SOUTHAMPTON, AS THE MAIL PACKET STATION, CONTRASTED WITH FALMOUTH AND PLYMOUTH. BY THE PEESIDENT AND DIEECTOES OE THE SOUTHAMPTON CHAMBEE OF COIIEECE. SOUTHAMPTON: Thomas Gr. Griztch, Caxton Steam IPi’inting Offices, 154, High. Street. IS 6-4=. - ;v y SOUTHAMPTON, AS THE MAIL PACKET STATION, CONTRASTED WITH FALMOUTH AND PLYMOUTH. BY THE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTORS OP THE £vg'.-* SOUTHAMPTON CHAMBER OE COMMERCE. % * * A SOUTHAMPTON - : Thomas Gr. Gru.tch, Caxton Steam Printing Office®, 154, High. Street. 186 * 4 . / PREFACE. Somewhat recently a statement has been extensively circulated by parties in the interests of the Port of Falmouth, urging its suitability for the purposes of a Mail Packet Station, and some public bodies to whom this ex-parte statement has been forwarded, have addressed the Govern¬ ment in favor of that Port. It does not appear that those public bodies entered into any investigation of the facts alleged in the Falmouth statement, or that any careful dis¬ cussion of the subject took place. Whilst this reduces the value of these representations, it more especially casts upon his Lordship the Postmaster-General a very strict exami¬ nation of the statement in question. The agitation of this subject by Falmouth has induced parties at Plymouth to memorialise the Postmaster-General in favor of that Port , and to represent Falmouth as not suitable for a Mail Packet Station. It is probable that if Falmouth had not raised the Mail Packet question, Plymouth, having had no improvements effected in the direction of increased accommodation for Mail Steamers of late years, would not have urged any claim to or suitability for that purpose ; neither is it probable that the public bodies before referred to would have addressed 4 the Government in respect to any alteration in the conduct of the Mail Packet Service, and it is, therefore, a fair infer¬ ence that there has hitherto been very little, if any, cause for complaint. Under these circumstances, it has become necessary to correct the statement in question, and to place before the Postmaster-General, the Government Authorities, and the public, the superior, nay unrivalled, advantages of South¬ ampton as a Mail Packet Station, and the fact that it unites more safety, facilities, and means of dispatch, with closer proximity to the Metropolis, than any other Port in England. The Figures and Letters refer to the Paragraphs in the Falmouth and Plymouth Statements, and it will he convenient to write the Numbers or Letters against each Paragraph in those Statements before comparing them with the following comments and corrections. Southampton, April, 1864 . FALMOUTH 1.—It is respectfully submitted that the geographical position of Falmouth at the entrance of the English Channel is 313 miles from Paddington, and from the great Metropolis of England, and can only be approached by passing dangerous outlying Eocks and all the evils of an iron-bound coast. That it is not accessible in all states of weather and at all times of tide, inasmuch as it is subject to severe and heavy gales from S.S.E. to S.S.W., and being extensively used as a Port of Call for Vessels seeking orders is sometimes encum¬ bered with 200 or 300 sail of such vessels, which would (especially at night) render it unsafe to land the Mails from the large and very long steam ships of the West India Com¬ pany, which must always be done at that Port by steam tenders, and be highly dangerous to passengers. These enormous vessels would be unable safely to turn in Carrick Eoad (only about two cables in width), and if the Mail Steamers were compelled to anchor outside the Black Eock, it would be not only difficult, but dangerous, for the Steam Tenders to get alongside, particularly in the winter season. That in immediate approach to the Harbour of Ealmouth there is a dangerous, and, at high water, wholly submerged rock, called the Black Eock ; marked at day by a beacon, but with no light at night, and though it is as well known and generall 0 avoided as the Daunt Rock at Cork, it would, with the increased traffic of large Mail Steam Ships, become an equal danger— indeed, already one or more Vessels have been wrecked thereon—and as the Mail Ships must enter and leave Ports at all hours of the night, and in all weathers, nothing but a Lighthouse on the Black Rock would lessen the danger, and the other very grave objections would still exist as regards Palmouth Harbour and its approaches. 