The Sun.
London, England, 1845-01-31 00:00:00

THE SON, LONDON, FRIDAY MO

House of Commons quite strong enough to carry the
Plemier triumphantly through all obstacles. To
sut:ceed, then, he has only to dare ; and though we
are by no means among the number of those who
entertain any very high opinion of his moral
courage, yet, with so many chances in his favour,
we can scarcely permit ourselves to doubt that
he will fully and honourably redeem his last year's
pledges. And what a fame will be his when he
shall have succeeded in placing the national education
of Ireland on a just, comprehensive, enlightened, and
satisfactory basis; thereby giving thousands who are
now without a hope, involved in the grossest igno-
rance, a fair chance of rising in the social scale, and
ranking among the future ornaments of their country I
There is no more exalted or lasting celebrity than
that which attaches to the statesman can con-
scientiously say, that he left general intelligence
where he found nought but the intensest ignorance ;
and encouraged the spread of true religion in a king-
dom where, hitherto, it had been little better than a
party watchword.

The vital importance of providing harbours o
refuge in the Channel, and elsewhere on our coasts,
with a view to making better provision fcr the safety
of our commercial shipping during the prevalence of
tempestuous weather or adverse winds ;—of construct-
ing forts and defences in connexion with these and
other such stat;ons for the assembling of our fleets and
ships of war—and the extension and completion of a
system of coast protection in the event of war ;—these
topics, it will be in the recollection of our readers,
have been repeatedly and urgently enforced in The
Sun in the course of the last twelve months. On
such occasions we have endeavoured to demonstrate
the degree of even enhanced exigency which the de.
mand for these indispensable national works assumes
in reference to the daily increasing efficacy, and con-
sequent employment, of steam force by all European
Powers, as a main element of maritime strength and
success. We have pressed these considerations so
long and so frequently on the attention of the public
and the Government, that we have perused with the
deepest interest the "Report" we reprint from the
Commissioners appointed by minute of the Lords of
the Treasury, dated in April last. The "Blue Book"
has just been issued, and its Appendices, as well as
the body of the Report itself, are full of extremely
valuable matter. A Contemporary, who has justly
remarked on the " penny wise and pound foolish"
policy of being too niggardly of the public money,
where the objects to be secured by its expenditure
are of so vast and so beneficial a character, and of
'such indisputable expediency, enforces the ne-
cessity of promptitude in carrying them out
into execution, and the wisdom of our
being prepared in times of peace for any unhappy
contingency of sudden war, in language which we
have employed so often, that we are tempted to use it
in this place, in order that we may not appear to re-
peat ourselves. He says—
' Independently, however, of these considerations, we
are bound by a consideration of the changes which
steam may operate in any new warfare, to " take time
by the forelock," and be prepared for the enemy lung
before ho may come. This, after all, may be the surest
and simplest coarse. It is not in any ►pirit of jealousy
or distrust that such recommendations are put tbrward.
The true friends of peace are those who are always pre •
pared for war."
We are glad to find our own anxious representa-
tions on these two points of a prompt commencement
of such works, and the unspeakable advantage of timely
preparation, thus supported. Nothing that we see in
the political horizon modifies the gravity of these
views. Every cloud that steals over it imparts new
force to them. The foreign news of even the last
twenty-four hours is not without its significant bear-
ing on them. It may assist our readers in forming
their judgment on the contents of this very remark-
able document, rapidly to indicate some of its mere
salient features. The Commissioners thus state the
main objects of the investigation delegated to their

care
The Treasury minute, under which we act, gives for
our guidance three principal objects, viz.:—
" First—The formation of ports of refuge for the
safety and convenience of vessels navigating the British
Channel.
" Secondly—That these should be calculated to be-
come, in the event of hostilities, the stations for ships

