The Sun.
London, England, 1858-07-20 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY, JULY 20, 1858.

A Royal Commission is to be appointed to in-
quire and report on the all-important question of
the construction or suitable Harbours of Refuge
at proper points along the English coast. There
had been a committee of the House of Commons
which gave very interesting and valuable hints
on the subject. But, unfortunately, from the
terms of the resolution under which it was ap-
pointed, it could not enter into many points, re-
specting which information was urgently required.
A Royal Commission was therefore urgently called
for, and to the credit of the Board of Admiralty,
and the Government generally, it has been
promptly and gracefully conceded.
We cannot conceive any topic more interesting
to English/Ten than that now under discussion.
If BRITANNIA desires to maintain her maritime
supremacy, to be consi(lered as the " Queen of the
Ocean," every proper exertion should be made to
deserve the title. The national wealth is main-
tained by our trade and commerce ; but that
trade and commerce is unquestionably injured—
the expense of insurance is greatly increased—in
consequence of the dangers attendant on our
coast navigation.

There is a double purpose to be achieved. The
mercantile marine should receive every possible
protection, so that what may be termed " pre-
♦entible" risks may be aveit3d so far as practi-
cable, while the safety of the Channel fleet—and,
thanks to Lord DERBY and his colleagues, we are,
at fength to have a bona fide Channel fleet—must
also be taken into consideration. For both rea-
sons, not a single hour should be lost in striving
to remedy the grave sins of omission that could
so fairly and unanswerably be laid to our charge.

If we lcok to the situation of the south-eastern
coast, from the Isle of Wight to the mouth of
the. Thames, it will be seen that there is
not a single port between Portsmouth and Dover,
a diatance, in round tering, of one hundred and
fill miles, that could be regarded as promising
shelter and protection to seamen—no statio bent
fida carinis in which the labouring barque can
find the much-required refuge. There are at least
three prominent headlands in the interval, and
woe to the heavily-laden ship that is driven on a
lee shore by an adverse wind between them. And
yet between Selsea Bid and Beachey Head, there
is a place which might easily be rendered avail-
able, and at a comparatively trivial outlay, con-
sidering the incalculable advantages that such a
harbour would confer on the sh7pping interests,
and that includes the interests of the general
community, whether they are directly interested
as importers, or exporters, or consumers. They
pay so heavily for the dangcrs affecting the car-
gots that, locking at it merely as a matter of
(1., it would be found much cheaper to 1 rc-
vent the (Nils which press so heavily on tha
pockets of the community by an adequate outlay
in the first instance. But the matter should be
regarded in a more elevated point of view. The
lives of our hardy seamen—the true British heart
of oak—should not be endangered through any
paltry cheeseparing notions of economy.
As we have already stated, Newhaven is admi
rably adapted for the purpose of a harbour of