The Sun.
London, England, 1858-07-27 00:00:00

a sensible bill, and he should vote that it be restored to
its original int• grity. (Cheers.)
Lord PALMERSTON sail the qnesti ,n bad been con
sidered and debate(' hy the Lou e, and the c!anse siruck
out by the Lords had been re affirmed by the Commons,
and he thought the house should adhere to its decision,
The amendments were then severally negatived with-
out a division, and a committee was appointed to draw
up reasons for rejecting the Lords' amendments,
The Juigments (Ireland) Act Amendment Bill was
read a third time and passed.
The Lords' amendments to the following bills were
then severally c,n,idered and a2reed to :—Stipendiary
Magistrates, &c.; Titles of Land (Scotland) ; and Sile
and Transfer of Lands (Ireland) Bills.
The Endowed SclioolsLaw Amendment 8.11 was with-
drawn.

The Trustees, 111nrtgagees, &c., Bill was read a sennd
time.

LAW OF PROPERTY A NIENDMENT RILL
On tl e motion that this as amended, be considered,
Mr. ROLT objected to the bill, and hoped it would
be withdrawn.

The ATTORNEY GENERAL said he assented to
the request made to him with regret, because the mea-
sure before the house was a good one ; but as he could
not pass it this session he would withdraw it.

The bill was accordingly withdrawn.
The following bills were read a second time ;—lnter.
national Patent Right ; Administration of Oath+ by
Committees ; and Leases and Shies of Settled E-tates
Act Amendment Bills.

