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

ment for the mode in which it had carried out this contract.
Having determined on the service to be performed, the Go-
vernment should have advertised for tenders for it ; there
would then have been an opportunity of testing the compa-
rative advantages of the different Irish ports. The under-
taking was not commenced by Galway ; it was begun in
London, and the steamvessels were sent over from England.
There was no reason why other steam shipowners should
not have adopted the same course. There were other ports
from which the service, as far as the public was concerned,
could be better performed than from Galway. From the
nature of the coast about Galway it would be necessary to
construct works there on the most gigantic scale, equal to
those of Cherbourg—(No, no)—and at a great expense to
the country. The Government ought to postpone any fur-
ther steps in this matter till a new Parliament had an op-
portunity of expressing an opinion upon it.
Sir F: BARING thought the discussion ought at least to
be suspended till the papers on the subject were before the
house. It ought then to be referred to a select committee to
inquire into all the proceedings that had taken place. He was
surprised to hear the hon. member (Mr. Roebuck) condemn
the good general principle of putting up all these mail lines
to public competition. It would be well for the house to
consider how the Government exercised the power of enter-
ing into these large cont:acts. The House of Commons had
nearly lost all control over them ; they were made without
the knowledge of the house ; and the parties were often
bound by the agreement to build a certain number of vessels
for the service. If the contract was not afterwards carried
out, those parties would have a fair claim on the house for
compensation for that outlay. The Government could not
for itself erect a single shed without coming to the house
for its sanction to the vote ; but it could enter into con-
tracts for hundreds of thousands of pounds, extending over
20 years, and the house had no control over it. It was a
serious matter for their consideration whether the Govern-
ment should not be compelled to lay every contract on the
table of the house some certain time before it was concluded.
Mr. SULLIVAN regretted very much that the hon.
and learned member for Sheffield should have had a fling
at the Irish members, for had he taken the trouble to sift
the chaff from the corn he would have found that out of the
whole body of Irish members five would perhaps support
Limerick while the other 100 would vote to a man in favour
of Galway. (" No, no I") Ho (Mr. Sullivan) ha& the
authority of an eminent member of this house (Mr. Stephen-
son) for saying that, in that gentleman's opinion, there was
no other port in Ireland which could at all equal for the
Transatlantic service the port of Galway. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. MONSELL questioned the statement just made as
to the comparative unanimity of Irish members on this
tion, and said that a considerable number who were in-
terested in neither of the two ports mentioned thought that
the subject should be fairly and impartially sifted before
any selection was made. He should have desired the ap-
pointment of a committee to take evidence, and then decide
whether the course proposed by the Government was best
adapted not for the interests of this or that port, but of Ire-
land in general. Various committees and commissions
which had previously inquired into the subject had reported
not in favour of Galway, but of another port. (Hear, hear.)
There was no difference of opinion in this house respecting,
the desirability of establishing a Transatlantic communica-
tion between Ireland and America; the only question was
the best mode of carrying out this object. Surely the pro-
per course would have been to invite competition and to call
upon the whole mercantile interest of this county to send in
tenders. (Hear, hear.) Everybody would then have been
satisfied, and the best port would have been selected without
regard to local bias. He would ask the Chancellor of the
Exchequer to allow the subject to be referred even new to a
fair and impartial tribunal, and not to bind the House of
Commons and the Government by entering rashly into this
contract. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. BEAMISH did not blame the Galway Company for
what they had done ; but thought it would have been much
more regular had the Government ascertained the feel-
ings of the mercantile body generally on this subject, and
sought to establish a communication between Ireland and
America by fair and open tender. He personally might have
a predilection for the port with which he was connected ;
but all he wished was that the matter should be fairly dealt
with. So large a sum should not have been given to any
parties behind the backs of the house without the security
afforded by tender. (Hear.)
Mr. JACKSON thought that no subsidies at all were re-
quisite, either for the postal or commercial service between
England and America. If the communication between the
two countries were left to private enterprise, ample accom-
modation would be afforded without the necessity for resort-
ing to Imperial taxation. (Hear.) The Great Eastern, with
which he was connected, would, when ready for sea, be
prepared to carry on the postal communication across the
Atlantic swifter than any other ship without asking Go-
vernment for a shilling. With regard to Galway, he did not
ask himself whether that was the best or worst port for the
purposes required ; but he contended that if it were really
the best it would soon have been selected as the point of in-
tercommunication, and he though the Government ought to
have paused before supporting any individual enterprise,
(Hear.)

The'motion was then agreed to.
EXPIRING LAWS.
_ _ _

On the motion of Sir S. NORTHCOTE, a committee was
appointed to inquire what temporary laws of a public and
general nature are now in fore, and what laws of the like
nature have expired since the last report upon the subject;
and also what laws of the like nature are about to expire at
particular periods, or in consequence of any contingent
public events, and to report the same with their observations
thereupon to the house.

NATIONAL EDUCATION (IRELAND.)
On the motion of Mr. SULLIVAN, the order of the 30th of
March for a return relative to national education (Ireland)
was discharged.
____ _

Mr. AYRTON called the attention of the Under-Secre-
tary of the Treasury to the fact that considerable dissatis-
faction had been occasioned in connection with the circum-
stance that tea which had been imported into this country
had been so damaged as to be useless, and he trusted some
steps would be taken to prevent the recurrence of the sale
of an article which must be regarded in no other light than
that of rubbish.

Sir S. NORTHCOTE said he believed it was practicable
under the circumstances which had been alluded to, for the
commissioners of Customs to allow tea which had been in-
jured to be dried, or to be dealt with in some way or other,
so that the fixed amount of duty might not be charged.
The house adjourned at 25 minutes past nine o'clock.