HARWICH HARBOUR.—RESOLUTION. (Hansard, 1 July 1861)

CAPTAIN JERVIS

said, he rose to move the Resolution of which he had given notice with reference to harbours of refuge. In 1844 a Commission was appointed on the subject of harbours of refuge, and amongst others it was found that the harbour of Harwich, from want of proper care, was nearly silted up. It was, therefore, recommended that a sum of money should be granted for the purpose of improving the harbour. It was proposed that a groyne should be erected on the east side of the town, 700 yards in length, to secure a proper force of water. Subsequently it was resolved that the groyne should be only 500 yards in length, and that another should be erected to the eastward of Landguard Point. But the second groyne was never carried out, and the consequence was that the harbour, as a harbour of refuge for large vessels, was likely to be entirely lost. On the 25th of October, 1858, the Trinity House addressed a letter to the Admiralty calling attention to that important subject, and expressing the strongest apprehensions of the utter loss of the harbour for large craft if proper measures were not immediately applied to remedy the evils complained of. That statement of the elder brethren of Trinity House caused the greatest anxiety to the mercantile community connected with the coasting trade in that direction; for the accumulation of sand on the east side of the harbour would not only prove dangerous, but large vessels attempting it in that direction would most probably be lost. The Board of Admiralty replied to the letter by asking the brethren of Trinity House to mark upon the chart the position of the sands to which they referred. That having been done, the Admiralty then stated that they had no funds available for the object in view. This proceeding on the part of the Admiralty was the more extraordinary that various reports had been made to them on the subject from the engineers to the Board. On the 1st July, 1852, Mr. Walker, one of the most eminent of naval engineers, called that attention of the Admiralty to it, and estimated that the cost of the groyne recommended would be only £10,000. These Reports were repeatedly pressed until the 1st of April, 1856, but without effect. He (Cap- 145 tain Jervis) then wrote to the Board of Trade on the subject. The reply he received was that the matter was not within their departament, but that it belonged to the Board of Admiralty. He then wrote to the Admiralty. The answer he received was that it was no business of the Admiralty—it belonged rather to the Treasury. He then applied to the Treasury, and he was told that it was a matter for the Board of Trade and not for the Treasury. Under those circumstances he saw no alternative but to bring the matter before the Government generally. He might be told that it was not a question for the Government but that the town should look after its own harbour, but the jurisdiction of that harbour was with the Borough of Ipswich, and from time immemorial Harwich had been looked upon as a harbour of refuge by all vessels that traded along that part of the coast. He had seen as many as 500 vessels run into it of a day. From the prevalence of easterly winds the sands on the south-east coast renders the navigation of vessels in that direction most dangerous. To keep the mouth of Harwich harbour open, and to remove those obstacles, were, therefore, measures of the deepest interest to the mercantile community on the east coast of England. The hydrographer of the navy had given it as his opinion that the matter ought not to be postponed for a single day, as the danger was augmenting more and more every day. Captain Washington also had made a report upon the subject, calling attention to the dangerous extension of the Landguard Point. He (Captain Jervis), therefore, trusted when the Government were asking for a Vote of £160,000 for the works at Alderney, Portland, and Dover, that they would see the importance of providing for the security of Harwich harbour, the works of which only involved a sum of £15,000, as estimated by the engineer of the Board of Admiralty.

§ MR. MILNER GIBSON

said, that he was sorry the hon. and gallant Gentleman should have been inconvenienced by the referecne made from one department to the other; but as his application was for a grant of public money, the Board of Trade thought, therefore, that it was a more appropriate subject for the consideration of the Treasury than for the department with which he (Mr. Milner Gibson) was connected. The Board of Trade were quite alive to the importance of the question, and it would be admitted by every one that the filling up of so valuable a harbour of refuge would be a great national misfrotune. He had heard it stated, however, that the predictions which had been made were not likely to be fulfilled to the extent that it was supposed, and that the access to the harbour was not likely to be put an end to altogether; but, no doubt, it was possible that the access might be rendered far more difficult than it was at present. The subject should receive the most serious consideration of Her Majesty's Government. He quite admitted that it was a matter of importance, and that the hon. and gallant Gentleman had done good service in bringing it under the notice of the House. He should not anticipate what his hon. Friend the Secretary to the Treasury was likely to say on the finanical part of the question, but they knew that estimates for engineering operations of this character were not generally to be relied on, but that difficulties arose in the progress of operations connected with harbours involving a great outlay beyond the original estimate. He could assure the hon. and gallant Gentleman that full inquiry would take place, and that means would be found to deal with the difficulties of the case.