2. —At the period of the introduction of Steam Vessels and Railways a full investigation of the great natural advantages of the Port of Southampton took place; its unrivalled facilities were then comparatively unknown, and although its possession of Local Railway and Dock accommodation were incidents m its favor, the Royal Commission under Sir James Gordon condemned Palmouth, having then no Railway and Dock accommodation, and reported in favor of Dartmouth, also having then no Railway or Dock accommodation ; and when a further comparison of Southampton with Palmouth and all other JPorts was carefully made, and the Government and Postal Authorities were more fully informed on the subject, South¬ ampton w T as finally selected as the Mail Packet Station, and so remains to this day. Its Authorities, and the Directors of the Railway and the Docks, have liberally expended several hundred thousand pounds to provide the fullest accommodation the Postal Service has required, and are willing still further to extend that accommodation, if His Lordship the Post¬ master-General sees occasion. In fact Southampton is, has been, and desires to be, the great Postal Port of this country, and no other Port can be selected that will not embarrass and impede the Postal with other Services, in its operations throughout the entire country, and more especially as regards the Metropolis. 3. —The Local Railway, Dock, and Wharfage accommo¬ dation, possessed so abundantly at Southampton, and 7 only 80 miles from the General Post Office, have not been supplied to Palmouth; that Port must still be reached over 313 miles of Railway, of which 66 miles is on a single line with bad gradients from Plymouth, and a part of the South Devon Railway, 53 miles from Exeter to Plymouth, is also single, with gradients of a very serious character, between Plymouth and Newton. Upon this Line there are inclined planes varying from two to four miles in length, in which the maximum gradient of 1 in 40, 1 in 42, and 1 in 43 are to be found; and with these difficulties are combined curves of great severity, and which forbid the hopes of such a Line being considered a Eirst-class Railway for Special Trains worked at high velocities and at uncertain periods, as required by the Postal Service, so that the Mails can only be sent safely by the Regular and Stated Trains (less frequent than from Southampton), and Special Trains cannot, with¬ out danger and delay, be sent over Single Lines, and over an extent of 313 miles, under various managements ; whilst from Southampton the Mails are constantly sent by Special Trains under one management, and upon very short notice, reaching the General Post Office in about two hours. And with respect to extensive Dock and Wharfage accom¬ modation adapted to the largest class of Vessels, said to have been provided at Falmouth , a direct negative must be given > for, with the exception of two mere repairing Docks, with only 16^ feet over the sills at high water, no Dock accommodation whatever exists , nor is a stone laid or a pile driven of the close Dock delineated on the Admiralty Chart as a contemplated improvement. A Wharf and Breakwater, forming one side of a Bloating Dock, is complete, and a second side and part of a third are in progress; but to these, and to the repairing Docks, there is no access at all times of tides , neither will there be without an enormous extent of dredging, which is yet only progressing 8 in the intended Tidal Basin. This dredging will be still more serious in amount when extended (if ever done) to deep water, even if the depth can then be maintained; indeed the present powerful and costly Dredger has not been considered sufficiently safe to trust beyond the Breakwater and the works that now protect it, so that years must pass away before any portion of these alleged existing improvements are completed, and available for large Mail Steam Ships, if indeed they are ever completed, or the access at low water ever dredged out to the Channel. An example may be added of the character of the weather within the Breakwater Wharf, and its protection to Yessels repairing there, by the fact that the Cliebucto is now lying a wreck at Falmouth from damages received whilst repairing alongside the Wharf in question. 4.—The Broad Gruage Bail way m connection with Bristol and London has been completed to Falmouth, as a Single Line, for nearly one half of the whole distance, and being in a Broad Gfuage country, all Mails, Passengers, and Merchan¬ dise must, for places North of Bristol, or South West of Exeter, be stopped or delayed by break of Ghiage, and so to and from Plymouth, which, like Falmouth, is approached from one side or the other by Broad Gruage Single Lines of Bailway only. But the Bailway system extended to Southampton is subject to no such interruption, as its Bailway communication is complete, by the shortest possible routes, with the whole of England, and even on the Broad Gruage Lines communicating with Southampton by way of Beading and Basingstoke, the Narrow is also laid, and in daily use on double lines, into the manufacturing districts; so that a Mail distribution from Southampton is far more facile than from Falmouth or Plymouth, and though it is affirmed that the Falmouth Line (with the incom- nleteness above stated) is connected by branches with # * 9 tlie Docks (at present not existing or commenced in the sense of accommodating Mails, Passengers, and Mer¬ chandise), so that Pailway Carriages can pass oyer the Wharves, and Mails, &c., be embarked and disembarked lying afloat and alongside of them, it is so far from being correct that, until the dredging is completed half a mile out to deep water (a colossal undertaking), it is only at certain times of tide that any of the Mail Steam Packets could get alongside or leave the Wharves, even if the Company owning such Vessels would allow them to enter, and run the risk of their grounding on the rocky bottom of Palmouth Harbour going in or going out. 5.