The Sun.
London, England, 1859-04-06 00:00:00

ACT AMENDMENT BILL,

The order for the further proceeding with this bill was
also discharged.

The Public Offices Extension Bill and the Indemnity Bill
were read a third time and passed.
The orders for going into committee on the Title to
Landed Estates Bill and the Registry of Landed Estates
Bill were discharged.

THE GALWAY LINE OF PACKETS.
Mr. HORSFALL rose to call attention to the subject of
the intended mail service between Galway and America,
and to move for a copy of all correspondence connected
therewith. He had no hostility, he said, to the proposed
communication between Galway and America, nor was he
influenced by any Liverpool feeling, because he knew that
influential memorials in favour of the Galway line had been
forwarded from the townwhich he had the honour to repre-
sent, and also from Manchester. But, as a general rule, he
objected to all subsidies, and thought the postal service of
the country might be effectually performed without them.
The fact that the contract with the Galway line had been
entered into privately had given great umbrage to many
persons, and, for his own part, he believed that the country I
would have gained by an open competition. So far back as
October last, a rumour prevailed that it was the intention
of the Government to enter into a contract with the Gal-
way line of steamers for carrying the mail between Galway
and America. A company in Liverpool immediately wrote
to the Treasury to inquire whether such was the case, and
he rested the whole of his complaintupon the answer which
they received. They were informed, in reply to their com-
munication, that when a new postal service was about to be
established by the Government it was the practice of the
Treasury to invite tenders bypublic advertisement, thereby
affording to all parties an opportunity of competing. Now,
he thought the parties in Liverpool had some reason to
complain that after such an assurance a contract should be
entered into privately with the Galway line ; and he hoped,
at all events, that the Government would be able to give
some satisfactory explanation upon the point. (Hear.)
Sir S. NORTHCOTE said there could not, of course, be
the slightest objection to produce the correspondence for
which the hon. member had moved. A great deal of it had
already been published, and the Government were ready to
lay upon the table the further correspondence which had
taken place on the subject. The usual practice when any
new line of postal communication was intended to be esta-
blished was to advertise for tenders ; but the Govern-
ment thought they were justified in treating the line be-
tween Galway and America as an exceptional case, inas-
much as it was proposed not purely for postal purposes, but
as a measure specially important to the interests of Ireland.
The circumstances which connected Ireland with America
were peculiar. A large amount of emigration took place
between the two countries, and it was most desirable that
every facility should be given to it, especially in the way
of affording direct means of communication. If poor per-
sons were obliged to travel from the south or west of
Ireland to England, and then to take their chance of find.
ing a passage to America from an English port, they would
obviously be exposed to considerable hardship, and he
believed that in many cases intending Irish emigrants
had become chargeable upon the Liverpool poor-rates
from their inability to proceed further. Moreover, a
large proportion of the postal ccmmunication between Great
Britain and America—he believed about a third—belonged
to Ireland. Under these circumstances a company
was formed to establish a line of steamers between
Galway and America. It entered into an arrange-
ment with the Government of Newfoundland for the
performance of a postal service, and it asked for a sub-
sidy from the Imperial Government, with the view of
making that service more complete—converting it, in fact,
into a service between Ireland and North America gene-
rally. Its application was backed by an overwhelming
number of memorials from commercial bodies, not
in Ireland merely, but throughout the United Kingdom,
and the conclusion to which the Government came was
that those who had originated the idea should be the per-
sons authorised to carry it out. The same course was
adopted, if he was not mistaken, in the case of the Cunard
line, and the public interest required that the authors of
new and valuable schemes should be regarded in order that
others might be stimulated by their example. It was pos-
sible that further communications might be established
hereafter between England and North A merica ; in that
event the usual course of inviting tenders would be fol-
lowed ; but he hoped he had satised the house that the
Government were justified in treating the Galway line as
an exceptional case. (Hear, hear.)
Colonel FRENCH said it appeared to him that this mo-
tion was made in the old monopolising spirit, to crush the
rising interests of Irleand, as in former times acts of Par-
liament were passed to prohibit the making of cloth and
establishing other restrictions in respect to Ireland, though
he admitted that of late years that system had been changed.
This company was formed to establish a direct communica-
tion between Ireland and America, and made to the Go-
vernment an offer which the Secretary to the Treasury had
shown to be of public advantage, and he knew not with
what object the present motion was made by the hon.
member, unless it was brought forward in obedience to the
desires of his constituents.
Sir D. NORREYS conceived that the arrangement made
by the Government was a hasty one, and he believed that it
would be found a most improvident one ; but he trusted
that the company had been bound to provide such vessels as
would insure the greatest celerity and public convenience
in the transit. If the Government had announced that it was
desired to establish a communication between some portion
of Ireland and Americ,a,, the self-interest of the mercantile
community would. have led them to make an arrangement
infinitely cheaper and more beneficial to the country than
that adopted by the Government.
Mr. VANCE thought that the conduct of the Government
in this matter was highly to be commended. There was a
general demand in Ireland for this subsidy, which had been
well earned by the ability and enterprise which had led to
the establishment of the line in question. (Hear.) The
communication with Newfoundland was now very different
from formerly. The Cunard vessels went past Newfound.:
land to Halifax, and the letters had to bo brought back to
Newfoundland. By the Cunard steamers the'communica-
tion with Canada was fortnightly, whereas this new line
would supply a weekly communication with that place, and.
I no act of the present Government had given more satisfac-
tion to the mercantile interests, not only in Ireland, but in
England, than the subsidy to the Galway line.
Mr. COWPER, as an English member, entered his pro-
test against the most reprehensible and improper course taken
by the Government in this matter. He understood the Secre-
tary to the Treasury to lay down the doctrine that the Go-
vernment were quite right in making this large contract for
£78,000 without competition among persons willing to ten-
der, and without giving the House of Commons an oppor-
tunity of expressing an opinion with respect to it. (Hear,
hear.) A fair opportunity ought to have been allowed for
all parties to tender for the service, and the public had a
right to complain of the course taken by the Government,

