The Sun.
London, England, 1850-10-19 00:00:00

Admiralty advertisement of November last for ten-
ders for the Australian line, the Peninsular and
Oriental Company submitted a bold and ingenious
scheme for accomplishing the proposed object, as part
of an important extension of their present field
of operations. They proposed, and they still
propose, . to carry a monthly mail to Syd-
ney Singapore, at a cheap rate, on
condition that the whole of the contract packet ser-
vice to the eastward of Suez be placed in their hands.
As we shall have occasion to show presently, this
large and imposing scheme is in substance the revival
of a plan which was suggested so long ago as 1844,
and which was then laid aside, after mature consi-
deration, because it interfered with the establishments,
invaded the rights, and was incompatible with the
independence, of the East India Company. - The re-
vival on the present occasion of a plan which was
regarded as having been definitively disposed of, has
of course again excited opposition ; and there is every
probability that, by means of these disagreements, the
public will obtain a full and searching inquiry into
the whole question of our contracts for steam commu-
nication with the East Indies. On the one hand, the

pretensions of the Peninsular Company have been
espoused by Sir Charles Wood, with even more
than his usual beat and ,indiscretion ; and on the
other, the case of the East India Company has been
stated with great force, dignity, and temper, in the
letters and minutes which appear in the final sec-
tion of the blue hook recently issued. The subject,
however, is not likely to remain long in the very un-
satisfactory state in which it is left by the official cor-
respondence. Taking a wise advantage of the inter-
val for preparation afforded by the recess, Lord Joce-
lyn placed on the notice-paper of the House of Com-
mons, on the 10th of August last, a notice of motion,
for an early day in the approaching session, for a
Committee "on the question of the existing steam
communications between England and India "—his
object being to ascertain "whether any improvement
maybe made in the conduct of those communications
previous to the grant of a further contract to any
company proposing to carry on that line ;" and also
to inquire "into the most fitting mode in which
steam communication between England, India, and
Australia may be effected, with due care for economy
and with advantage to the public interest." The
whole of the questions raised by this notice
are of the highest practical moment. They,
affect, in a very intimate degree, the in-
terests of all persons who are connected with
India ; and the investigation will bring before a
competent tribunal several controversies which admit
of no other satisfactory mode of adjustment. The
Select Committee of 1849 on the Contract Packet
Service has already in a great measure prepared the
path, and indicated the duties of the proposed Com-
mittee ; and if Lord Joeelyn should be fortunate in
the selection of his colleages, he will have such an op-
portunity as very rarely occurs of settling a very in-
tricate question, and of performing an important
public service. It will be desirable, before entering
upon a discussion of the points which have been raised
between Sir Charles Wood and the East India Com-
pany,' to state, with all possible brevity and clear-
ness, the precise position of the facts. The convey-
ance of passengers and mails by the overland route
between England and India is a somewhat compli-
cated operation, and it is in the hands of several par-
ties. The Isthmus of Suez may be said to occupy a
middle position between the two geographical divisions
of the journey and between the two principal authorities
under whose auspices it is performed—namely, the
East India Company and the Peninsular Company.
On the western side of the Isthmus there is no colli-
sion whatever between these two corporations. The
passengers and mails between Southampton and
Alexandria are conveyed solely by the Peninsular
Company, with the exception of a short service, on
every alternate voyage, between Malta and Alexan-
dria, which is performed by vessels of the Royal
Navy. On the eastern side of the Isthmus—that is,
between Suez, or Aden, and India—there are two
lines of steam communication, the Bombay and the
Calcutta. The Bombay line is in the hands of the
East India Company—the Calcutta line is under con-
tract to the Peninsular Company. The former must
be regarded as the trunk postal line, and the latter as
the trunk passenger line, between India and Eng-
land. A line of mail steamers from Bombay would
be always able to maintain a very efficient postal
communication with the whole of the three
Presidencies. Bombay is the most direct route to
the whole of the Panjaub frontier, and to a very
considerable portion of the Upper Provinces. It is
within a nine days' dawk, or post, of Calcutta ; and
it is considerably nearer to most parts of the territory
subject to Madras. On the other hand, the greatest
number of passengers are to and from Calcutta. The
East India Company, for reasons which will appear in
the sequel, have, from the very commencement of a
steam-packet communication with India, firmly main-
tained their command over the Bombay postal line;
and they have also as readily extended their counte•
nance and support to the introduction of private enter-
prise in the passenger line to Calcutta. The facts,
therefore, at present are simply these :—as concerns
the East India Company, the mails and passengers for
England, which leave Bombay on the Ist of each
month, are conveyed to Suez by steam-frigates of the
Indian Navy—these vessels carrying back with them,
on their return voyage, the mails and passengers
which have arrived in the Red Sea from Eng-
land ; and as concerns the Peninsular Company,
the mails and passengers which leave Calcutta
on the Bth of each month are conveyed be vessels
of that Company's eastern steam fleet, via Madras
and Ceylon, to Suez. The effect of this arrangement
is to give the East India Company a full and inde-
pendent access for postal purposes to their own terri-
tories, and to give the Peninsular Company the means
of completely carrying out their own commercial ob-
jects. It is quite clear that the maintenance of a
postal line to Bombay is a great Imperial as well as a
great Indian object ; and in all the financial arrange-
ments which have been entered into from the first
establishment of an Overland Mail, this truth has
been fully admitted by her Majesty's Government.
The cost of the Bombay line has therefore been divided
between the Treasury and the India House; and at
present, under an arrangement first entered into in
1837, a sum of 50,0001. is paid to the East India
Company for the performance of the Bombay service.
The arrangement with the Peninsular Company is
somewhat more complex. On the Ist of January,
1845, that company entered into a contract with
the Admiralty, for a term of seven years, to
expire on the 31st of December, 1851, for the
conveyance, in steam-vessels of a specified size,
of certain periodical mails to Calcutta and China.
For the performance of this contract it was stipu-
lated that a sum of 160,0001. should be paid annually
by the Imperial Government; and at the same time
an agreement was concluded with the Court of Di-
rectors, by which the revenues of India were charged
with a early sum of 70,0001., as a contribution
towards the cost of the arrangement. Assuming that
one-half of the expense of the Bombay line is borne
by the Imperial Treasury, and the other half by the
revenues of India, the financial part of the question
stands at this moment on the following footing :
The total cost of the steam-postal services between
England, Bombay, Calcutta, and China, is 260,0001.
per annum. Of this sum, 120,0001. is provided by
the East India Company (50,000/ on the Bombay, and
70,0001. on the Calcutta line); and 140,0001. is pro-
vided by her Majesty's Government (50,0001. on the
line to Bombay, and 90,0001. on the line to Calcutta).
And the point recently in dispute between Sir Charles
Wood and the Court of Directors had reference to a
scheme suggested by the Peninsular Company for
accomplishing an apparent economy, by removing the
steamers of the Indian navy from the Bombay and
Suez station, and placing the entire steam-packet
service eastward of the Isthmus in the hands of that
Corporation. Such are the leading outlines of the
case, and on a future day we shall return to the sub-
ject and investigate it more in detail.

