trade and
the fisheries, meet in great numbers near the Pent-
land Firth,' and that ' Wick or Sinclair's Bay is
the most desirable locality' for a harbour of refuge
for such vessels. At Liverpool Air. Alex. Coghill
asserted that there is no part of Great Britain
where a harbour of refuge is more requisite than at
'Wick, or on that coast, at all events ;' adding, I
have no doubt many ships coming to and from the
Baltic would be saved if there were a harbour of
refuge there,' and that he had received similar
testimony from numerous masters of vessels. At
North Shields, Mr. Poppelwell, Lloyds' Surveyor,
thought Wick 'an excellent site for a harbour of
refuge,' and spoke strongly of the dangers of the
Pentland Firth. Mr. Wm. Ware testified that, as
far as regards the saving of life, I think Wick a
very desirable place to make a harbour of refuge.'
Mr. Martin Cay thought it would be very worthy
to have the public money laid out for such a pur-
pose' at Wick. Mr. Kendlish, a North Sea pilot,
who had piloted H.M.'s ships all round the Ork-
neys, thought a harbour of refuge necessary on
the north-east coast, and that Wick was the site.
At Sunderland, Mr. James Anderson testified that
a harbour at Wick would be valuable to the fisher-
men, as well as to a great number of vessels which
trade to Wick, and 'for the general trade,' and he
gave several instances showing its great necessity.
At Hartlepool, Mr. W. O. Mossman, who had for
16 years been engaged under Captains Slater and
Otter, in her Majesty's surveying department, gave
the following very striking evidence :
For vessels going north about, would Wick har-
bour be useful P—Decidedly. Some years ago I
recommended that that bay should be enclosed as a
harbour of refuge for the convenience of vessels
trading from the Baltic, and the ports on the east
coast of England, round to the west coast, and to
America, because many a vessel coming across can-
not study the tide. He is anxious to make the
land, and is obliged to wait, sometimes in very
heavy gales of wind, before he dares take the Firth;
it is one of the most dangerous places we have.
If that will take him to Wick, it will take him
through the Frith ?—lt will ; but there is a danger
in taking the Firth when there is a sea on.
With an adverse tide, of course ?—Yes ; I have
seen everything washed from off the decks.
At a further stage of this witness's examination
theh eA:avelals timber
tine again interrogated regarding Wick as
follows :
shipsyear
coming
ever
e caught
fromghti
nNorth e
MorayA m America in
hti
Firth
and driven back P—Frequently, when theymight go into Wick. A ship will be coming down some-
times from the westward with a fine breeze, just as

little wind as you could wish to go with pleasantly,l
and directly she comes to the eastward of the land
she meets a gale of wind. If she goes back into
the Pentland Firth, it is ten to one but she gets her
decks swept, and she has to go at all risks to the
north; until the tide will suit her she dare not go
into the Orkneys. Under these circumstances, if a
harbour of refuge was made at Wick, a ship could
go into or come out of the Firth without danger.
Do you know that last year 1,060 vessels took
refuge in Scrabster Roads, immediately to the west
of tlie Pentland Firth ? Would you think that a
pretty convincing proof that a large number of
vessels would equally use a harbour of refuge if
made to the eastward P—Decidedly, because two
harbours so situated directly balance each other.
Mr. Simon Fisher also spoke very strongly as
follows :

Do you think a harbour of refuge is necessary
between Aberdeen and the Pentland Firth for the
saving of life and property ?—Yes. Suppose there
had been a harbour of refuge at Wick, would it not
have been the means of saving both life and pro-
perty in several instances ? for the number of boats
that go out there fishiug at times is not less than
1,400 and as far as 2,000 sail.

Then you think it would be necessary to have a
harbour of refuge at Wick, on account of the fish-
ing boats and the lives exposed to danger in them
—Not exactly for that, because I have known ships
ashore and to be stranded for want of a harbour of
refuge on the Caithness shore.

Supposing no fishing boats at Wick at all, and
looking to the vessels that trade to the Baltic, and
to Archangel, and America, whether do you think
a harbour of refuge at Wick, Fraserburgh, or Peter-
head, would do the most good ?—Decidedly at Wick;
because if a ship is caught off Buchan Ness, she is
off an extreme point, and has every advantage to
drag, if the wind is from the eastward and north-
east, through the Firth; but if the wind is to the
south, or anyways that way, she would get the
Moray Firth.

Would you consider the fact of about 1,000 ves-
sels in Scrabster Roads, on the other side of the
Firth, in one year, as a proof that if there was a
harbour on the east side of the Pentland Firth, it
would be nearly as available, if not quite, as Scrab-
ster Roads has proved to be on the west ?—Un-
doubtedly.

Would a harbour at Wick also be available for
the trade bound eastward, such as timber from
America, that passes the Pentland Firth, and
being caught and unable to get to windward, it
being able to save them by running hack into the
Pentland Firth P—Certainly; that would be a very
great advantage.
Mr. It. Jordison said :
So you would give a decided preference to Wick ?
—I would give a decided preference to Wick.
From your knowledge of that coast, should you
think that a harbour of refuge is necessary P—Near
Wick ?

