§ MR. W. JOHNSTONsaid, he rose to call attention to the benefit of promoting a short sea passage between Ireland and Scotland, and the importance of maintaining Portpatrick Harbour in a satisfactory state, and to move for the appointment of a Select Committee to inquire into and report thereon. While he was anxious to meet the wishes of the First Lord of the Treasury, he felt bound, from the importance of the subject, to trespass for a short time upon the attention of the House. It was of great importance to the people of the North of Ireland, and to his constituents among the working classes of Belfast, who desired a short sea passage between Ireland and Scotland. The distance between Portpatrick and Donaghadee was only nineteen miles, and with suitable steamers the passage might be made in an hour and a half. The harbour of Portpatrick had been favourably reported upon by Sir John Rennie, the well-known civil engineer, in his report furnished to the Lords of the Admiralty in 1846. In consequence of a Treasury Minute of 1857, which was very favourable to the route by Donaghadee and Portpatrick, railway communication with those two places had been completed. Since 1856 a sum of £48,000 had been spent on harbour improvements, which would be wholly lost if the harbour were now abandoned. He did not want it adopted as a mail station, but still he hoped the House would not allow it to be disestablished by the sea and disendowed by the 983 Board of Trade. The advantage of the harbour would be seen in this, that last year a steam-packet company put on a steamer, which ran three times a week between the two harbours in the summer months, and though the steamer was not altogether suitable for the traffic, she carried in that time 8,000 passengers. The company were prepared, should Government give a favourable consideration to the question, to put on superior steamers this year. There were now two breaches in the pier; the outer breach took place in 1857, the inner breach took place in 1858, and it was the inner breach that rendered the harbour dangerous for traffic. It must be repaired if the harbour were to be accessible either for steamers or sailing vessels. A very small sum, from £1,500 to £2,000 would repair it and make the harbour safe. He knew the right hon. Gentleman the President of the Board of Trade had recently visited the place, and he appealed to him not to let this magnificent work of former Governments go to decay. If Portpatrick light were extinguished the result would be great danger to coasting vessels. He trusted that the Government would revoke their decision, and that they would grant the Committee for which he asked.
§ LORD GARLIESsaid, that he had been requested to second the Motion for the appointment of a Select Committee to report on this subject; but that he must confess that he did not require much solicitation from anyone, as the re-establishment of this ferry between Great Britain and Ireland had been the daydream of his life. He represented the county in which this harbour was situated, which was nearer to Ireland than any other county in Great Britain, and that being so, there was a great influx of Irishmen. Now there were two classes of Irishmen—one, for whom he felt no sympathy, whose cry was "Ireland for the Irish;" and the other, for whom he had the deepest sympathy, who, to use their own naive expression, said—"It is to be a part of England we want." But it might be asked him—"How is Ireland to be made a part of England by maintaining a harbour in the South of Scotland?" Well! it was the prerogative of Scotchmen—or at any rate they assumed it to themselves—to answer one question by asking another; and he (Lord Garlies) would not 984 be an exception to his race upon this occasion further than by repeating himself the same question, and quoting the answer he had himself received. That answer was—"Because you thus encourage the importation into Ireland of British trade, enterprize, industry, skill, and capital." This was, however, an historical question—but he would not refer the House back to the charmed year of 1660—and if he did revert for a moment to the year 1770, it was only to mention that from that year to 1846 the ferry between Portpatrick and Donaghadee was carried on with unsurpassed regularity, and it was discontinued then only because there were no railways down to the water's edge on either side of the Channel. That led to the establishment of the service between Holyhead and Kingstown. Sir Luke Smithett, however, a high authority on this subject, said that, in his opinion, the Portpatrick and Donaghadee route now possessed all the requisites necessary for a complete, efficient, speedy, and safe service if only steamers suitable to the port were placed on the station. The right hon. Gentleman the President of the Board of Trade said—no doubt with