of war.
" Thirdly—The considerati m of expense as compared
with the public advantages likely to result from the con-
struction of such works.
They recapitulate the various aids and colleagues
in the different branches of their service which have
been placed at their disposal by the Lords of the Ad-
miralty, the Trinity Brethren, the officers of the
Cinque Ports, the Ordnance, the Board of Customs
and their collectors, the officers of the Coast Guard,
and other public and official functionaries, and the
names of the parties by whom the numerous and ela-
borate surveys which that service called for, have been
(very ably and satisfactorily) made. They then
notice with high commendation the Report of the
Select Committee of the House of Commons of last
year on Shipwrecks ; and we are well pleased to see our
estimate of the mass of important information, sug-
gestions, and evidence comprised in that volume, so
emphatically corroborated by the testimony of the
present Commission. In alluding to the " Harbour
Commission " of 1840, which was appointed " to visit"
the coast between the mouth of the Thames and
"Selsea Bill," for purposes strictly analagous to those
of their own appointment, they remark upon the fact
that their predecessors of 1840 were thus precluded,
by the terms of their instruction, from examining the
harbour of Harwich on the eastern coast ; and
they express their belief that had they been required
so to do, they would have reported as distinctly and
as favourably on Harwich as the present Commission
is enabled to do. The Commissioners confine
their attention and examinations to Foreness; Rams-
gate ; the Brake, or Small Downs ; Dover; Dungeness
'
Seaford; Newhaven; and Harwich Harbour. '1 he
other heads of their Report are devoted to " Proposed
Breakwaters," " Mode of Construction," and " Mili-
tary Defences." The Commissioners are—Admiral Sir
B. MARTIN, chairman ; Lieut.-Gen. Sir H. DOUGLAS,
Rear-Admiral D. DUNDAS, Capt. Sir W. Svmowns,
R.N., Capt. J. WASHINGTON, R.N., Lieut.-Col. COL-
QUHOUN, R.A., Lieut.-Col. ALDERSON, R.E., Sir
J. H. PELLY, Capt. FISHER, R.N., JAMES WALKER,
Pres. Inst. Civ. Eng.
As to Foreness, " which stands well in the fair-
way of the traffic between the Thames and the
Downs," and had been favourably reported on by
the Commission of 1840, they " think it unnecessary
to construct a harbour there," Harwich being of far
superior pretensions and capacity as to all purposes
which it was ever contemplated to accomplish at
Foreness. Of Ramsgate they state that the harbour,
on the average of the last three years, has accom-
modated 1,600 sail annually, their average tonnage
upwards of 450 tons each ; that, by fully executing
works already designed there, this harbour would
accommodate at least 500 more ships ; that it might
be greatly improved by deepening the entrance by
dredging vessels, or other suitable means. The
" Small Downs" is an " anchorage of considerable
extent, lying bets% een the Brake Sand and the shore
northward of Deal." They notice various plans
that have been furnished for increasing, extending,
and protecting this anchorage ; and, among others, a
design by the late Sir JOHN RENNIE for a break-
water, five miles in length, at an estimated cost
of. 3,280,0001. It has recently been shown that the
"Brake Sand" has gone, since its last previous nota-
tion on our coast charts, " about 700 yards bodily in
shore." For these and other reasons, and especially
"considering the Downs at the present time an ex-
cellent roadstead, with Ramsgate Harbour imme-
diately adjoining, the Commissioners cannot recom-
mend any outlay upon the "Small Downs." Of
Dover, they notice the geographical as well as political
'importance of the position. They hold that there is
no place with greater advantages for the erection of a
breakwater, from its having an inner harbour, an ex-
cellent dock, &c. But seeing that two objections
have been suggested as likely to arise to its conversion
into a harbour of refuge—namely, that according to
some witnesses the holding ground is not good, and
that "it would have a tendency to silt up ;" the
Commissioners report they are satisfied, from the
experiments made on the tenacity of the bottom
by her Majesty's ship Blazer, that the former ob-
jection is unfounded. As to the silting, they re-
commend that some of the water be taken under all
varieties of time, season, and weather, for a whole
3 ear, then to be analysed by the proper officer of the
Museum of Economic Geology, in order to test
the nature of the deposits held in suspension by
it; and they are clearly of opinion that it ought
to be a harbour of refuge, "it order to give it that

