The Sun.
London, England, 1850-06-28 00:00:00

1850.

ing in their dispoiAl, which renthrs it not difficult to
understand how this paper may have passed impro-
i.erly into the hands of persons for whom it was not
intended ; and, undt.e all the circumsance's 'of tin
case, your Committee do not c-inidur that dtCy
fur-
ther notice of it- is %required. But they recommend
tor the future ,regulations be made for :limiting the
number of copies to bk printed;; for the safe distrib4.
tion of a portion, and the careful custody of the re-
mainder, and for fixing upon each person to whom
they are entrusted the responsibility of keeping them
as confidential communications."

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.
TIMES.—It is with very sincere regret that we
have read Ihe report of the committee appointed to
consider the best means of facilitating the postal
communication between London and Paris. The
committee have decided, not without a certain trepi-
dation, on recommending the maintenance of the
route by way of C slais. In the sentence which fol-
lows this notable recommendation, they advise " that
the night mail from Paris be so accelerated as to
reach London at such a time in the morning as is
requisite for the dispatch by the morning mails of
the letters to places beyond the metropolis, and in the
event delis object not being attained by an improve-
ment of existing arrangements, your committee are
of opinion that the importance of that object is such
as to render desirable an attempt to accomplish it by
any other means which may furnish a prospect of
success." The committee, in other words, entertain
shrewd doubts as to the value of their own recom-
mendation. They anticipate a time when the exi-
gencies of public service will no longer admit of
maintaining arrangements based upon private in-
terests. They cannot attempt to invalidate the
object for which the commercial public has been so
long engaged in so arduous a struggle, and an ex.
pression of doubt creeps in by the side of their
most positive couclusions. They attempt to disarm
hostility by an ingenuous admission of the weakness of
their case. At the very moment they have decided
upon a desperate attempt to maintain " exisiting ar-
rangements" they keep an eye upon that inevitable
moment when these " existing araangements" must
entirely break down in the face of independent com-
petition and of the public impatience. In what way
are the existing arrangements to be improved ? In
any manner which would not apply equally to the
Boulogne as to the Calais route ? A speedier con-
veyance of the mails between Dover and London
would be an advantage participated in by both. To
organize a system of letter sorting while the train
was on its way from the outport to the capital would
in the same way be a benefit common to the partisans
of either system. Again, it might be so contrived
that the letter bags should be dispatched from Paris
at an earlier hour, but it must be remembered that
even if in this way a timely delivery could be secured
iu London, this benefit must be gained by sacrificing
a rateable portion of the time during which the Post-
office at Paris would be open for the reception of let-
ters from the departments, from the south of Europe,
or from India. It is a clumsy expedient at best,
and adopted for no better reason than the
maintenance of a route unnecessarily dilatory
and circuitous—a route which already stands con-
demned by the practice of travellers, of the public
journals, and of all parties who are not absolutely
bound to the Post-office arrangements. We are al-
most weary of repeating the figures upon which this
question turns, but once more we will lay them be-
fore our readers as succinctly as possible. The • ad-
vantage of the Boulogne route eonsists in this, that
there is a difference of 66 miles in its favour upon
the French soil. The distance from Calais to Amiens,
where the two lines join, is precisely 1421 miles ,
the distance of Boulogne to Amiens is 76 miles ; it
is on that section of the route the saving of distance
takes. place. On the other hand there is a set off in
favour of the Calais route ofs miles on the water pas-
easse. Between London and Dover, and Amiens and
Paris, the route followed by the trains is of course the
dame, so that we need only direct our inquiries to
the singe point of the circumstances connected with
the water passage, which are assumed as an equiva-
fent for the additional and monstrous circuit of 66
Miles between Calais and Amiens. It is said there
are difficulties connected with the entry of the port of
Boulogne which necessitate a more frequent boat ger-
Vice, at the same time that it is rendered hazardous
sturiug the prevalence of certain winds; and that thus
when the balance comes to be struck, an advantage of
dnly half an hour is left in favour of the Boulogne
route. But in the teeth of these statements we have
the fact of the actual performance of the
journey by way of Boulogne in a period
shorter by hours than it is accomplished
by way of Calais in the ordinary transit
of the mails—we have the direct evidence of
pilots and of other persons connected with the port of
Boulogne, who, in the most positive terms, deny or
explain away the difficulties attributed to the entry
tf the
_port of Boulogne, or who at least show that
here are corresponding difficulties connected with
alais—we find a public company—the South-