truth—that £252,112 had already been spent upon the harbour. Of this large sum, £70,000 had been spent upon new works on the north side since 1856, and it was at the moment of the completion of those works, which would have made the harbour perfect, that a series of unprecedented storms came and made on the south side a breach in the pier which had been erected in 1839. He could not help thinking it was penny-wise and pound-foolish economy, at the moment of completing these works on the north side, to allow the harbour to go to rack and ruin because a small breach had been made on the south side; and he could not help thinking that there had been a prejudice among the authorities against this harbour. The right hon. Gentleman, at the beginning of the Session, was against keeping up the light in this harbour; but he said that, if it were shown to be of utility to passing vessels, it should be maintained. Since then Petitions had been presented from Belfast, from the owners of thirty or forty sailing vessels of that port, and only yesterday a memorial was presented to the President of the Board of Trade from above seventy leading shipowners in Glasgow and 985 Liverpool in favour of maintaining the light; and as this proof had been given, and the right hon. Gentleman had found there was a prejudice in the one case, they only asked the right hon. Gentleman to consider that there might be a prejudice in the other case, and that they should not be condemned unheard. If, after the Report of the Select Committee, it were still determined to abandon the harbour, they would bow with submission to that decision. One of the leading principles of the Budget was the remission of taxation on locomotion, and he could assure the Chancellor of the Exchequer that the grant of a small sum to repair the harbour of Portpatrick would greatly tend to encourage locomotion. He understood that the First Lord of the Treasury had never seen Ireland, and he would, therefore, advise the right hon. Gentleman to visit that country during the Whitsuntide holiday, making use of this harbour on his way. He might then take the opportunity of selecting the sites, or even laying the foundation stone of some of those lunatic asylums, for which he seemed to have so sympathetic a consideration; and, as a certain portion of public plunder—to use the right hon. Gentleman's own words—was proposed to be applied to secular purposes for the benefit of the Irish people, the right hon. Gentleman might take the opportunity of getting the sanction of Cardinal Cullen to carry away a slice for the benefit of the works of the harbour of Portpatrick, from which the patron saint of Ireland had formerly set out to bless that country. He believed, if that been were granted, the Irish would be ready to show their gratitude by substituting, as the designation of the harbour, the name of St. William for the name of their patron saint.
SIR JOHN HAYsaid, that the harbour of Portpatrick had cost the country somewhere about £250,000, and at the present moment, the south pier, on which some years ago a lighthouse was erected, was suffering from a breach caused by a south-west gale. These gales were undermining the tower of the lighthouse, and if the breach was allowed to continue the lighthouse would topple over, and fall across the entrance of the harbour, and effectually close it. He was assured that £1,600 would be sufficient to repair that breach, and remove the lighthouse, and then the new lighthouse which stood 986 a little inland would be sufficient for all practical purposes. He really thought that the harbour which had cost so much, and which was the only available harbour for twenty-eight miles of an iron-bound coast, ought not to be allowed to go to ruin in order to save so trifling an expenditure. The light on the Mull of Galloway was frequently hidden by fogs during south-west gales, and could not be seen even in clear weather, at a distance of seven miles, on account of the formation of the coast. The safety of the coasting vessels depended greatly on the light at Portpatrick harbour, and great injury would result from its being extinguished. He trusted that the right hon. Gentleman the President of the Board of Trade would consent to the appointment of a Committee, or that he would take upon himself the responsibility of ordering the necessary repairs.
§ ADMIRAL SEYMOURsaid, with respect to the question of communication between Ireland and Scotland, there were two beautiful harbours situated respectively near Donaghadee and Portpatrick, and better suited for the purpose. There had been some idea that the light at Portpatrick was no longer to be maintained, but he hoped that that idea was abandoned. He believed that £1,700 would be well expended on the repair of the pier. The harbour and the light were necessary for safe navigation in that quarter.