efficiency as a naval station which is necessary to pro-
vide for the security of this part of the. coast,
and the protection of trade," At Dungeness
nature has done so much to make it an excel-
lent roadstead for ships, that the Comrnis,ioners
do not at present recommend the construction of
a breakwater there. As to Beachy Head, East-
bourne, and Seaford, they do not recommend any
works to the east of Beachy Head ; but there is
no place in the whole coast line, say between Dover
and Portsmouth, where a harbour is so necessary as
in Seaford Reach, to the west of the Head in ques•
tion. At Newhaven they do not recommend any
outlay of public money. Of Portland Isle they re-
port in the most favourable and decided terms, as
excellently calculated for the construction of a break-
water, harbour, &c.; having abundant supplies, also,
of good ss ater for the use of shipping. Added to all
this, the execution of such works enable a squadron
" Stationed at Portland to have under its protection,
jointly with Dartmouth, all the intervening coast, and
these places, with Plymouth, will complete the chain of
communication and co- operation between Dover and
Falmouth, a distance of 300 miles."
Of Harwich Harbour it is said that
" This harbour, formed by the junction of the rivers
Stour and Orwell, is one of the finest, and may be ren-
dered one of the most useful havens in the kingdom. It
has a sufficient depth of water and good holding ground
over an extent capable of containing many hundred ships."
And again, that
" It is remarkably well-situated for the convenience of
a north-sea squadron, and for the protection of the mouth
of the Thames.
" It is the only safe harbour along this coast, and is in
the direct line of traffic between the Thames and the
northern ports of the kingdom, as well as of the trade
from the north of Europe.
" There is a dockyard, with building slips belonging to
the Crown, and the property under the Ordnance depart-
ment is extensive.
After recommending the construction of a harbour,
breakwater, &c., at Dover, at Seaford Reach, and at
Portland Bay, and going into some details as to
the proposed modes of construction, the Report gives
this "approximated estimates" of the probable cost of
such works :—Dover, 2,500,0001. ; Seaford, 1,250,000/.;
Portland they, 500,000/.; Harwich Harbour Improve-
ments, 50,0001. ;—total, 4,300,0001. This is, un-
doubtedly, a very large sum of money, but not
when weighed against the interests, the property, the
honour, the safety, the independence which its
outlay is so well calculated effectively and
permanently to secure ;—which its non-expendi-
ture from day to day so deeply perils. If
there be a difficulty under the present shattered and
manacled condition of our currency about advancing
or disbursing se large en additional expenditure, we
would remark, first, that that expenditure must neces-
sarily be diffused over same three or four years ;
secondly, that the same hand which has worked the
existing disorganisation of our monetary system, may
easily obviate any apprehended pressure upon its dimi-
nished resources of the nature we speak of, by issuing
a co-equal amount of paper money,—call them
Treasury-notes or small Exchequer-bills,—under the
authority and responsitility of the Government, that
Government engaging to receive them at its Exche •
quer in payment of taxes, Customs' duties, &c., &c.,
an reporting every month the number so paid in,
that the amount cancelled and the amount outstanding
may be at all times within the cognisance of the
public. Here would be "paper money" circulating,
in the meanwhile, from hand to hand, which even the
financial prudency of Sir R. PEEL could scarcely be
scandalised at. We once more renew the expression
of our deep solicitude that the recommendations of
this important Report may receive the very earliest
considerations of Parliament.