Eastern Steam Packet Company—who are willing,
by contract, and under heavy penalties, to convey the
mails two hours sooner by way of Boulogne—we find
the captains and commanders in charge of the com-
pany's ships who have been long and successfully
engaged in navigating the channel between the two
countries coming forward to declare that they are
prepared at once to make good the declarations of
the company. Now, in the face of these facts and
of this evidence, is it possible for a moment to sup-
pose that this report of the Select Committee of Com-
mons decides the question as to the best and
shortest route from London to Paris ? Should
the Boulogne route be adopted, it is cal-
pulated that the postal communication between
the capital of France and Great Britain would
require 111 hours without any extraordinary strain.
At present we find that the transmission of a letter
from Paris to London requires between 14 and 15
hours—that is to say, a letter is forwarded from Paris
at 8 o'clock• rem., and reaches London at, say as an
average, 10i A.M. This is the time practically em-
ployed, and despite of the sanguine anticipations of
the committee, we will venture to say that it will be
much the same thing for the future. Now, a letter
which reaches London at such an hour is too late for
the first town delivery, or for the morning's dispatch
northwards. We teed not enlarge upon•the. amount
of inconvenience caused to the commercial public by
such an arrangement. Oa the other hand, a letter
forwarded from Paris by way of Boulogne at 8 P.M.
would reach London at 7i A.M, which is all that is
required. If five hours be allowed between Bou-
logne and Paris, which is the time named by M.
Amialee Gtutray, the manager of the Boulogne
and Amiens Railway, and 21 hours for the conveyance
of the bags between London and Dover—and we name
the time actually employed—these two periods, taken
together, give a total of 71 hours for the land journey.
With regard to the remaining period of four hours
for the water transit, the proposal from the South-
Eastern Steam -Packet Company to the committee
stand as follows :—The company offer to .convey the
mails between Folkestone and Boulogne for 8,0001. -a-
year, and between Dover and Boulogne for 9,5001.
a-year. They offer, moreover, to pay a fine of 101
for each irregularity exceeding 25 minutes if the
period allowed for the sea voyage be 34 hours, and
20/. if it be 4 hours. Thus we see placed before us
in a distinct and tangible form a method of conduct-
ing the postal communication between London and
Paris in 11 hours, or at the utmost in 111 hours. We
see that even the Select Committee, in their report,
set the run from Boulogne to Paris at 4'4' in place of
5 hours ; and Mr. J. Macgregor, the Chairman of the
South-Eastern Railway, informed the committee
that the distance between London and Dover
might be performed in two hours if an increase
of expense were not deemed an objection. Thus,
three-quarters of an hours could be gained ; and if
we allow 31 hours—the shorter period named by
the company—for the water passage, the postal
journey between the two capitals might be affected in
101 hours. The distance has been accomplished in
81 hours by this route, but for the present let that
pass. We have not the will, if we had the power, in
our limited space, to disentangle the truth from the
conflicting statements of the witnesses examined be-
fore the Committee. We would wish rather to direct
the attention of the public to one simple and intelligi,
hie fact. The whole controversy turns upon the dif-
ficulties experienced in entering Boulogne-harbour.:
On this point there is a conflict of evidence between
the witnesses examined before the Committee. But
by the side of these jarring statements we find a
public company coming forward, perfectly willing
to bind itself to the public under heavy pecuniary pe-
nalties to accomplish the task which is pronounced so
difficult of execution. Nor are the persons who
make this offer mere novices or adventurers jumping
at a hap-hazard speculation. Their vessels have been
in the habit for a long time of navigating the
channel between the two countries, and of entering
the port which is pronounced to be so difficult
,of
access, at all times of the day and night, and under
the most varying circumstances of tide and weather.
Now, these persons, with all their long experience
and with such heavy interests involved, tell us the
thing can be done. Let us, at least, make the trial.
A six months' experiment is after all no such great
risk when so important a result to the commercial
world as the placing the postal communication be-
tween the capitals of France and Great Britain on the
most satisfactory footing is at issue. There the rail-
ways are, and the trains, all ready for work to-mor-
row if need be. There, too, are the steamers of the
South-Eastern Company, ready to get their steam up
at a moment's notice. Let the two rival routes he
fairly tried for six months or for one month, and if
the‘ -hypothesis of the Committee be correct—namely,
that-there is only half-an-hour's' difference in favour
of the Boulogne route—we will abandon the question
altogether. We will venture to add that the come
mercial public will then be satisfied that Parliament
has dealt fairly in the matter. Until such a trial as

this takes place:the report of the Select Committee is
not worth the cost a th 9, paper on which it is