§ MR. AYRTONsaid, it was much more agreeable to assent to the appointment of a Committee than to refuse it, and the Government would, therefore, assent to that proposed if there were not insuperable objections in the way. The Motion of the hon. Member for Belfast (Mr. W. Johnston) was based on a misunderstanding of the relations of the Government to the harbours in question. The origin of those relations was not that in times past the Government considered it important to keep up that line of communication for the convenience of the inhabitants of Scotland and Ireland, but they arose out of the old system, when the mails were carried by sailing sloops, and when the Post Office thought it necessary to have several ports for the departure and arrival of the mails, so that, if by stress of weather communication with one port was rendered impossible, within twenty-four hours communication might be carried on by 987 means of another port. Among the ports selected were the two of which mention had been made, and the Post Office spent a considerable amount of money on them; not intending to maintain them out of the public revenue, but out of the proceed of the postal charges. This system went on for some time, and, in 1820, the Post Office, desiring to improve the communication by means of the ports in question, brought in a Bill to increase the sea postage between Portpatrick and Donaghadee, and an additional rate of 1d. was imposed for a single letter, of 4d. for a double letter, and of 6d. for a treble letter—or of 8d. an ounce. Things went on in this way for years, until a new arrangement for the employment of steamboats was entered into, and a large expenditure was then made. But, in 1847, the mail route between Holyhead and Kingstown was perfected by the completion of the railway to Holyhead, and it was found that it was no longer necessary to maintain a special postal communication between Portpatrick and Donaghadee; they abolished the special rate which had been levied to maintain it, and the uniform rate of 1d. over the whole kingdom was substituted. The inhabitants of Ireland derived the greatest benefit from the change, for, instead of paying a large sum in the shape of sea postage between England and Ireland, they had the advantage of the 1d. post, and got the sea postage for nothing. When the Government asked whether that communication could not be maintained for some other purpose, they came to the conclusion that the inhabitants of Ireland and Scotland had decided the matter for themselves, because nobody would use this line, or so few as to show that they set no value on it. The answer then given was conclusive—that Belfast and Glasgow had established a complete system of steam communication, and. that the commercial interests of the two neighbourhoods were centred in the line of steamboats between Glasgow and Belfast, which had been carried on without the assistance of Government, and which was self-sustaining; the line of communication between Portpatrick and Donaghadee had no commercial importance. These harbours, no doubt, had entailed on the country a very large expenditure; but, if they served no useful purpose, why should the House continue to vote very large sums for purposes 988 which were no longer desirable? From that day to this there had been a disposition to take no further account of these harbours or this line of communication. But, unfortunately, in 1856, a Gentleman, who occupied the position he now held, thought he could resuscitate this line of communication against the decision of a former Government; and he persuaded the Government of the day to enter into arrangements with two railway companies, one in Scotland and another in Ireland, to make branch railways to these ports, promising if they did so, and if an independent company would establish a line of steam communication Government would enter into a contract for the conveyance of the mails at a reasonable sum by this particular route. On the faith of a Treasury Minute companies were encouraged to establish those lines, and expectations were held out that the Post Office would re-open this line of communication. Government was pledged to spend certain sums of money to put Portpatrick harbour in better condition; but, unfortunately, when Government had spent £40,000 or £50,000 to improve Portpatrick harbour it was discovered to be not much better than before, and that money was expended almost in vain. Then came the day of repentance. It was said that successive Governments had acted in bad faith; but, because successive Governments came to different conclusions in a new state of things, it did not follow that they had acted in bad faith. At last it fell to the lot of the late Government to form an opinion as to what should be done to extricate the Crown from the embarrassment caused by the Treasury Minute of 1856. He ventured to think the late Government took a very just view of the case; for, after obtaining all the information they could and examining all the reports made on those harbours, they came to the conclusion—