THE SEIZURE OF PLATE.—LIVERPOOL, FRIDAY.
—The prisoners Sirrell and M'Auley were formally com-
mitted to take their trial at the next Liverpool assizes by
the county magistrates, at Kirkdale, this morning. Nothing
further transpired, and the London officers returned to town
by the eleven o'clock train, taking with them the packages
of plate and jewellery which they bad brought down here
for identification. A list descriptive of the various articles
remains in Liverpool, but no additional claims have yet
been made, although several persons have visited the police-
office in the hope of finding some of their lost treasures
amongst the property seized at the house of Sirrell. The
police authorities here have been in communication with Cap-
tain Brown, of the Dublin constabulary, and that gentleman
has just forwarded a description of plate stolen in Ireland,
which, it is thought, will be found to correspond with some
found in Sirrell's shop. Since the examination on Tuesday
Sirrell has been very low in spirits, and has frequently
been heard to say that he wished himself dead or shot.
He appears much concerned at thocases in London, and
other places, which it is stated are in course of preparation
against him. It is stated that 111‘Guire, who was released
from custody yesterday morning, entertained a number of
his particular friends at his house in School-lane in the
evening.
SPALDIS G.—THE MUSTARD - GROWERS.—Just now
is the time of thrashing and selling mustard. Although
some of the samples are grey, upon the whole the corps are
yielding pretty well, and fortunately the price is again very
remunerative ; it is considered good for a bushel when it
reaches the " teens," and the best seed is a long way on the
teens this year. Under present regulations scarcely any of
the tenant-farmers are allowed to grow this or other small
seeds ; consequently the growth is restricted to those who
farm their own laud, and many fortunes have been made.—
Stan ford Mercury.
At CI erken Police-court, onWednesday, Richard
Pickering, the brother of Mr. Frederick Pickering, the artist,
was remanded on a charge of having stabbed his step-
mother. That lady, it appeared, had remonstrated with him
on his idleness, when he seized a knife and inflicted several
dangerous wounds en her face and head.
HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE,-ENO Vl"'
sible improvement appears as yet to have taken place in the
health of the Noble Duke. Apparently he is in much the
same state as at this time last week. We fear that the chances
of his Grace's recovery are very remote. The Right Hon.
ftahteheEra, Earl owf
eLllinacsotlhne rem mains nbse
embers
st
of
hisu bGerralvei
Grace's family,—
hism ilnoble.), .
Notto Guardian.