§ SIR JOHN PAKINGTONsaid, he wished to inquire of the hon. Gentleman the Secretary to the Treasury whether Her Majesty's Government have completed arrangements for postal communication between England and Australia; and, if so, what is the nature of those arrangements?
§ MR. WILSONsaid, it must be obvious to the right hon. Baronet and to the House that it was a matter of no small difficulty to arrange a service of such importance in a manner in which it should be carried out perfectly satisfactory to the Government of this country, and to those colonies that were so much interested in it. There had been so many trials and so many failures of former experiments that it was obviously necessary that the matter should be arranged not only in a manner that would give satisfaction at present, but that would insure permanence. The House was aware that after a great deal of consideration advertisements were issued for tenders, the object of which was to test all the different routes by which Australia could be reached in the shortest possible time. After putting out those advertisements offers were received by the Government of such a nature as to show both the Government at home, and the representatives of the colonists interested in the subject, that the only sure way of reaching Australia in a short time would be by the overland route to Suez down the Red Sea, to point de Galle, round Cape Leenwin to Melbourne. Well, after very considerable attention to the subject, the Admiralty came to the conclusion that this was the best route, and they authorised the Treasury to advertise for tenders, and the Government had received four tenders for that service. He would shortly state the nature of them; of course with mentioning the names of parties tendering. One of the parties proposed to carry the mails for a comparatively small sum of money; but there was, as regarded that tender, this disadvantage—that no vessels were ready, that at least twelve months would elapse before the vessels could be ready, and three months more before they could be placed on the station. It, therefore, appeared to the Government that that tender could not be accepted. On the ground of delay alone they would not be justified in accepting it, as it involved a delay of at least fifteen months. The next tender was of a similar nature. The amount asked was not very large, but then again the vessels were not ready, and a very long time must elapse before the service could be commenced. Under those circumstances the Government also felt justified in rejecting that offer. The third tender was put in by a very powerful company, competent to carry out the service, and having in their possession vessels sufficient in 1989 power and sufficient in number; but the company proposed this condition, that the Government should wait for an uncertain period before the commencement of the service and until those vessels were disengaged from the transport service in which they were at present employed. That was a conclusive reason against accepting that tender. But there was another reason—namely, that the company refused to be bound by the penalties, which were strict, and which, on all occasions where there was a non-fulfilment of a Government contract, it was necessary should be imposed. Besides, it was obvious that in a contract of this kind, affecting both this country and the colonies, whatever conditions were imposed must be imperatively adhered to by the home Government, who could not relax any condition in which the colonies were equally concerned. Therefore, on two grounds the Government were obliged to reject this tender—first, because the company were not in a position at once to commence the service; and, secondly, because they would not bind themselves by those penalties which were considered absolutely necessary to insure that the service should be performed in a regular and satisfactory manner. The fourth tender was the largest in amount by a considerable sum, but it contemplated the immediate commencement of the service by vessels recently built. The company also took upon themselves the performance of the contract under the penalties in full; they likewise proposed to commence the service at Southampton, though the conditions of the tender only required it to commence from Suez. They would in fact take the mails and passengers direct from Southampton to Australia. Now, that appeared to the Government to be a very important object; because, although there was now a perfect postal establishment at Suez, yet a late Indian mail might delay the Australian mail for a fortnight, and in that way many of the advantages which the Government were anxious to secure would be lost. Therefore, though the amount of this tender was much larger than the other offers, yet, after a communication which his right hon. Friend the Secretary for the Colonies, whom he on this occasion looked upon as representing those colonies, which had a joint interest with this country in the arrangement, and would bear a considerable portion towards the expense of the service, he (Mr. Wilson) could not hesitate in consenting to pay a 1990 larger sum of money in order to secure what he believed to be great advantages to the Australian colonies. He had made strict inquiry as to the responsibility of the parties, and nothing could be more satisfactory than the account he had received, not only as to their ability in point of capital, but also as to their knowledge, energy, and business-like habits. The arrangement would be this:—The first vessel would be ready for survey in the month of August, and would depart on a voyage between Southampton and Melbourne direct round the Cape with passengers in October. That vessel would be ready in January to take up the service from Melbourne to Suez and back; another vessel would be despatched for Melbourne in November; a third in December, and a fourth in January. From January the service would be performed between Suez and Melbourne monthly without interruption, backwards and forwards each month. The vessels would be of 2,200 tons burden, and not less than of 500-horse power. He, therefore, thought that everything had been done which money and invention could achieve in order to accomplish the roost rapid and regular communication between this country and the Australian colonies.
§ SIR JOHN PAKINGTONsaid, he considered the answer of the hon. Gentleman, as far as it went, very satisfactory; but he wished to ask whether the contract stipulated, with respect to the size of the vessels, that none of them should be less than 2,000 tons burden? He was also anxious to know whether the contract contained any stipulation either with regard to the speed of the vessels per hour through the water, or with regard to the maximum of time to elapse in the voyage between Southampton and Melbourne?
§ MR. WILSONsaid, that none of the vessels to be permanently employed would be less than 2,200 tons burden. There were two of 1,800 to be employed temporarily. He did not exactly remember the time stipulated for the passage, but he thought that the number of days was about fifty from London to Australia. The penalty to be incurred for the non-performance of the contract was, for the first day of its infringement, £50, and so increasing by £50 every day afterwards.
§ SIR JOHN PAKINGTONFor what time is the contract entered into?
§ MR. WILSONFive years.