The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-07-31

CsAlaas Sc. amsss BE AhA.asssaf
II 10 imp ssih'e TO read he ,ebste o Satur-
day in the House Of Representatives without
feelings Of establishment and pain. To find
that in The year 1854 after all the triumphs that
have been achieved by OCEAN steamers, and all
the hopes they have raised for The future; with
the moet convincing evidence of their national
Importance before Us, and q clear prospect OF
national loss In case they are abandoned; to
find, we say that it is now proposed to deprive
the Collins line OF the aid which alone enables
them to compete with the Cunarl vessels and to
sustain the naval character of the United States,
must be source of deep modification to every
right thinking citizen. Yet sol it is. On Satur-
day last the House Of Representatives voted
that on 3lst December next, the Secretary of
the Navy should give to the Collins line the six
months notice required by the deficiency act of
1852, preparatory to the withdrawal of the ad-
ditioDal allowance received by them for the
transportation of the mail between New
York and Liverpool. The proposal of the
committee was even more outrageous
than this, for it suggested that the notice
should be given at once. In their haste to in
jure the Collins line, the members had even for
gotten the clause Of the deficiency act of 1852,
which provides that the notice cannot be given
before 31st December, 1854. This bluuder was
at once pointed out by Mr.. Walbridge, and the
House reluctantly consented to refrain from
violating the compact it had made two years
before. But no further would they so. Messrs.
Walbridge and Wheeler proved that the ex-
penses of running the Collins vessels had been
Increased during the three last years, to alarger
amount than the Increased allowance covered.
The former established that since the adj
ditional allow ance, On average of two days adj
ditional speed had been attained per trip; and
contefded, most foreibly, that this advantage
would have been cheap at twice the money
But the House was immovable. 1t had been
resolved to crush the Collins line, and the vote
was taken in the teeth of reasons to the con-
trary which no one even attempted TO contro-
vert.
To speculate on the motives which induced
majority of the House to come to SO extraordi-
nary decision would be fruitless. Who
can tell the arguments by which the
minds cf Mr.. Shelton, Mr.. Allen and Mr..
Goode have been reached, When man Of
ripe years calmly tells us that he considers the
system under which the naval reputation Of the
United States has risen to its present height, to
be "wrong and rotten" Of what use is 1t to In.
quire into the process Of reasoning by which he
arrives at so absurd o conclusion? Who could
analyse the ratiocination Of lunatic? Sec
tional prejudice, jealousy of New York, Obso-
lete notions Of candle end economies and pos |
sibly in some cases even bnser motives have |
mountable barrier to the approach Of reason,
and the inroads Of common sense. Even these |
narrow grounds cannot be imputed to the mem
bers for New York For the vote of the
whole city delegation - Walbridge, and
Wheeler excepted-it is impossible to conceive
an excuse. They knew that, whatever reasons
Illinois and Virginia might have for opposing
the appropriation, not one soul among their con-
stituents believed il to be unjust OF exorbitant.
They knew that, whether the Collins line served
the interests of the South and East or not, it
was one Of the life springs Of New York, and
had done not little towards building up the
maritime greatness Of the city which sent them
to Congress. Be it madness, spite, or sheer iy-
norance, the conduct pursued on this occasion
by Walker, Walsh, Tweed, and the truaut
Cutting can neither be forgiven by the mer-
camille population Of the city, nor recon
ciled to their own conscience. They have
in the grossest manner betrayed the trust
placed in their hands and by their
example have encouraged other members who
know and care little about our interests to deal
deadly blow at one Of the chief sources Of our
maritime power. 1t is deplorable to think that
many weeks must elapse before they can be
made to answer for this vote at the polls.
The question before the House was of
the simplest character. 1t. is proved beyond
controversy that If the additional allowance be
taken from the Collins line, it must be sban-
doned. Vessels so expensive in every way
cannot be run at loss for any length of time;
the most princely fortune would exhaust itself
in attempting to supply the deficiency. For a
period Of twelve years the Cunard vessels re-.
ceiyed from the British government ouch con-
pensation for carrying the mails as enabled
them to sustain the enormous cost Of the enter
prise, and TO place 1t at length on the perma-
nent footing il now occupies If, during this
period, the British government had made such
. reduction in their allowance as it is now pro-
posed to make in ours, every one familiar with
the subject knows that the line would have
failed, and the scheme would have been aban-
doned. Great Britain pursued wiser policy.
The Cunard vessels were largely remunerated
out Of the national treasury; few thousand
pounds more or lees being rightly deemed by
British statesmen Of very small moment in
comparison with the establishment Of re-
gular and speedy steam communication
with America. We see the fruits Of
this policy in the admirable perfection to which
4 can steam navigation has been brought by