because there ought to ht we been some proper test of the
value of the service to be performed, and such a test would
have been best afforded by competition. (Hear, hear.) He
thought the Government Nvere also reprehensible for Rerse •
vering in their intention tea sign the contract without giving
the House of Commons an opportunit3r of ascertaining
the facts of the ease, ankl considering whether, on the
whole, the arrangement proposed was tho best that could
be made, not only in the matter of econorn y, but with refe-
rence to the interests of Irefand. He the ught the house
ought to require some explanation why a v ery large expen-
diture was at all necessary fer the conveyance of letters be-
tween Ireland and Newfoundland, The house had been
in the habit of voting a sum of about £7,,C,00 a-year for the
conveyance of letters by mail-packet beta Ten Halifax and
Newfoundland, and if £78,000 was applied merely to the
conveyance of letters to the United Stai es through New-
foundland, he thought it would be difficu It to justify such
an expenditure, because £176,000 a-year was already de-
voted to the maintenance of a weekly seri -ice between Eng-
land and New York, and England and P .oston and Halifax
alternately. He did not mean to deny ti tat it might be ad-
visable to make arrangements for despr itching a mail to
North America from some Irish port alter -nately with Liver-
pool—(hear, hear)—but he thought it ar t extravagant pro-
position that, in addition to the weekly service from Eng-
land, another and a totally distinct sera ice should be esta-
blished from Ireland. Letters could' 'be collected from the
greater part of Ireland and despatch 1, to North America
from Liverpool as conveniently as from ".:jralway. It was im-
possible, however, to suppose that this e 'xpenditure was in-
tended merely for the conveyance of lette. rs. Its object was,
no doubt, to benefit Ireland by promoting • emigration. The
Secretary to the Treasury had admitted thi it it was intended
to facilitate emigration by establishing a ft 'equent commu-
nication between Ireland and Newfoundlant 1. It was right
that any fair sum of money should be devotee! to such. a pur-
pose, but if this were the object, why should the Ciovern-
ment take credit upon their own responsibility for a dvanc-
ing the public money to promote this intercourse P The
proper course would, in his opinion, have been for the Secre-
tary to the Treasury to have submitted to the house a vote
for the necessary sum, stating the purpose for which it was
required; but why did the Governmentt take credit for a
measure which was said to be popular in Ireland, without
allowing the House of Commons to express their opinion on
the subject ? He thought the Government had pursued a
most improper, unusual, and unprecedented course in hav-
ing secretly, upon their own authority, without laying any
papers upon the table or proposing a vote, granted a sum of
money to a particular company without permitting any corn-
petition. He thought this conduct was the more strange as
Parliament was near its close. He hcped there was yet time
for the Government to reconsider the course they were
about to take, and that they would think it n.tore consistent
with their duty not to sign any contract at present, but to
leave the subject to be brought before the future Parliament
in a regular manner by an estimate, accompanied by an ex-
planation of the purposes to which the amount was to be
applied. He would be most happy, if the Government could
make out a fair case, to concur in granting any sum that
might be necessary; but he thought the house ought to
know what was the exact character of the contract, how
long it was to last, and the specific object with which it was
entered into, and the Government would then be relieved
from many suspicions and rumours that had been spread
abroad on this subject, which he thought could only be
fairly met by their establishing a clear case for the grant.
He must, under the circumstances, enter his protest against
the course which the Government proposed to pursue in
relation to this matter.
Mr. P. O'BRIEN was astonished to hear the hon. mem-
ber for Mallow (Sir D. Norreys), protest against this grant,
which was regarded in Ireland—except perhaps by persons
who were interested in particulor ports—as a great boon,
very gracefully conceded by the Government. He believed
Irish members were almost unanimously of opinion that
the establishment of the proposed communication would be
attended with immense advantage to Ireland. The Secre-
tary to the Treasury had, he thought, properly treated this
as an exceptional case. If Cork, or Limerick, or any other
Irish port had entered the field in competition with Gal-
way, he could have understood the objections which were
made to the course adopted by the Government, but no such
movement had taken place. Some four years back it was
stated by the hon. member for South Lancashire (Mr. W.
Brown), one of the leading merchants engaged in the Ameri-
can trade, that two-thirds:of the letters which were received
by his house in Liverpool from America were from emi-
grants who had gone out from Ireland, and who had sent
remittances to their friends in that country. He thought,
therefore, it was fair to infer that increased facilities for
postal communication between North America and Ireland
were required.

