THE DANUBE—QUESTION. (Hansard, 25 March 1859)

§ MR. DODSON

said, he would beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, whether the European Commission, appointed under the 16th Article of the Treaty of Paris, 1856, To designate and cause to be executed the works necessary below Isatcha to clear the mouths of the Danube, as well as the neighbouring parts of the sea, from the sands and other impediments which obstruct them, in order to put that part of the river and the said parts of the sea in the best possible state for navigation— has designated the works which in its opinion are necessary; whether those works, or any others for effecting the same purposes are being carried out; and, if so, who are the persons charged with the direc- 814 tion of such works, and when it is probable they will be completed?

MR. SEYMOUR FITZGERALD

said, the European Commissioners who had been appointed in conformity with the Articles of the Treaty of Paris had collected a great deal of valuable information, and had suggested several plans for the improvement of the Danube. It was agreed by the Five Powers that these plans should he submitted to a Commission of Engineers, which Commission had met in Paris, and they gave in their Report on the 25th of August last. The conclusion at which the Com-missioners arrived was that the St. George's mouth of the Danube was much preferable for improvements to the Sulina mouth. The expense of the improvements at that mouth were estimated at £360,000; but if all the improvements which the Commissioners recommended were carried out, he was satisfied that the expense would be not less than £500,000. The works would be undertaken under the superintendence of the European Commission and the expenditure, to be defrayed in the first instance by the Turkish Government, was to be repaid by a duty to be paid by all ships that cuter the Danube. The opinion of Major Stokes, our Commissioner at the Danube, was that these works could not be commenced before the year 1860. There were a great many details still to be settled — plans and specifications were to be made out. It would be some time before the contractors could send in their tenders, and besides that there were other causes of delay.