The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1856-04-11
THE D7ILY DISPATCH.
- -.s' 800 Mersi.s, April n. 1850.


Friday Mersias, Apri. n. lsss..
/: The Collins Hambas.
6; The New York papers are fIled with animA'e.
,ts Of the launch Of the Adriatc the iass ana
,,.rxess Of the Collins steamers Az .ne 1'pA''
: n.rtv rsven on this occasion, Mr. Collins made
..sh Immensely euicsistic Of his line, and
wound up by the following
su. ..,a that he had two ends In view when he
.,.,n ned the enterprise one was 70 give an Inn
mense impetus 70 the commereiai interests OF me
navy of these United States iu the event Of
80 ne was assured that the existence of his
linz had ensured az the respect Of the world and
hsdft not been for the Collins steamers, England
- roufd have laughed At the navy Of the United
States" =,
This statement, which will strike every inteiii'
rent reader as Gaping the climax Of human impu-
dsucs. was received by the hearers OF Mr. Col
hns on this festive occasion with applause That
the establishment of the Collins line gave An Inn.
petus TO the com uercial interests of the country.
no one can doubt, but when be speaks OF II as IAN
important aid to the navy OF the United States IN
the event of war be utters that which. uuless
he IL utterly ignorant of what he is talking about
he must know to be untrue. The Collins steamers
are no more TO be compared In strength and caps.
city for war to the vessels of the United States,
than the swan TO the eagle or the antelope 10 the
lion Look at the Arctic, one Of the best vessels
of this line, sinking from = mere collision with .
puny French steamer What would such . ship
do with the heavy armament Of United States
vessel on boardf The recoil Of her own guns
would sink her to the bottom Of the ocean. Col
Inns, Of course knows all this, yet he has the In
deseribable andacity to say that, chad II not been
for tie COins seam1s, England sooald hare laughed
al the mary of The United States"
We don't think Barnum, In the palmiest days Of
his humbugging career, ever ven.ured upon such
an astounding and shameless exhibition of effron-
terry and deception. Collins has built in all, Eve
steamers, two Of which are lost, and neither OF
which could carry twelve "a Founders. Yet these
ave frail fabrics have prevented England, with
her i've hundred powerful menof-war, from en-
gaging In hostilitiss with this country But for
thess Ave steamboats,, two of which have already
destroyed themselves, the whole navy of the Uni
ted States, whose vessels are built Ia style sure
rior 70 those of any navy In the world, would have
fallen an easy prey to the squadrons Of Great Bri
tain -
The truth Is. these high and lofty prstensons
accompanied with such demolishng illustrations
a. the loss of the Arctic and the Pacific will create
any thing but confidence In the capacity of the
Collins line, even for the safe conveyance of pas
sengers across the deep. Mr.. Collins takes occa
siou In this very speech to say that Capt Nye, is
''as able commander ever sailed under the
American flag" which may be all true; but this
very Capt Nye confesses that he deliberately start
ed from Liverpool, with one of the Collins steam
ers under his command In q condition 30 unseawor-
thythat he keptit profound secret from his passen
gersi This terrible risk, he admits was encountered
from pecuniary consideration Who knows but there
some snch fatal secret connected with the Arc
Ito and the Pacific whose commanders may have
been emboldened to initiate Capt Nye's example, by
his happy escape from danger These pecuniary
considerations lie at the bottom of all the peril
and all the loss of life which the American com
munity 20 fearfully suffers both from steamboat
and railroads. ..
There 10 no country In the world where steam
boat and railroad travelling Is as dangerous rs In
our own land. To 'go ahead" Is our great object
no matter at what hazard. The Collins line has
made quicker passages than any other line but
1t has also lost more lives and more boats -
This may be to Mr.. Collins unimportant consid
Grafton. Perhaps he weuld have the American
public believe that even should they perish in one
of his steamers they are only dying for their coun
try. That 10 a view, however, which the public
will be slow to take At present they are, in the
most traitorous and ungrateful manner, looking
after the security Of their own persons, by taking
passage on board the British steamers, which con-
suit safety rather than speed We are glad of it.
it Is time that the travelling community should
take care of themselves and discountenance all
lines which, according to their confession, pre-
fer to encounter disasters at rather than sustain
pecuniary disasters on land.
If Epfa
An article In the New York Herald says that