Mr. SPAIGHT seconded the motion, and observed that
the Government had entiled themselves to the gratitude of
the Irish people by acknowledging that, from its geo-
graphical position, Ireland was the high road between
this country and her colonies in the West; but he en-
tertained some doubt whether the course pursued by
the Government was the best calulated to attain the ob-
ject they had in view. If they deemed it right that a sub-
sidy should be given to establish postal commmunication
between Ireland and America, he thought they should have
studied the interests of the public by adopting the route
which ensures the greatest convenience, safety, and eco-
nomy. The subject of this communication had been under
the consideration of Parliament since 1831; four commis-
sions had inquired into the matter, and an opinion had
been expressed that Galway was not the most convenient
port on the western coast of Ireland as a station for trans-
atlantic communication. He deplored that the Govern-
ment had gone so far in this particular instance. They
would have better consulted the public interest if they had
reserved their decision until the whole matter had been
made the subject of a public inquiry. Whatever might be
the merits of the Galway line, he greatly doubted whether
it had been proved that it had any claims upon that house
and the country. Certainly the passage to Newfoundland
had been successful. It was well known that owing to the
fogs and the ice it was impossible for six months in the
year to carry on a communication of this kind with New-
foundland. He entreated the Government, therefore, to
stay any proceeding until the question had been fully
brought before the house. The interests of the Shannon
were entitled to equal consideration, and all he asked for
was a fair and open investigation. The highest naval
authorities had declared that Galway in its present state
was totally unfitted for an efficient packet station.
. _

Mr. RfCHARDSON said it was natural that the hon.
member for Liverpool should dislike competition, but that
Irish members should do the same excited his astonishment
and was not patriotic. He thanked the Government for
what they had done. It was stated that Galway was a dan-
gerous port to enter, but so was Liverpool itself ; and,
moreover, the former place could easily be made a first-rate
port and transatlantic station at an exceedingly moderateexpense. Enormous sums had been laid out upon English
harbours. At Holyhead, for example, the cost of the
works was about a million sterling ; whereas to render
Galway a port which the Great Eastern might enter at
low water, the entire expenditure required would be only
£150,000. Even upon the right hon. member for Hertford's
own showing, the present Government must have entered
into a very good bargain with the Galway line, because they
had agreed upon a less sum by £3OO per voyage than was
paid to the Cunard line. The opposition offered in this
case reminded one of the ancient state of Ireland, when
Limerick fought against Galway and Galway against Lime-
rick. (A laugh.) If the Limerick gentlemen had shown
their patriotism by starting a line from their own port for
the accommodation of the country, not one word would
have been said against them ; but having done nothing of
the kind, it certainly seemed rather like sour grapes for
them now to unite with the Liverpool men against their
own fellow countrymen in Galway. (Laughter.) The in-
terests of the north of Ireland, as well as of England and
Scotland, ought to be considered in connexion with this
question, because the direct line of postal service between
Ireland and America and our own colonies in the west
would lie by way of Belfast and the railroad now in course
of formation to Galway. Dependent as it was upon Liver-
pool for its postal communication, the trade of Ireland was
in a position in which no public-spirited Irish member
should wish to see it placed.