It would be presumption in us to offer any opinion
on the technical merits of the case on which, as we
perceive, the unfortunate Baron DB BODE is still
made to undergo the experimentum crucis of the law's
machinery for releasing the Government from the
payment of its just debts. No candid mind which
has possessed itself of the general facts of this case
can doubt of the soundness of the Baron's claims in
reason and in equity. But all men of plain common
sense, and a practical knowledge of affairs, may be
allowed to doubt of the poor Baron's further powers
of endurance. No man, among the many and dis-

tinguished advocates which his " claims" have found
in the House of Commons—(and of them there was
none more eloquent than .Lord STANLEY himself)—
no man but hits been fully satisfied of their moral
validity before he pleaded in their behalf to the Go-
vernment present in the Legislature. But the
affirmative opinion of the Legislature has been para-
lysed by the Government. We have seen, as in the
last two or three discussions of the Danish claims,
that the House may actually concur in an address to
the Crown, recommending compensation for losses
sustained by private individuals through acts of the
Crown or its servants, which the Government will

flatly refuse to support or counsel. It can be little
satisfaction to the Baron to point to the various stages
of his own protracted appeal for justice, with the view
of showing how, step by step, the pleas which he has
recorded have been consolidated and affirmed ; and
the proofs, once vainly tendered, have been made out
and admitted ;—if this sort of forensic " question"
is still to be administered to him, so often as he per-
sists in re-affirming his rights. It seems that of three
issues upon which his appeal was rested, the Court of
Queen's Bench found for one (in spite of a vigorous
resistance of the law officers of the Crown), and
rejected two. On a subsequent occasion the appli-
cation by his counsel, to have effect given to this find-
ing—so far at least as related to the issue affirmed—is
opposed by the Solicitor- General, praying that, since,
if the two others could not be legally substantiated, so
neither ought this to have been found, judgment
may be pronounced for the Crown, upon the whole.
This sort of defence to the claims seems to be the
crowning mockery of that farce of remedial justice
which is played, in this country, with disgraceful
success whenever its subjects are the unrequited
wrongs of such individuals as the Baron DE BODE, or
that class of the Danish claimants who still remain
without redress. The Baron's, it will be recollected,
was a claim upon the enormous funds covenanted,
on the part of France, at the end of the last war to be
paid over to Commissioners, appointed by the British
Government for making good to British subjects,
whose property had been seized and confiscated by
the French arms and authorities under certain cir-
cumstances, and within certain defined territories on
the continent of Europe. The French Government
most honourably discharged its undertaking, and
paid the money in full. After a lapse of time, within
the extreme limits of which it has been unsuccessfully
attempted to show some of the Baron's claims or
papers were not given in, the reception of claims,
in the usual course of such commissions, ceased.

It is enough to prove that his claims were registered,
and that further proofs, documents, Scc., were de-
manded of, and supplied by him—to dispose of the
attempted objection last noticed. What followed ?
The bulk, if not the whole, of the other creditors'
claims were disposed of—adjusted or refused; and
there then remained a vast surplus—some hundreds
of thousands, if we remember rightly—undisposed
of. What became of that surplus ? Have we not the
evidence of the enormous transfers made, in our owa
opinion illegally made, by the French Commissioners
to the Board of Woods and Forests; and by the
Woods and Forests Board appropriated, to gratify the
unscrupulous wishes of GEORGE the FOURTH, in de-
fraying the expenses of his architectural perpetra-
tions in the absurd monstrosity at Brighton, or the
WYATVILLE "improvements" at Windsor Castle?
But the money went to the Woods and Forests, and
the Baron's claims to the wall• Is he not amply
justified in assuming from this fact, in connexion
with the often-exposed weakness and captiousness of
the objections to his claims announced by the Trea-
sury, that he is the victim of an official mi'sppro-
priation which, for some reason or other, the succes-
sors of the wrong-doers will neither fairly submit to
the examination of Parliament and the opinion of the
public, nor manfully address themselves to provide
compensation for.
It has been well remarked that, in England, men
in high office will commit themselves, as a Govern-
ment, to acts of gross oppression and injustice from
the bare imputation of which each of them, as an in-
dividual, would recoil with horror. We would en-
treat her MAJESTY'S Ministers well to reconsider to
what extent they are guilty of something eery like
fraudulent conspiracy in persisting to refuse—after
so emphatic a division as the very last taken in the
House of Commons, on the third and only remaining
class of unsatisfied Danish claimants—to liquidate
such righteous demands ? We would respectfully
invite them to reflect whether this pertinacious con-