§ SIR HARRY VERNEYsaid, he rose to put a Question to the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies on the subject of the means of communication between this country and Vancouver's Island. The hon. Baronet read an extract from a letter written by a passenger on board an American ship on her way from San Francisco to Victoria, complaining, that though licensed to carry only 800 persons, she had on board between 1,200 and 1,300, and would consequently, if caught in a gale of wind, be exposed to great danger. ["Order!"] He would conclude by asking, Whether it is the intention of the Government to take any steps towards the establishment of a line of Packets between Panama and Victoria?
§ MR. CHICHESTER FORTESCUEsaid, he was fully aware of the importance of the subject to which the hon. Baronet referred; and something had lately been done for the purpose of improving the postal communication with Vancouver's Island and British Columbia. Arrangements had been made for conveying mails and passengers under a subsidy provided by the two Colonies from San Francisco to Victoria. With reference to the larger question of postal and passenger communication in British steamers from the Isthmus of Panama to Vancouver's Island, there was certainly nothing that would promote so much the growth of the Colonies themselves as British communities; but he could not undertake to say that the Government at present thought it their duty to call upon the House to assist them in that object.