—The proximity of the Port of Falmouth to the Atlantic obviously renders it more liable to severe weather and heavy gales than the Port of Southampton, which, by the experience of the Packet Service for upwards of 20 years, with Vessels of the largest class afloat, has been proved to be accessible in an eminent degree for such Vessels at all times of tide (not excepting the Great Eastern), either by the East end of the Isle of Wight, or by the Needles passage. Again, the Himalaya after being sold to the Crown was dispatched from Portsmouth to be docked at Southampton, and steamed right into the great Tidal Basin of the Southampton Docks, and was dry docked in the same tide—an operation with regard to a Ship of the size of the Himalaya , which could not be done in the same time or mode at any other Port in the World. 6 and 7.—The Mail Packets from the West Indies, no doubt, often make the Lizard, but it is the fact that the weather is frequently so thick that the Lizard cannot be seen till right upon it, and the vessels proceed cautiously up Channel in consequence; and that all the other Mail Packets do not make the Lizard, but Portland, which is not only in their route, but a far more desirable point to make; but large Vessels making for Falmouth, and not seeing the Lizard, 10 would lay on and off, losing much, valuable time, whilst similar Vessels for Southampton would proceed by soundings safely up the Channel, with great economy of time. However, admitting that the West India Packets make for the Lizard, and taking the facts and practice of the last twelvemonths as a guide, no advantage would have been gained to the Mai] Service had the Mails been delivered via Palmouth instead of Southampton. This will be demonstrated by the accompanying Table , that in respect to the arrival of the West India Mails at the General Post Office in 17 voyages no advantage would have been gained by way of Palmouth, whilst in seven . voyages the advantage would have been gained by way of Southampton. The delay and dangers of the Channel no doubt exist between the Isle of Wight and London, but not to any serious extent between the entrance to the Channel and the Isle of Wight, and the Mail Service of a quarter of a century to and from Southampton abundantly proves this ; it will be clearly shown by reference to the Wreck Chart that it is only as Vessels approach Palmouth and Plymouth that these dangers exhibit themselves. 8 and 9.—The statement that an outward Mail departing from Southampton on a given day at 2.0 p.m. is for the most part virtually closed in London at 7 p.m. the day before is written in evident ignorance of the practice of commerce in the City of London, and of the very extended facilities given by the Postal Authorities, and of what the Postmaster-General has done in the way of improving the Poreign and Colonial Postal Service. The Mail via Southampton is not closed in London until nine on the morning of the day the Packet leaves Southampton, and it is well known that in necessary and important matters, clerks, having been duly instructed, com¬ plete foreign correspondence, and post letters at all hours of the night, and up to nine in the morning; whilst in the important 11 point of Postal Service from the manufacturing districts, letters posted on the previous night, reaching the General Post Office in the ordinary course on the morning of the day for the Packet leaving Southampton, go by that Mail, leaving London at 11 a.m. by Express Train. Indeed to such an extreme point has his Lordship carried facilities for Eoreign Postal accommodation, that a Passenger leaving Southampton by any Mail Steamer can, by calling at the Southampton Post Office, receive at 12.30 p.m. before he leaves the Port, a letter posted at Glasgow the previous day; in fact the extent of accommodation the public receive by one great central Postal Establishment, under one competent supervision, and that in the Metropolis of England, is only known and appreciated when investigations such as these dev elope the perfection of the Postal Service. > The erroneous assumption in the 8th paragraph of the Ealmouth case negatives the deduction made therefrom in the 9th, and the conclusion, also assumed , “ of saving the entire time required to navigate between Southampton and the latter point (i.e., some 40 miles west of the Lizard), a period of probably 24 hours, ” is in contradiction to paragraph 7, which speaks only of saving a sea voyage of 14^- hours, and any liberal addition for 40 miles west of the Lizard (practically trifling) would still exhibit a laxity of expression, seriously damaging