Along that coast, the east coast of Scotland ?—I
should say so; I should think that ships would be
very glad of a refuge harbour, instead of going to
Lon hope.
Quite so ; then you think a harbour of refuge
along that coast would be the means of saving life
and property ?—I should think it would.
Mr. T. Brown had no doubt that if there were a
harbour of refuge at Wick 1000 vessels would every
year take refuge in it. At Whitby, Mr. It. Brown
thought, after giving his own experience, that a
harbour at Wick, for passing vessels, would be a
great boon at all times.'
In addition to all these, about 100 witnesses
testify to the dangerous character of the Pent-
land Firth, and the risks which vessels run in
passing through it, in certain states of tide and
weather. And also, in addition, numerous inciden-
tal observations were made by many witnesses in
favour of Wick as a harbour of refuge for passing
vessels, but to these we do not refer. We think
enough has been quoted, from impartial, intelligent,
and unequivocal evidence, to show that while all
parties admit the paramount claims of the 10,000
fishermen that are nightly perilled on the Caith-
ness shores in prosecuting its great national fishery,
a refuge harbour at Wick is also both eligible and
essential for the purposes of national defence and
protection to the passing trade. And we cannot
omit adding a circumstance which was ignored dur-
ing the recent debate, to wit, that the vast number
of young men brought up on these shores to a sea
life would make the Caithness coast, were a harbour
erected here, one of the finest nurseries for the navy,
and would speedily repay to the nation more than
the cost of its erection, in young and active mari-
ners.

With these extracts and remarks we confi-
dently make our appeal on other grounds than
the claims of our fishermen, great and urgent
though they be. And we trust that her Majesty's
Government, in coming to a decision on the sub-
ject, will comprehend in their consideration the
evidence showing the importance of-
1. Wick as a naval station.
2. Wick as a refuge for the foreign and coasting
trade.
3. \Vick as a refuge for the fishermen.
4. Wick as the most suitable for the encourage-
ment and promotion of our great national
fisheries.
5. Wick as a normal school for training the High-
land population in habits of industry and
self-reliance.
6. Wick as a nursery for the navy.
7. Wick as affording facilities of construction
which would make the erection of a har-
bour of refuge cheaper than at any other
point in England or Scotland.'
And if these elements, clearly substantiated as
they have been, and clearly demonstrated to all ac-
quainted with the facts, are taken into account, we
do think we shall not have long to wait before we
have to congratulate all concerned on the result of
pending deliberations.

TILE MEETING AT•tOPLITZ.

The meeting at Toplitz is a very well-devised
sequel to the interview at Baden. Politicians who
have speculated on the fascinations of Louis Napo-
leon's personal address can hardly fail to have all
their doubts solved by the new rapprochement of
of the great German Sovereigns • and Europe may
congratulate itself that the earliest result of the
1 aden tete-a-tete is a real advance towards German
unity. The trip to Germany was confessedly a fail-
ure, so far as the French Emperor was concerned.
The prudence and firmness of the Regent enabled
him to convert an evident attempt to weaken his
position in Germany into the means of securing to
himself renewed confidence and respect; and to
render a meeting which Europe regarded with
suspicion, if not with alarm, an additional guaran-
tee for the preservation of European tranquillity.
If Napoleon 111. was disappointed at Baden, what
is going on at Toplitz is hardly likely to diminish
his dissatisfaction. If we read the interchange of
courtesies between the Prince Regent and Francis
Joseph aright, they mark the termination of that
policy of estrangement which six months ago pro-
mised so well for the views of the French Govern-
ment, and the renewal of the ties on which alone
the strength and safety of Germany depend on a
more durable basis than they have ever yet ob-
tained. For the union of Austria and Prussia can-
not, in these days, mean the fettering of the young
and vigorous monarchy of Northern Germany to
the effete autocratic system now dying out in Aus-
tria, but the rescue of the latter power from the
perils in which a mistaken policy has involved her,
and her maintenance, reinvigorated by the impulse
of constitutional freedom, in the rank froth Which
reverses in war and abuses in her internal adminis-
tration had well nigh cast her down. With another
Prince than the present ruler of Prussia) and
under other circumstances than those Which have
pointed out the necessity of the meeting, we might
have been less sanguine. But the attitude of the
Prince Regent, since his accession to supreme
power, has constantly increased the respect enter-
tained by his subjects for himself and the confi-
dence of Europe in his liberal policy. The times, too,
are significant. Kings and their Ministers know
that they have one amongst them who is as un-
. scrupulous in his designs as he is dexterous in
availing himself of the proper instratnents for their
• execution. The experience of the past has told them
I that the best security against foreign intrigue is a
contented people, and the surest bulwark against
foreign aggression a loyal nation. In spite of bayo-
' net and rifled cannon, the influence of public opi-
nion yearly gains strength. It would no longer be
possible for Prussia and Austria to revive the tra-
ditions and policy of the Holy Alliance with France
ready to espouse the popular cause. Still less
would it be possible so to stifle the aspirations of
the German people as to convert it into the mere
instrument of repression and coercion. At the pre-
sent moment there is no continental monarch more
regarded than the ruler of Prussia. He is accepted
by the intelligence of Germany as the best expo-
nent of its tendencies. But he owes his popularity
not more to his honest German feeling than to the
universal conviction that he has the liberties of the
German people really at heart. A doubt thrown
I upon this belief would at once annihilate his in- ;
Ifluence. More than that, it can hardly be but that
I the necessity of alliance with England, and the
intimate connection with our Court, should have
their effects in moulding Prussian policy. If there
were no motive but expediency to prompt a resolute
adherence to the programme which the Prince
Regent has laid down for his country, we could not
doubt the choice he would make. For never did
mere expediency and an enlightened patriotism
more distinctly point to a common object ? We
have no fear, then, of the results of the conference
at Tceplitz, and we dismiss as idle rumour the re-
.

