COLONEL DUNNEsaid, he wished to ask the Under Secretary to the Treasury, when the new Boats will be put on the Holyhead Station; when the Piers at that Station will be completed; and, as to overtures said to be made to the Midland and Chester Railway Companies on that subject? He had heard that some offer had been made to the railway companies that if they forewent the building of the piers they should be allowed half an hour in addition to the time agreed on for the journey; but he trusted to hear that no such offer had been made.
§ MR. LAINGbelieved, that large boats would commence running on the 1st of August. The works going on at Holyhead belonged to three classes. First, the large outer works; second, the pier from which the present boats ran; and third, the new pier partly for Irish boats and partly for the Transatlantic steamers, on the plan of Mr. Hawkshaw. The latter plan was not yet commenced, and was likely to undergo some modification, as, Irish ports being made points of departure for Transatlantic steamers, it was not probable that Holyhead would be used for that purpose. The estimate for the work was £450,000, but if the Transatlantic steamers' pier were not required, the ex- 532 penditure would be very much less. Under any circumstances, some additional accommodation would be required at the existing pier, because the other could not be completed under a period of three or four years. It had been represented by the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company that it might be more advantageous to lay out money on the present pier, in making it a permanent stone structure, instead of a wooden structure, than upon the other proposed by Mr. Hawkshaw. He believed there was a good deal to be said on both sides, and as a considerable amount would have to be laid out, it would be desirable to have a little experience of the working from the present pier before deciding the question. The arrangement with the railway companies was, that they were bound by a contract to complete the whole transit between London and Dublin in eleven hours; but he understood that the penalties attached to the contract with regard to that time were not to take effect until the requisite accommodation was provided at Holyhead for carrying the mails direct on board the steamboats without stopping at the station. About two years would elapse under any circumstances before the accommodation could be complete, and as in the meantime the railway company had only access to the pier by a very sharp curve, which could not be traversed with safety by the large engines, they very naturally claimed some allowance of time before being subject to the penalties. No express allowance had been made, but the understanding come to was that half-an-hour should be allowed, and that all parties were to do their best to accomplish the transit in the shortest time which the present circumstances would admit. He hoped that the delay would not be more that a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes.
§ House at rising to adjourn to Monday next.