to the accuracy of a document urging so great a change in the Postal Service of the country. It is desirable to mention here that, from time to time, it occurs that the urgency of the public service requires that the Mail Steam Packets should be detained by the Postmaster- General for important correspondence, or Government despatches. In such cases the special trains have invariably, without delay or accident, brought Mails. or Dispatches in two hours from the seat of Government. If the Mails were despatched from Ealmouth, eleven hours would be occupied, 12 even if a special train could run through, a thing impracticable over four separate Railways, under distinct managements— with a Single Line for nearly 100 miles—without long previous notice, and very great interruption to the ordinary traffic upon such Lines ; and as such special service could, therefore, he performed only by the regular trains, with a large extent of single Line, it would not be possible to send such dispatches or postal correspondence without a very serious detention to the Ocean Packets. 10.—The alleged saving of time in the conveyance of the letters from the North, if forwarded direct to Pal- mouth and there sorted before departure and on arrival, assumes the accomplishment of a great question which no Postmaster-General has yet originated or even counten¬ anced, in these days of enormous correspondence, and must ever be a very grave consideration, viz., the inroad upon one central and complete Postal establishment in the Metropolis of England and at the seat of G-ovemment. It is respectfully submitted that, upon practical and pecuniary grounds, it would probably fail. In regard to expense the outlay would be so great that it is evident that the Palmouth interests have never contemplated it, nor had in mind a recent observation of Mr. Frederick Peel (a very high authority) that it would take 200 persons two hours to sort 20,000 letters and papers; so that unless there was an immense establishment overlooked by experienced, and hence expensive, superiors, the -whole thing would be badly done, and never so satisfactorily or expeditiously as in St. Martin’s-le-Grand, but there would be certainty of delay, continual errors, and complaints. On the ground of public policy it would be obviously objec¬ tionable, and the country would be very averse to a large additional cost for questionable benefits, and an extensive interference with one great Central Establishment, under one head, in the Metropolis itself; but even if this were favoured in any way, and the heavy expense encountered, 13 with a host of other inconveniences, considerable sacrifice of foreign postage would be made. Southampton, being in close proximity to and in almost daily communication with Havre, presents facilities for continental correspond¬ ence, which Falmouth or any distant Port cannot have. A Continental Mail, with Correspondence for the French Colonies and Dependencies, leaving Havre at 2 a.m., is despatched by the British Mail Steamer on the same day. It may be fairly assumed that the disposal of a Foreign Mail requires an immense staff of officials, and that no such staff would ever be stationed at any Provincial Port or Town ; that every week-day Mails arrive at the Greneral Post Office in London from every part of the Kingdom at 5 a.m., whence they are dispatched to every important town in the morning, and to every Post Town throughout the Kingdom in the evening; that there is in London a postal staff of upwards of 1,000 clerks, sorters, and stampers; that at no provincial town can there be such a staff as will permit the universal arrival and dispatch of Mails as in the Greneral Post Office; that all outward Foreign Mails must be embarked hy daylight; that the sorting of Mails on board Packets cannot be universally adopted; that any unsorted Foreign Mail arriving in London between noon and 4 p.m. is for all practical purposes delivered simultaneously in London, and in all Post Towns within nearly 300 miles of it; that an unsorted Foreign JKail arriving in London after 5 pan. is too late to he sorted and dispatched that night; that frequent Special Trains for Foreign Mails can only be afforded or practically adopted on short Railway Lines ; and that such Trains, being abnormal arrangements, can only be applied to postal purposes at the Outport and the Metropolis. That the proposition and additional expense suggested, of sorting the letters on board the homeward- bound Steamers, a course never yet favored by the Postmaster- Greneral, though adopted as to letters in the Oriental Steamers^ would, onboard a West India Steamer, in and from such a 14 climate as the "West Indies, be open to grave objection, and incur great cost. It must have occurred to the Postmaster- General that if letters are sorted on board the West India Steamers, whatever staff is sent out for the purpose must of necessity be five or six weeks in idleness, in order to be ready for the few days’ work they would have to per¬ form on the return