port of a German intervention between the King of
Naples and the revolution in Italy. Such a step
would give France an opportunity of which she
would not be slow to avail herself. It would, be-
sides, he contrary to German feeling, and it would
irrevocably alienate the sympathies of the Eng-
lish people. Intervention in Italy, whatever
may be the desire of Austria, animated with
a deadly jealousy of the rising fortunes of
Sardinia, forms, we are persuaded, no part of the
policy of the Prince Regent; and we can scarcely
believe that the Government of Austria is prepared
to quit the dignified attitude which she has pre-
served since the peace of Villafranca, and ally her-
self with the ruined hopes of the Neapolitan Bour-
bons. Other questions than the fate of Francis 11.
of Naples must have occupied the attention of the
two German Sovereigns. First of these is the de-
fence of German territory. It wanted not Mr.
Kinglake's revelations to tell the German Courts of
the intrigues that Were working their insidious way
amongst the populations of the Rhine and Belgium,
in the Italian Tyrol, and in Hungary. It is plain,
moreover, that Cavour has lost his hold on the
revolution which he has created ; and that every
fresh success of Garibaldi's forces only hastens the
moment when Italy and Austria must stand face to
face with Venice for the prize of the conqueror.
The last Italian province of Austria is not Federal
territory. But the German Confederation would
not willingly see it in the hands of a powerful and
ambitious Italian ruler ; and the great soldier who
now fights for Italian unity has solemnly promised
his sword to Hungary on the day when the freedom
of his own soil shall have been accomplished.
Somewhere, however, the line must be drawn, and
even Garibaldi may pause before provoking a quar-
rel with united Germany. Then, there is the
Schleswig• Holstein affair, which every month as-
sumes a more menacing aspect; and the Syrian
question, which seems to threaten the catastrophe
which Europe has striven so long to avert. All
these are subjects which must be anxiously con-
sidered by the German Sovereign ; none the less
anxiously because of the past interviews at Villa-
franca and Baden. On the whole, however, we be-
lieve the meeting at Toplitz must have a good and
tranquillising effect, principally because the union
of Germany deprives Louis Napoleon of one great
lever. If this union be based on a solid and lasting
foundation . the preponderating influence which
France has hitherto exercised in continental poli-
tics will receive a wholesome check, and Europe may
yet settle the great political problems now pressing
for solution without recurring to the grave arbitra•
ment of a general struggle.—Morning Herald.

THE RELIGIOUS SERVICES AT ST.
GEOROES-IN-TLIE-EAST.

The services at the parish church of St. George's-
in-the-East were yesterday conducted by the Rev.
I. Hansard, of St. Mary's, Bryanston-square,
Marylebone, who has been appointed to officiate in
the absence of the rector, the Rev. Bryan King,
who is on 12 months' leave of absence to the Con-
tinent. The arrangement is stated to have been
made with a view to restore peace and harmony in
this long-distracted parish by a return to the true
worship of the Church of England, and in an utter
repudiation of all the mummeries of Puseyism ;
and it is gratifying to find that the inauguration
services of the Rev. Mr. Hansard yesterday were
such, both as regards their character and the
manner in which they were appreciated and re-
ceived by the numbers who assembled to hear them,
as to inspire a well-grounded hope that in a few
weeks the old parishioners will have again betaken
themselves to their parish church, and that the pa-
rochial system will be re-established in full vigour
in the parish. At the morning service there was a
much larger attendance than on ordinary occasions.
The service was proceeded with and gone
through in the usual form observed in the Church
of England, none of it being choral except the
psalms for the day, which were sung by one party
and said by other, as in the days of the Rev. Bryan
King. The sermon was also preached by the Rev.
Mr. Hansard, who, previous to giving out his text,
instead of repeating the Puseyite formula, offered
up the customary prayer. The rev. gentleman,
however, having, it is believed more from accident
than design, gene into the pulpit in his surplice
instead of, as was supposed he would do, in a
black gown, a considerable manifestation of feeling
was displayed at his doing so by large numbers
getting out of the pews and leaving the church in
a somewhat rude manner. The interruption was,
however, but momentary. In the evening there
was a still larger congregation, but everything
passed off quietly.