The Sun.
London, England, 1859-07-12 00:00:00

(No. 2) BILL,

On the motion for the consideration of theLords' Amend-
ments to this measure, which stood on the paper as a pri-
vate bill, and the consideration of which, it will be remem-
bered, was adjourned from Thursday last till this day, on
' an exception taken by Sir H. Willoughby.
Sir J. GRAHAM said he thought the hen. baronet the
member for Evesham (Sir H. Willoughby) had done great
public service in pointing attention to the nature of this
measure when it was last before the house. He (Sir J.
Graham) had since endeavoured to ascertain the facts con-
nected with the introduction of the bill and the efforts
made to pass it. He held in his hand the original prospec-
tus of the company, issued in August last, in which the
substance of the agreement subsequently made by them with
the Government was embodied. The bill containing that
agreement was introduced at the commencement of last ses-
sion, and, being a private bill, the forms of the house would
necessarily be gone through, but no attention on the part
of the house was bestowed on the subject, and no respon-
sible Minister of the Crown explained the nature of the
transaction. The bill, so passed, was carried to the House
of Lords without comment, so far as he was able to under-
stand. There it arrived at its last stage immediately before
the dissolution, and so dropped, though an attempt had been
there made on the part of the late Government to pass it
without delay. ,The bill was re-introduced in the present
Parliament, the same forms were gone throu,gh in this
house without observation, as It appeared, on the part of
hon. members, and it went up to the House of Lords, where
it was on the point of passing, when Lord Stanley of Al-
derley, in its last stage, insisted as an amendment, that the
whole of the contract between the company and the Go-
vernment should be inserted in the bill. That amendment
the Lords made, and that amendment the House of Com-
mons were now called on to consider. He (Sir J. Graham)
had a strong opinion that this bill contained some objection-
able clauses. In the first place, it gave a guarantee of 41
per cent.—(hear)—upon all the capital of this company
paid up, and for what period, would the house believe, that
guarantee was given ? Why, for a period of 50 years from
this time, and that guarantee was to extend over the whole
of that long interval without reference to the success of the
company. (Hear.) There was another circumstance in which
. he saw the most serious objection—namely, that the Govern-
ment was nominated ex officio directors, and one,of those
ex officio directors, an intimate friend of his own, was a first-
class clerk of the Treasury, a gentleman of the highest hon-
our, and for whom he had the greatest respect; but what
was the temptation to which that gentleman was exposed ?
There was no restraining clause whatever in the bill against
those ex officio directors becoming shareholders in the con-
cern. (Hear.) He thought under the circumstances the
house would do well to suspend the further consideration of
the Lords' amendments of the bill for a fortnight or three
weeks to enable the committee on contracts,whicle,was to be
appointed that night, to inquire into the transaction and re-
port their opinion upon it to the house. (Hear.) That being
the view he ventured_to take of the matter, he moved as an
amendment that the further consideration of the Lords'
amendments be deferred for one fortnight. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. ELLICE seconded the amendment, and expiw•sed
his obligations to his right hon. friend for bringing this
subject under the consideration of the house. He (Mr.
Ellice) came down to the house for the purpose of asking,
the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he intended to no-
minate his committee on contracts, and to raise a discussion
with respect to the constitution of that committee. He com-
plained that the Treasury gave their sanction to bills of this
description without the house having before them any of
the grounds on whick they did so—(hear, hear)—and.he
intended to call the attention of the house to that subject,
which was altogether contrary to what used to be the prac-
tice of the Treasury. (Hear, hear.)
Sir 3. GRAHAM said, in explanation, he was in error
in stating the bill had been reintroduced in the present Par-
liament. It appeared to have been suspended, which, of
course, bade his case the stronger.
Mr. GREGSON said that the only amendment of the
slightest importance, except the schedule, was the omission
of the clause giving borrowing powers to the company. The
project was before the public for 18 months before the
guarantee was obtained, a prospectus issued in 1867, pro-
mising a 5 per cent. conditional guarantee from the East
India Company, having _failed to induce the public to sub-
scribe. He had received a letter from Mr. Corthorn the
broker to the company, a gentleman of high respectability,
who said
" You. will recollect the anxious deliberation bestowed
upon the extent of guarantee to be given by the Govern-
ment to the Red Sea Telegraph Company, and the desire
felt not to require more than sufficient to float the shares.
I can conscientiously declare that I believed at the time,
and still believe, that lower terms than those granted to the
' company would not have been sufficient to raise the capital
required for the undertaking. The result of the issue of the
shares fully corroborates this opinion, for from the date
of the issue of the shares—viz., the 2d of August last, to
the 7th of January, the price ranged from 12s. 6d. pre-
mium per share to Os. premium, the average being Bs. 9d.
premium per share, a profit not too remunerating. Subse-
quently the shares were done at a premium of 15s. ; but
when an obstacle to the passing of the Act of Parliament
during the last Parliament arose the shares fell to 325. 6d.
discount. On the passing of the bill by the Lords, they
rose to a premium of 1- to ft ; but without such guarantee
by Act of Parliament the price would again fali to a dis-
count, and the shares become unmarketable, and great dn.:
culty felt in getting the remaining calls paid."
The total length of line from Alexandria to Kurrachee was
3,268 miles, with eight stations. The line was now completed
:from Alexandria to Aden, a distance of 1,590 miles, and the
remaining section to India would be completed by the end
of this year. Due securities were taken by the Govern.
neut. All advances of interest by the Treasury were to
be. a charge against future profits, and all profits beyond 10
pe r cent. were to be at the disposal of Government for
the* benefit of the public. The Government had the
pea Ter to fix the tariff, and all fin proceedings of the corn-
pan; revere subject to the approval of the Lords of the Tree -
sury, -who app9inted two ex officio directors. The capital
wag,; subscribed entirely on the faith of the contract with
the Tr 4 asury, one of the conditions being that the company
should woceed at once with the work, and enter into em-
trade' it the completion of the line within a given time.
Great i convenience had been caused by the delay which
had alre dy occurred in passing the bill, which went through
both lipu4 ;es in the usual manner, the money clauses having
' in committee of the whole house, on the motion
been pa tas --
of the I ig lit hon. gentleman the late Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer. • The following particulars connected with the
layine- of 'the cable would, he trusted, be interesting toithe
house :
" The , ;OA' was laid without any difficulty between Suez
and Aden tr the greatest depth being, 500 fathoms, and the
bottom so ft Aroughout. It wcrks admirably. (according to
the engin ?,erss report, better than any line hitherto laid),
and has la see ecrat,nually at work, though not handed Over
to the coin 04 ay till .30 days after laying. There has been an
interruptiOp: at Kos, 'sir, caused by an Egyptian steamer
• dragging her anchor hi a gale of wind. It is probably re-
paired by thl s time, being in the harbour, and in shallow
water. Mr. L. Gisborne, the engineer, telegraphed by this
line the loss a 4 the Alma from Aden to Kosseir in a long
message of 7( or 80 words, and received a reply within an
hour. The c ompany's officers have received the most cor-
dial assistant e from all the Turkish and Emtian authori-
ties, and a all ght disturbance among the Hadjis (pilgrims)
at Kosseir, w ho pulled down the telegraph landmark,, was
immediately E ;uppressed by the Governor. At Suakin the
Pacha enterti tined all the telegraph staff at a grand dinner,
and rendered them every assistance in his power. This
morning's ma A brings intelligence of the completion of the
land line beta -eon Alexandria and Suez."
Considering hp importance of a line of telegraph to India,