voyage; thus a very heavy expense would be incurred to obtain at most a few hours’ accelera¬ tion in the delivery of the correspondence, whether landed at Southampton or elsewhere. But if these propositions should be entertained, Southampton would still be the better place for landing and embarking the Mails, taking all other considerations herein submitted into account, and using the direct route to the North by way of Basingstoke, Beading, and Oxford ; not going to London as shewn on the Palmouth plan, except with the London letters, but direct to the North on one uniform guage, over lines doubled throughout, which may be most favorably contrasted with the complicated network of the West, and retaining the great Mail Packet Port of Great Britain at the nearest practicable point to the seat of Government, and to the Chief Postal supervision. 11 and 12.—It is assumed that the Mails can be carried by Bailway from Palmoutli toBristol in seven hours, and to London in 11 (and that the Bailway will send them by Special Train, if required). Without stopping to discuss the exact time (which might be fairly questioned), it is sufficient to state that the former could only be done when the Mail Packets arrive just in time to save the only three through Trains that leave Pal- mouth in 24 hours, and if an interval of five or fifteen hours occurred between the times of the arrival of the Ship and the next train starting, that those hours or a given portion should be added to the time above assumed; whilst from Southampton to London eight Trains start daily, and in the same time from 15 Southampton through Basingstoke to Beading six Trains; while Special Trains from Southampton are continually run to and from London, without accident, and at no extra expense to the Post Office, in two hours. It is not overlooked that the Bailway Companies in con¬ nection with Falmouth will send the Mails by Special Trains, if required; this is said to be now offered at a low rate, but would ultimately become a very heavy expense to the Postal Department, whenever the full charges should be exacted ; but as shewn in previous paragraphs, over so much of Single Line and over Bailways under several different manage¬ ments, Special Trains would be unsafe, uncertain, and in practice scarcely possible. Taking the foregoing considerations into account, with the bare probability of the Postmaster- General making extensive changes, it is submitted that the simultaneous delivery through¬ out England would be more certain and desirable via Southampton, than through any more Western Port. 13.—The assumption that the Mail Steam Packet Companies would also benefit greatly by Falmouth being made the Port of arrival and departure, is best answered by the fact that all of them, not excepting the Union Steam Shipping Company, whose Vessels (of a smaller size than the other Mail Steamers) are required to call at Plymouth, come on to the Port of Southampton. Since the Falmouth Bailway and Docks have been building, the Peninsular and Oriental Company has expended a very large sum of money in erecting Schools for the Children of its Seamen, and are now organising another School for the sons and daughters of their principal Officers, while the Boyal Mail Company are building extensive premises in the neighbourhood. 14 and 15. —The Parana was, on the occasion referred to, 16 retarded by a Gale, which suddenly sprung up at the close of her voyage, which at another time, or in reference to another Port, might, as one of the casualties of Navigation, have oc¬ curred in the same way ; notwithstanding this, she did arrive in Southampton Water in time to have had the delivery of the Mails in London the same day, but for the too rigid observ¬ ance of a general order not to land the Mails in a boat. By such over strictness, the Train was missed, and the following day being Sunday an unusual, and indeed unexampled, delay occured. But, even in this exceptional case, had the Mails reached Palmouth as assumed at 9 p.m. on Priday (the Mail Train having left five hours before), the Mails in question could not have been dispatched till the next morning, and would not have been delivered any sooner by way of Palmouth than they were by way of Southampton. [Referring to the same vessel (the Parana ) on her next voyage, it will be found that she arrived and was telegraphed off Hurst Castle at 5.55 a.m., her Mails were landed and dispatched by the 8.40 a.m. Train, and were delivered in London soon after 11 o’clock the same morning. The Atrato was about the same time telegraphed off Hurst Castle at 8.40 a.m. She arrived in the Southampton Hocks at 11, her Mails were dispatched by Train at 11.25 a.m., and were in London at 1.80 p.m. 16.