CHRONICLE.—We published yesterday morning
the report the Select Committee appointed by the
House of Commons to investigate the subject of
po-tsili- communication between London Lands Peri.,
with especial reference to the vexed question of route.
The result at which the Committee have arrived will
disappoint those whose eager and one—sided zeal for
the maximum of possible speed has led them, in dis-
cussing this matter, to disregard all other than merely
geographical considerations, But persona who, like
ourselves, deem regularity and certainty ossentisl ele-
ments "expeditious" transit, Will, we think, pro-
nounce the conclusion embodied in this document
to be the only one which an unbiassed tribunal could
deduce from the evidence. At all events; ,it cannot
be said by the advocates of the rejected route that its
advantages have been overlooked ; for not only are
they of that obvious and palpable description which
commands the first attention of the rasst cursory and
superficial inquirer, but they have Len practically
tested by an experiment of thirteen months' dura-
tion. If, therefore, the Committee hive erred in giving
their judgment in favour of Dover and Calais versus
Dover and Boulogne, it must, at least, be acknowledged
that their mistake has arisen, not from iaattention to
considerations which no men could overlook, but
simply from, a miscalculation of the relative values of
conflicting. expediences. It is certainly ,tantallzing.
The fact is -undisputed, that Paris is some sixty miles
nearer to London via Boulogne than vid Calais ; and
nothing can be more provoking than to be positively
assured, on the respectable authority of a grave Par-
liamentary tribunal, that we' must resign the benefit
of that superior geographical proximity for the sake of
other and more important advantages which are in-
compatible with it. If steamers could alwaYs, sail as
the crow flies—if all• tidal harbours were equally ac-
cessible at all hours of the day and niglst—itthe best
fair-weather route were necessarily the best for a
mail-packet service which must be performed
with unremitting punctuality at all times
and seasons—if, in a word, a question of
this sort could always be resolved into a
mere arithmetical computation of " miles"—there
could not be two opinions about the matter. But as
it unfortunately happens that the triumphs of science
over • physical difficulties have their limits—as the
question of the comparative accessibility of different
harbours is one in which, even in this age of steam,
nature still retains a voice--and as unfailing regula-
rity is a no less essential element of postal communi-
cation than rapidity—we must be prepared to content
ourselves with the best compromise that circum-
stances permit. It is from this point of view that the
Committee have considered the very important ques-
tion intrusted to them, and it appears to us that they
have exercised a sound discretion in the decision at
which they have arrived. The cardinal fact on the Ca-
lais side of the question is,,that the port of Boulogne is
a remarkably bad one. The entrance to it is usually
difficult, often very dangerous, not unfrequently im-
possible, and always a matter of uncertainty. The
exit likewise is impracticable at some states of the
tide. Moreover, it is situated on an exposed and
dangerous line of coast—so that, in stormy weather,
the use of boats for the embarkation or disembarka-
tion of letter-bags or passengers is either impossible
or extremely hazardous. Hence—not to speak of
the extra expense of boat-service incurred on this
route (which is nearly eight times as much as at
Calais)—the greatest irregularities exist in the time re-
quired for transit; and as the mail trains on each side
of the Channel must, of course, be so adjusted as to
meet all except the most extreme cases of delay, the
consequence is that a very wide margin, far exceeding
the actual average, has to be allowed for the passage
of the steamer. During the thirteen mouths (from
Jan. 1, 1848, to Jan. 31, 1849) that the Boulogne
experiment was tried, five hours was the regulation al-
lowarace for the out-voyage, and six hours for the return
trip. Yet there were no fewer than 46 occasions on
which the night snails did not reach the B ,ulogne
Post-office within the former period—and there were
38 instances in which the latter estimate proved in-
sufficient. On the other bans,Calais harbour is, by
common consent, safely and'conveniently approach-
able in all weathers; and it affords a sufficient
depth of water for the packets at all hours, with the
exception of about one hour and forty minutes out of
the twelve at spring tides—whereas Boulogne is not
accessible during more than about seven hours out of
every twelve. The difference between the two ports,
in point of safety of access, cannot be more tersely
stated than in the words of one of the naval witnesses
examined before the Committee (Captain F.Bullock),
who said—" In approaching Boulogne your dangers
are multiplied in bad weather—in approaching
Calais they are decreased." Another professional
witness went more into particulars :—" Boulogne
has a rocky coast, and from Cape Gris Nez down
towards Boulogne there are reefs which extend out
into the sea, and in the neighbourhood of those reefs
you may have four or five fathoms at one cast and the
next be on shore : that is not the case at Calais. I
do not know a more clear coast than Calais has—one
which you can more safely approach ; there is nothing
to intercept a vessel in coming from the westward
close along shore towards the port." But it is
superfluous to discuss the rationale of a fact which
no one questions. It may suffice to say, as
regards the superior safety and accessibility of Calais
harbour, that, on nine occasions during the thirteen
months' trial of, the Boulogne experiment, " the
packets were unable to deliver their mails at Bou-
logne, and, to avoid further delay, proceeded to
Calais." The question of comparative regularity of
transit may also be very shortly disposed of. Al-
though the sea passage to Boulogne pier is, on the
average, only about twenty minutes longer than that
to Calais pier, the range of variation is so much
greater in the former case than in the latter, that it is
found necessary, in all Post-office calculations, to
allow one hour and a half for the difference between
the two. Thus, while five hours were allowed, during
the recent experiment, for . the Boulogne voyage,
three and a half have hitherto been set down for the
Calais passage—and during the thirteen months from
February 1, 1849, to February 28, 1850, this latter
estimate was exceeded only on twenty-five occasions.
It will he seen that, while the Committee deem it
practicable to reduce the limit in each case, they still
maintain the same relative difference—the Feriods
being respectively fixed at four hours and a half and
three hours. Where railways are concerned, a gain
of an hour and a half in time constitutes, we need
ly
say, a very considerable set off against a per
contra item of sixty miles in distance. On summing
up the account, as finally stated by the Committee, it
stands as follows :
h. na. I h. m.
L radon to Dover... 2 30 London to Dover 2 30