That, partly from changes which have taken place since 1856, in consequence of expediting and improving other means of communication, and partly from the fact that the harbour of Portpatrick, notwithstanding the expenditure of very large sums of public money, has been reported upon by the Board of Trade to be in its present state dangerous and unsuitable for the intended service, it has been found impossible to establish postal service between Portpatrick and Donaghadee as originally contemplated without incurring further and heavy charges to the public in the extension and maintenance of Portpatrick harbour, and the payment of a subsidy for the service.989 The deliberate judgment of the late Government in a Treasury Minute, dated June 6, 1868, was given against that line of communication, and he ventured to think that that Government took the course which was wise and becoming, They looked the difficulty in the face, and having resolved not to continue involved in difficulties and perplexities arising out of past improvident transactions, they communicated with the two railway companies who had acted on the faith of the Treasury Minute of 1856, and arranged with them, on the fairest and most reasonable terms they could, for withdrawing altogether from the obligations they had undertaken at that period. They came to a bargain which he thought; very fair and just. One railway company—the Belfast and County Down—wanted money, and the Government agreed to lend £166,000 at the low rate of 3½ per cent interest, allowing a term of thirty years for re-payment. The: Scotch railway company was not so much in want of money; but, with a full appreciation of its value, they seized both the offer of the loan of £153,000 at 3½ per cent, to be re-paid in thirty-five years by instalments, and £20,000 in hard cash. In consequence of this arrangement an Act was passed last Session to fulfil this agreement. The loans had been granted; the £20,000 had been paid, and really one might now reasonably ask the House whether they had not paid their smart money and were not entitled to wash their hands for ever of Portpatrick and Donaghadee. They had paid enough, and therefore he objected to any kind of proposal which suggested the necessity for further expenditure. The old policy had no foundation whatever now. Two Committees of the House of Commons had recorded the conclusion which the House had adopted—that all the resources of the country should be concentrated in one line of communication between England and Ireland—namely, that between Holyhead and Kingstown; and the House had nobly carried out its resolution, for it had paid no less a sum than £1,545,000 in recent times—he did not go back to the most ancient score—for completing the harbour of Holyhead. It had stood in the Estimates year after year at a heavy charge. The annual sum paid for keeping up the harbour was £2,500. And what was got in return for this enormous expenditure? 990 There were dues from those who used the harbour amounting to £1,493 a year. But that was not all; for Kingstown harbour, since the time when George TV. gave it that name, had cost something like £825,000; and he was sorry to say the first thing he learnt when he entered the Treasury was that the work had not been well done for the money, and in the present Estimates there was a charge of £18,000 for putting it in order. The annual charge for working expenses of Kingstown harbour was £4,202, and the amount of revenue received was so small it was difficult to discover it in the public accounts. In addition to all this, there was a subsidy of £80,000 a year paid to the steamboat company to keep up the postal communication at a very great speed and efficiency. The hon. Member now asked the House, after it had incurred this outlay, to re-open the subject of the harbours of Portpatrick and Donaghadee. His Motion was of a most insidious and dangerous character. If a man went to the Treasury and asked for money for his own purposes they could send the sturdy beggar away; but this Motion was one of a vague and general character, calling attention to—The benefit of promoting a short sea passage between Ireland and Scotland, and the importance of maintaining Portpatrick Harbour in a satisfactory state, and to move for the appointment of a Select Committee to inquire into and report thereon.But promoted, sustained, and paid for by whom? The hon. Member referred to this branch of the subject quite in a parenthesis and in a low tone of voice, but there could be no doubt that all this was to be done at the expense of the Treasury. But would the House enter upon a general inquiry of this sort, when the only suggestion made was that the object was to be carried out by a grant of public money? Unless the House was prepared to make such a grant, it would only be an illusion to grant the Committee. The Government were very anxious to afford every facility to any persons who would take up Portpatrick harbour, and turn it to account for any public object, and they accordingly wrote to the Commissioners of Supply of the county offering them the harbour for nothing. They wrote back, however, declining to have anything to do with the harbour. The Government 991 also offered the harbour to a Portpatrick and Donaghadee Steam Company, but they rejected the offer. When the inhabitants would not have a harbour when it was offered to them, was it not too bad to call upon the Government to maintain it at the public expense? The Government could not consent to incur this expenditure, and he regretted to be obliged to call upon the House to refuse this Committee.
§ MR. PIMsaid, that the hon. Gentleman the Secretary to the Treasury had spoken of the large expenditure upon the Kingstown harbour as if it had been incurred solely for the sake of the communication between Holyhead and Dublin. That was by no means the case. The fact was it was a harbour of refuge, which accounted for its great cost, and after a gale it would be found filled with vessels which were not from Irish ports only, but also from Liverpool, from Scotland, and from all ports from which vessels passed down the Irish Channel. If the harbour had been required merely for purposes of intercommunication between Holyhead and Dublin, scarcely a tenth of the outlay would have been necessary.