—The detention of the JEtipon by reason of the Pog is well known to have been an exceptional case, and that the Pog throughout the greater part of England was on the day in question more dense than it had been known for 20 years ? and from which occasional interruption neither Southampton nor Palmouth are free. The records of Palmouth shew that in September, 1861, the Duke and Duchess De Montpensier were detained at that Port in the TTlloa yacht, in consequence of the heavy Pog prevailing, and that they remained at Pal¬ mouth from the 4th to the 9th September—whether the whole * time on account of the Pog is not stated, but it is a fair inference that Falmouth is as difficult to make as other places on that account, with this further disadvantage, that with its well known heavy Gales from the S.W. it carries over a thick drifting mist, causing more serious difficulty to make a Port, especially at night, than even an occasional Fog, by which however it will seem Falmouth has been as seriously visited as other places. PLYMOUTH. A. —The memorial from Plymouth commences with the assumption that the Post Office or Government Authorities intend to select a Western Port as a Mail Packet Station, but it is believed that no such intention has been expressed, or even arrived at, though Palmouth and some Northern towns, on the ex-parte statement of parties in the interest of that Port, have asked for Palmouth to be selected. It is, there¬ fore. proposed to submit to the attention of his Lordship the Postmaster-General certain other considerations in favor of Southampton, and also in correction of the statements contained in the Plymouth Memorial, especially soliciting attention to those remarks previously recorded in reference to the Pal¬ mouth case, many of them being equally applicable to Plymouth; but to avoid repetition they are not again entered upon in this portion of the counter statement. It is, however, worthy of notice that the Plymouth Memo¬ rialists condemn Palmouth, and designate the approach and entrance to that Port as necessary to be made with caution, and that it becomes really difficult and intricate at night. B. —Plymouth, like Palmouth, though 41 miles from that port, claims to be at the very entrance to the English Channel, and further claims to be entirely free from dangers in approach¬ ing the Port, whether of Bocks or Sands. It is not sought to 19 represent Plymouth as being so unsafe to make as Palmouth, but it is surrounded by a dangerous and rocky coast; and a reference to the Wreck Charts will shew that vessels do fail in making, and other records shew in safely leaving, Plymouth. So that there are dangers more decided in reference to Plymouth than to Southampton. C. —Plymouth, with all its affected safety within its Port, has not been entirely free from Wrecks, even under the pro¬ tection of its Breakwater; * and though, doubtless, large Steamers have been accommodated within its Merchant Anchorage, there has been little experience of the class of large Vessels, such as those of the West India Company, all of great length, and as large as 4,000 tons. Neither has there been any experience of Vessels of that size coming in and going out every fortnight in all weathers, and at all hours of day and night, with the expedition and urgency that devolves on the Mail Service; and as there are no Docks to which such Vessels as these can resort, they would have to tranship Mails and Dispatches somewhere within the Break¬ water, if ever the experiment should be made, to the serious risk and interruption of Her Majesty’s Service and the ordi¬ nary commerce of the Port. D. E.P.Gr.H.—The reports as to Plymouth were (in the early days referred to, 1840) not madeas compared with Southampton, nor after a due consideration of the merits of that Port Southampton was then little known even by the Admiralty, no survey of the Port having been made since 1783, and Mr. Barrow, writing for the Admiralty, merely says that of “ Dartmouth, Plymouth, and Palmouth, Plymouth would be the best Port.” The then Postmaster- General, requested by the Treasury to express his opinion as to the above three Ports, considered Plymouth the most eligible of the three. * See Note, page 24. 20 But the Royal Commission under Sir James Glordon came to a different opinion, and preferred Dartmouth. The merits of Southampton were then fully investigated and considered by the Grovernment, and although not then possessing the vast additional conveniences which during 20 years’ requirements have been added to it, it was then adopted as the Mail Packet Port of this country, and it is believed that a similar experience of any other Port would never have given the amount of satisfaction that Southampton has done. Plymouth has since added a Pier utterly unsuitable for Mail Packet Service, and Docks so badly placed that, several times during the past year, the exposed position of the gates in heavy weather has prevented their being opened; so that the Mail Packets being in Dock, the Mails must have been detained, and under any circumstances whatever the passage of large Mail Steamers to and from the Docks would seriously impede the movements of H.M. Ships. I. J.K.