Mr. ROEBUCK hoped the house would excuse him if he
addressed it for a few moments on this matter, in which he
certainly had a personal interest. Regarding Ireland as
one limb of this great empire, he had always desired to
bring her, if possible, up to the standard of England.
(Hear, hear.) He saw an attempt made on the part of cer-
tain enterprising men in London to open a direct communi-
cation between Ireland and America, and by thus affording
mercantile advantages to Ireland to benefit that country
without doing injury to anybody; and though an English-
man, yet, wishing well to the sister island, he had taken
part in this adventure. Now, he was very much—he was
about to say astonished, only he had ceased to be
astonished at anything—(a laugh)—but he admired
this wondrous outburst of patriotism on the part of the
front Opposition bench. (Laughter.) The right hon.
member for Hertford (Mr. Cowper) appeared very niuch
shocked at the idea of this contract being entered into by
his political opponents with the Galway Company without
the papers being laid before the House of Commons. But
had that never been done before ? Had it never been done
by the immaculate body whose hard fate it now was to
occupy the Opposition benches ? (Hear, hear, and
laughter.) What was lately done with Mr. Cunard ? And
when the right hon. gentleman told them that no appeal had
been made on that occasion to that house he told them
nothing to the purpose. The last contract with Mr. Cunard
was made by the late Government upon stipulations which
were entered into by the. present Government, because they
had been left them as a legacy by their predecessors. Of
that the House of Commons knew absolutely nothing,
though that house was bound by the contract made by the
late Government and carried out through the medium of
their successors. (Hear.) What, however, had the present
Government done with regard to the Galway Company ? It
was found that letters could be transmitted from London to
New York, through Galway, in 24 hours less time than via
Liverpool ; and tenders were accordingly sent in to the Go-
vernment offering to conduct the mercantile communication
between England, Ireland, and America by that shorter
route. The Government, looking at the proposal from an
imperial point of view, considered it in the light of a ques-
tion of what they could do for Ireland, and, indeed, for the
whole mercantile community of the united kingdom, by
means of a new postal line by way of Galway. Following
previous examples, the Government investigated the mat-
ter and judged for itself. It had taken proper precau-
tions to secure good ships, and to have the service done
in the specified time. There was no harm or injury in-
flicted on any port in England by this. The hon. member
for Liverpool (Mr. Horsfall) told them he was not an enemy
to Galway—the chief opposition to the enterprise appeared
to come from Ireland. There was always something going
on against the Galway Company among persons connected
with Limerick. The House of Commons, which was su-
perior to all local and personal considerations, would, he
hoped, judge as he had done himself. He found that
various persons perfectly conversant with mercantile and
marine affairs had selected Galway from among the dif-
ferent ports on the Irish coast. There was no competition
either from Limerick or Valentia ; the company was estab -
lished at Galway ; and the opposition was very like the old
Irish quarrels ; the dissensions among the Irish themselves
utterly destroyed their own interests. No sooner was a
good thing proposed to be done for Ireland than the most
farce opposition to it came from Ireland itself. Several
Englishmen had selected Galway as the fittest port for the
enterprise ; they came to the Government, offered to do
certain things, and bound themselves to do them; and
when the house was told that Mr. Cunard had astonished
the Government by the lowness of his tender he could

assure it that the r tender of the Galway Company was
lower than that of Mr. Cunard. They should look at this
enterprise as an Imperial matter—not as a mere postal ar-
rangement. He thought the establishment of the Galway
Company a great step in the mercantile improvement of
Ireland. That improvement depended on English capital
flowing into it, and yet when Englishmen did what every
good Irishman admitted ought to be done, by whom were
they most opposed ? By Irishmen. It told badly for
them ; they should merge their small, petty, and local
feelings in the great consideration of the Imperial interests
of Ireland ; they should forget Limerick and Galway, and
think of it only as an Imperial question.
Mr. F. W. RUSSELL had always approved the principle
laid down by the Government, that the line of Atlantic
communication should have its point of departure on the
west coast of Ireland, But he must condemn the Govern-