The following bills were read a third time : —New
Writs ; Probate and Letters of Administration Act
Amendment ; and Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act
Amendment Biils.
HARBOURS OF REFUGE.
Mr. WILSON, in rising to call attention to the re
port of the Select Committee on this sus jest, said the
late Government had been deeply impressed by the re-
presentations made to them respecting the deficient
accommodation fir shipping on parts of our coast, and
early in 1857 a committee had been appointed which
bad investigated the subject during that and a portion of
the present session. The enormout losses of life and
property which took place every year on our coast
would fully justify any Government in taking some de-
cided step on a matter of such importance. In five
years there were 5,128 casualties on oar coast, of which
2,184 resulted in wrecks or total loss ,rond 2 M 4 in
damages of smaller or greater degree. During the same
period 4,148 persons lost their lives, or an average of
830 every year. Moreover, the mere money value of
these losses amounted to an average of 1,500,0001. per
annum. (Hear.) These two facts alone, he though,
should be a sufficient inducement for this house care-
fully to consider the subject and try ts) remedy the cry-
ing evils which resulted from the present condition of
our coast. These losses were contingent to a great de-
gree on the crowded state of our waters, arising from
the great increase which had of late taken place in our
shipping. In 1843 the amount of teenage of British
shipping which entered or cleared from ports or harbours
of the three kingdoms was 7,180 000, and of foreign
tonnage 2,643,000—making altogether 9,824,000 tons
of shipping. That was 15 years ago, while last year the
amount of British tonnage wasl3 694,000, and of foreign
9,484,000 making a total of 23 178 000 tuns. Thus the
increase within 15 years had been more than 130 per
cent., and this increase bad not been caused by any sud-
den or momentary impulse ; it bad been gradual and
steady, and even in 1857 was equal to that of any pre•
ceding year. There was, therefore, every reason to
suppose that this great development would proceed at the
same rapid rate as before, and if the crowded state of our
waters now led to such enormous loss of property and life
it was reasonable to expect that that loss would increase
proportionately with the increase in our trade unless
means were taken to afford greater facilities to shipping
upon our coast. Another proof of the rapid growth of
our shipping was that in 1843 the amount of tonnage
built in this country was 83,000, while last year it was
250,090 tons. What, then, under such circumstances was
the duty of the Government and of this house? As a
general rule the committee over which he presided had
confined their attention chiefly to the question of har-
bours of refuge, strictly so called, and they had exa-
mined upwards of 60 witnesses, among whom were Capt.
Washington and Capt. Veitch, of the Admiralty, Capt.
Sutherland, of the Board of Trade, professional gentle-
men of great eminence, and local engineers and practical
men who navigated our coast. The labours of the com-
mittee, he thought, entitled their report to consider ition
from the house, and that report was, he trusted, a fair
statement of the facts and summary cf the evidence ad-
duced. They found that various parts of our coast were
well studded with natural harbours. The attention of the
committee, however, had been concentrated upon a few
important points. The part of the coast which had come
specially under notice was that lying between Pentland
Frith and the Frith of Forth in Sc tland, and in the case
of that line of coast they had indicated the localities with-
out naming the precise spot at which, as it contained no
large natural harbours, harbours of refuge should be
erected. The part of the coast which had come next under
their consideration was that stretching from St. Abb's to
Flamborough Head in Yorkshire, between which points
it appeared there was no secure retreat for shipping.
In that case also the committee had recommended that
no precise locality should be fixed upon, but that the ad
vantages which any portion of the coast possessed fcr
the construction there of a harbour of refuge might
' form the subject of inquiry. With respect to the east
coast of England the c immittee h:d come to the con-
clusion that, inasmuch as it was furnished with such
places of refuge as the Wash, the Humber, Yarmouth-
roads, and the Thames, it was amply well supplied in
that particular, while the existence of the harbour
of Dover, though not, he was ready to admit, so
much a harbour of refuge as cf defence—of the new har-
bour at Portland, which when finished would be one of
the most magnificent p aces of refuge in the world, and
of the natural harbours of Falmouth and Plymouth upon
the south coast, rendered it in the eyes of the committee
inexpedient that any expenditure of public money should
be incurred in that quarter. Directing their attention,
howevea to the line of coast which lay between the
Land's-end and the Bristol Ceannel, the committee had
found that there was in that direction a great want of
harbours of refuge, and had become stioagly impressed
with the expediency of erecting a harbour at Bristol,
owing to tho rapid extension of the trade with New
South Wales in iron and coal. With those exceptions,
there was no point on the coast of Great Britain at which
the committee had deemed it necessary that expenditure
should be incurred, especially when they tot k into ac-
count that a magnificent harbour at Holyhead was now
rapidly progressing towards completion. Turning to
Ireland, they bad ascertained that there were three
points at which it was desirable that something should
be done with the view of affording greater security to
shipping. One of these was C.arlingforcl-bay, which
simply required that a large sandbank at its entrance
should be removed, in order to render it capable of ad-
mitting the largest class of vessels. Then there was
Waterford-bay, to which a precisely similar observation
applied ; and lastly, Portrusb, on the north coast of Ire-
land, which, by means of natural rocks called the Saer-
ries, formed an almost natural harbour, but which,
oaing to the fact that the interstices between tho e
rocks, did not admit a sufficient amount of water to
flat large vessels, wou'd require that a sum cf about
130.0001. should be laid out upon it befime it c iuld be
nrede thoroughly avai'abie as a harbour of refuge. Those
to which he had adverted were the on!), points a!org the
coasts of these islailds which the committee bad recom-
mended as the sites of public works ; but in making
that statement he was by no means pr peat d to contend
that the commission which was about to be appointed
might not extend beyond theta the scope of its it•quirY•
Ile was at the satne time of opinion that the Govein-
rnent should be extremely careful vvi h respect to allow-
ing an extension of the limits of the inquiry, because the
result might be that the whole question would again be
raised, and that works of urgent imperance would not
in the meantime be constructed with that expedition
which was desirable. (Hear.) He had stated that the
probable cost of the I,r)posed works would be two mil-
lions and a balf, which was the subtraction tf so much
from the aggregate capital of the country, while the loss
of life amounted annually to 800 persons. The evil
which the house was called upon to remedy was not one
of a merely speculative character, but one which either
as involving considerations of humanity, or of pounds,
shillings, and pence, demanded the most serious atten-
tion. Of the expenditure which it would be necessary
to incur in order to obviate that evil it had been sug-
gested that the shipping interest ought to bear a p
In that view he bad concurred, because he thought the
advocates of the establishment of harbours of refuge
would come to that Louse with a better chance of success
if they could state that the classes more immediately in-
terested in the question were prepared to contribute to
the attainment of the object which they sought to ac-
complish. There were others, he was aware, who held a
contrary opinion, and he, for one, should offer no oppo.
sition to the payment of the whole of the expenditure
out of the public money, should that course be deemed
the one which it was nsost expedient to adopt. (Hear )
He did not, however, think that it would be wise to
discuss that question at present, deeming it more advis-
able that it should be left for the future consideration of
the Government. _The inexhaustible resources of our
trade and commerce had been shown by the immenee in-
crease of our exports, but our shores were limited in ex-
tent and our ports limited in number. It was, therefore,
our duty to provide as much accommodation and security
for the ships which frequented our coasts as ingenuity
and capital could provide. He thanked the Government
for the readiness with which they had met his proposal
for the appointment of a commission, and hoped that
its labours would result to the advantage of the
country. (Hear, hear.) The hon. gentleman cocoluded
by moving for an address for the appointment cf a Royal
Commission in order to the inquiry in the terms recom-
mended in the report of the S.l:et Cnno.itteo upon
Ilierbours of Refugt..

Mr. LINDSAY seconded the motion an I observed
that ho had never read a report which contained more
valuable information. He rejoiced that the Government
a-sented to the appointment of the commission, but
hyped that the inquiries of the commissioners would he
limited to the evidence that was adduced before the com-
mittee, otherwise there woul i be a constant competition
of corporations as to the bes: sites for harbcurs of re-
fuge. He recommended that the commissioners should
have a steamer placed at their disposal, a competent and
unprejudiced engineer, that they should be furnished
with the report of the select committee, with the evi-
dence given before it, and all other necessary documents,
and thus it was provided, that they should visit the va-
rious plants indicated in that evidence, and if necessary,
take any additioLal evidenca up,n the spot, the capabili-
ties of which they could examine for themselves. The
report pointed out that the main difficulty was the ques-
tion of how the means were to be raised, and he was glad
to find that the bon. gentleman (Mr. Wilson) did not
obk ct to the expense being defrayed from the CJnsali-
dated Fund. It was quite certain that there could be no
recurrence to passing tolls, which had been all but