—Plymouth hasneither been used by the Postal Autho¬ rities, nor by the various Companies, as a Mail Packet Station. The Mails for the Cape were ordered to be embarked and landed at Plymouth, the Vessels so employed being of a much smaller class than most Ocean Steamers (not then exceeding 500 tons) ; yet the Union Steam Shipping Company, to whom they belong, and who carry on this Service, continue to retain Southampton as its Station; and so to possess the advan¬ tages of Southampton, it submits to the loss and serious inconvenience of having to send its Vessels, tivo days 'previously , to Plymouth, in order to be ready to receive the Mails. If the Postmaster- Greneral required a similar sacrifice of the larger Companies now having their station at South¬ ampton, it is submitted that it would interfere with the convenience of Passengers and dispatch of goods, and especially with the safety and rapid transmission of Bullion. In- fact, 21 Plymouth has not the proper Dock accommodation for a Mail Packet Port; it has no sufficient Tidal Basin, and its occupation for an extended Postal Service, even as far as accommodation might be given within the Breakwater, would seriously interfere with the arrangements of a great Naval Arsenal. In years past, when Mail Steam Ships were not in ex¬ istence, Sailing Ships landed, as wind and weather permitted, a Mail Bag at Plymouth; but the only Steam Packets carrying H.M. Mails now calling at that Port, are those belonging to the Union Steam Shipping Company, the Contractors for the Cape Mails, whose Station is at Southampton. It is not remembered that Mails, further than Ship Letter Bags, have been dispatched from Plymouth, as alleged, to the Mauritius, Ceylon, India, and Australia, via the Cape; but so far as any Ships carrying letters in those directions may have been at Plymouth, they seem no longer to be so engaged, and must have been, like the African Mail Ships, removed to Liver¬ pool, or the Greneral Screw Shipping Fleet to Southampton. The facts herein referred to receive abundant proof from the circumstance that the Directors of the G-eneral Screw Steam Shipping Company, after having selected Plymouth as the Port for the departure of their Ships, saw fit to remove them to Southampton, and they remained at that Port till the failure of the objects of the Company distributed the Ships ; and when the principal portion of the Fleet was afterwards purchased, and the European and American Steam Shipping Company was formed, the Port of Southampton was again selected for the purposes of that Company’s operations. In addition to these facts as to the British Shipowner, it should be stated that Foreign Companies owning the largest Steam Ships afloat have also adopted the Port of Southampton 22 for their Shipping. The New York Line, and also the Van¬ derbilt Line, and the Ships of the Belgian Transatlantic Company, ran to and from Southampton until the several W ars removed the Vessels from Atlantic Service; and at the present time the North Grerman Lloyd’s large Steamers from Bremen, 375 feet in length and heavy draught of water, and the Hamburg and American Steam Packet Company’s Ships, mostly of the same size and capacity as those of the North Grerman Lloyd’s, use Southampton as their regular and only Port of Call. It is, therefore, a natural inference that if Plymouth were a better Port to make, or had any advan¬ tages over Southampton, Poreigners would not [continue to locate their Mail Steam Service at Southampton. L.M.—These paragraphs, referring mainly to the advantage of Plymouth over Palmouth, require no comment so far as regards Southampton, further than mention being made therein of Ocean Steamers shaping their course from Ushant; in all such cases Plymouth or Palmouth would be so much out of the way, and Southampton so much nearer to make, that attention is merely called to that fact. On reference to the tabular statement at the end, it will be seen that if the West India Mails had been landed at Ply¬ mouth during the last twelvemonths, instead of Southampton, they would in seventeen instances have reached London in the same time, in two instances they would have reached London sooner via Plymouth, and in five instances they would have reached London sooner via Southampton. N.O.—The reference to Messrs. Willcox and Anderson re¬ quires to be especially noticed, in order to shew that the testimony of those gentlemen in favor of Plymouth, in 1837, was only as between that Port and Palmouth; but so far from either the one or the other preferring Plymouth to Southampton, they exerted themselves with the Grovernment 23 in 1840 to induce the selection of Southampton as the Mail Packet Port, in preference to Palmouth, Plymouth, and all others, and haying after 1837 become acquainted with the great natural advantages of Southampton, and pending the decision of the Grovernment as to the Mail Packet Station, they caused the Mail Steamers under their management, after calling at Palmouth to deliver the Mails, to proceed, not to Plymouth, but to Southampton, there to deliver Cargo and Passengers, and to refit, previously to calling on the outward voyage at Palmouth for the Mails—a lasting testimony of those two great and enterprising Shipowners to the superior advantages of Southampton. P.Q.