Dvr to Boulogne 4 30 Dover to Calais... 3 0
Boulogne to Paris 4 45 Calais to Paris ... 6 45

11 45 I 12 15
Thus the "sixty miles," of which so much has been
said by the partisans of the Boulogne route, dwindle
down, when fairly examined to half-an-hour; and
from this not very overwhelming superiority which
that route confessedly possesses, stall further deductions
must be made before we can be said to have got quite
to the bottom of the question. The B rulogne
say the Committee, "is shown by experience to be
more exposed to delay, even with the allowance of
4h. 30m. from station to station, than the other route.
The expense for boat-service, coal, stores, wear
and tear, is estimated at one-third more than
the same service from Dover to Calais, and
the risk of serious accident to the packet is
greater. Your Committee have it also in evidence
that the port of Calais could not well be superseded,
but would remain the port for letters for the north
of Europe, and that letters are sent twice a day at
the preseat time to Belgium and the Rhine by this
route." After this, few readers will be surprised to
learn that the Committee " having reference to gs
neral celerity, regularity, and economy, do not re-
commend any change of route."', We shall wait with
some curiosity to see what can;be urged againSt the
facts and conclusions of this vdjy luminous and able
report, which appears to us.to by exhaustive of the en-
tire question. In the meanwhile we have only to
protest, by anticipation, against any attempt to set
aside the results of prolonged experience and deli-
berate investigation by parading the achievements of
" experimental trips" (as they are absurbly called),
under special and exceptional circumstances.
As it
ithappens, by the way, Boulogne does not
monopolize the laurels of these " experimental" ex-
ploits ; for the express of the 31st January last, con-
veying the Queen's speech, reached Paris, rid Calais,
in 9 hours and 32 minutes. But we lay no stress
whatever on such facts, whether on one side of the
question or on the other. These " experiments"
prove nothing •to our present purpose. They show,
of course, what is physically possible under favour-
able conditions—when the experimenter can choose
his tide, and can have special trains, on each side of
the Channel, timed for the particular occasion ; but
they do not show what is expedient and practicable
under ordinary conditions—or rather under those en-
favourable circumstances of tide, wind, and weather,
which must be duly allow ed and provided for in any
system of postal communication that is meant for
every-day use.

RESTORATION OF ST. STEPHEN'S CHURCH, `VAL.
DROOL —Yesterday forenoon, a numerously attended-meeting
of the ratepayers of the joint parishes of St. Stephen's, Wal-
brook, and St,. Benet's, ShereLog, was held in
,the.vestr-
room of St. Stephen's Church, for the purpose of adopt-
ing measures for the'proper repair of that beautiful e6liftee..
The Rev. Dr. Croly, the rector, having been.Calledlo the
chair, a resolution was adopted, to the .effect that a sum not
exceeding 1,000/. should be expenyled for the piirpoie of
putting into a state of 'decent repair the ohUrch, which is
regarded as one of the most be*%itiful of the products of Sir
C. Wren's genius. Previously to the termination pf the pro-
ceedings Dr. Croly took occasion to, congratnlate the pa-
rishioners on the fact pf their being at length free from debt,
having liquidated all the Claims on them. The meeting
I then broke up.