MR. CORRYsaid, he rose to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, Whether the assignment of the Galway Contract has been purchased by the Montreal and Ocean Steam Packet Company; if so, on what terms the purchase has been effected, and what modifications of the conditions of the Contract have been sanctioned by the Government?
§ MR. HORSFALLsaid, he would also beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether a pledge was given by the Treasury to Mr. Inman, as the representative of the Liverpool and Philadelphia Steam Ship Company, that no transfer of the Galway Contract should take place without affording him the opportunity of showing cause why such Contract should not be transferred; and, if so, whether it is true that the Contract has been transferred without affording Mr. Inman the opportunity which had been promised. And whether the statement with regard to the Mails contained in the following advertisement, published on Monday last, has been authorized by Her Majesty's Government:—
The Galway Contract having been transferred to the Montreal Ocean Steam Ship Company, the North Briton, which sails on Wednesday, will call at Galway for the Newfoundland, United States, and Canadian Mails.
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERSir, in replying to the question of my right hon. Friend (Mr. Corry) I may at the same time refer to the question of my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool (Mr. Horsfall). It is not necessary, as he will see, that I should at present enter into any details on the subject. An arrangement was made between the Montreal and Ocean Steam Packet Company 1767 on the one side, and the Galway Packet Company, as I may call it for the sake of clearness, on the other, for an assignment of the Galway Contract to the Montreal and Ocean Steam Packet Company; but that arrangement was of necessity subject to the consent of the Government, and an application was made two or three days ago for that consent, a copy of the assignment being also placed in the hands of the Government. At the same time an intimation was made to the Government that the answer must be an immediate one, as the matter would not bear giving time for consideration. Under these circumstances the Government really were precluded from giving any full consideration of the question upon its merits, and they did not hesitate to reply that without at all indicating what would have been the result if full time had been given for consideration, they could not sanction the assignment. The two gentlemen who hold office in Canada, and who had given Government to understand that the question was thus pressing, were to have quitted England, I believe, yesterday evening, and the answer then sent to them was considered by Government as a definitive reply, which indeed, it was, to the application made to them. This day, however, I have learned, only within the last few minutes, that one of those gentlemen has not quitted England. That gentleman, Mr. Smith, I believe, holds the office of Postmaster-General in Canada, and he has sent in a letter requesting that a more full consideration might be given by the Government to the subject. I have had no opportunity of communicating with my Colleagues since that letter was received, and I am not, therefore, enabled to make any statement in regard to it. With respect to the question of my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, I need hardly say that the advertisement he has quoted in his notice intimating that the Galway Contract had been transferred to the Montreal Ocean Steam Ship Company has not been authorized or sanctioned by Her Majesty's Government, and therefore it must be understood, of course, as meaning merely that the arrangement had been completed between the parties so far as they were concerned. With regard to the pledge stated to have been given to Mr. Inman, that no transfer of the Galway Contract should take place without affording him the opportunity of showing cause why such contract should not be transferred, it is perfectly 1768 true that a pledge of that kind was given to Mr. Inman, and, of course, the Government will take care that that pledge is redeemed.
§ MR. BAXTERsaid, he would beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, if the Government has sanctioned the sale of the contract and subsidy for conveying the mails between Galway and America; if the four new steamers, on the faith of the performance of which the large subsidy of £78,000 per annum was promised, are not after all to be placed upon the station; if it is true that the Atlantic Royal Mail Company are unable to fulfil the conditions under which they undertook the service, and have resorted to this sale or assignment in order to secure to their shareholders a large sum of public money without rendering any service; what is the sum for which the contract has been sold, and what course the Government mean to take, with a view to ascertaining the opinion of the House of Commons on these transactions?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERSir, with respect to the information my hon. Friend has asked for, all I can tell him is this:—He is already aware that the assignment of the Contract has not been sanctioned by the Government. As to the four new steamers, on the faith of providing which the subsidy was promised, they would not, under the assignment, have been placed on the station; but other new steamers would have been provided by the Canadian Company, which, of course, would have been subject to certain conditions of inspection and approval. With regard to the alleged inability of the Atlantic Royal Mail Company to complete the service, Government have no official notice whatever. The sum stated in the assignment was £35,000 a year, to be paid for seven years; and with regard to the course which the Government intend to take in order to obtain the opinion of this House, that will depend on the decision yet to be come to, and therefore it is premature as yet to give any reply.
§ MR. HANKEYsaid, he wished to ask the Secretary of State for War, When further Copies of the Report on the Defences will be delived to the House for sale, as numerous applications have been made for the purchase of Copies which cannot now be obtained?
§ MR. SIDNEY HERBERTsaid, that 2,250 copies of the Report of the Commission on Natiohal Defences had been printed, and 500 distributed.