—In the remarks that will be hereinafter specially made upon the advantages of the Port of Southampton, it will be seen that they far exceed in all respects those alleged to be possessed by Plymouth, but however safe and convenient the Port of Plymouth may or may not be, it is strongly submitted that that safety and convenience is required for the Royal Naval, and not the Mail Packet Service. A Naval Arsenal 9 with the altered character of H.M. Ships, requires every possible accommodation, especially at Plymouth j and the mixing together the Commercial Marine with H.M. Shipping, especially in time of war, would be inconvenient, impolitic, and dangerous. It is, therefore, respectfully urged that great Ports like Plymouth, Portsmouth,Palmouth, and Southampton, have their uses and advantages for the public good, in the res¬ pective modes for which they are best adapted, thus :— Portsmouth and Plymouth as great Naval Arsenals, in peace or war, to shelter and accommodate the Shipping of H.M. Navy, and avoid as far as possible all other interference. Palmouth as a place of call for the Shipping of all nations, to receive orders, and under favorable circumstances a protec¬ tion in bad weather when accessible. 24 Southampton as an Inner Harbour to Portsmouth, yet removed and not interfering with H.M. Ships, as the great Mail Packet Station of England, with scarcely any other Shipping interest to interfere with it; suited by nature in a peculiar manner for a Service requiring special dispatch and accommodation, and fitted and supplied by the public spirit of its authorities, and Railway and Hock proprietors, during the last quarter of a century, with all those appliances and facilities which render its Mail Service the subject of general admiration. Note. —The Dane , Captain Hoffman, of the Union Steam Shipping Company, when calling at Plymouth for the Mails, lost her anchor and chain whilst laying inside the Breakwater, and was nearly wrecked thereon, and the moorings have since been given up; and the Ships of that Company now anchor under the protection of Drake’s Island, which may be occasionally done by Ships of the size of the Dane , 560 tons, but would be too serious an interruption to Her Majesty’s Service with Vessels of 4000 tons, like of those of the Royal Mail Steam Company. SOUTHAMPTON. The advantages of the Port of Southampton are so well known to the Postal Authorities, and the regularity of the Mail Service, so long conducted at the Port, so well established, that it is not necessary to make any lengthened statement in its favor, more especially as in commenting on the allegations put forth by Palmouth and Plymouth many of the advantages of the Port of Southampton have had a necessary prominence. It will be well, however, to submit the following points of superiority in respect to the Port of South¬ ampton, as most of them are peculiar to that place, and not possessed by Plymouth, Falmouth, or Bristol. Southampton is 80 miles in distance, and two hours in time, from London. The Bailway communication therewith is under one manage¬ ment, a double line throughout, and has been peculiarly free from accident. Special Trains can at all times be sent through, and are regularly sent, with the Mails arriving at Southampton, and thus the Mails are dispatched as soon as landed. Southampton is in close proximity to the Port of Havre and the Continent of Europe, and affords facilities for re- 26 eeiving and transmitting French and Continental Mails in a few hours between the two Ports. The moment a Mail Steamer is within the Isle of "Wight she is free from stress of weather of every kind, whilst in Falmouth Harbour and Plymouth Sound Vessels have actually been wrecked. If a Vessel grounds in Southampton Water, it is on soft mud, and in the other Ports it is on rock or hard ground. Southampton has the peculiar advantage of a double high water every tide, an immense benefit in docking and undock¬ ing Ships ; and it is the common practice for one Mail Steamer to be undocked, and another docked, during the same high water. The Adriatic , Steam Ship, belonging to the Atlantic Royal Mail Steam Navigation Company, is now in the Southampton Docks for the purpose of being fitted with a new cylinder, having left Liverpool for that purpose, there being no sufficient Dock accommodation and appliances suited for so peculiar a lift as the cylinder of a Ship of that size, notwithstanding the otherwise extensive Dock accommodation at that Port. Mails embarked at Southampton leave London at 11 a.m., and are on board at 2.30 p.m., the Vessel being on her voyage, and clear of the land, even in winter, during daylight. If the Mails were embarked at Falmouth or Plymouth, they would have to be dispatched from the Q-eneral Post Office overnight, and 12 hours lost, or else the Mails would have to be embarked in winter after dark; the former would not only lose to the Metropolis the advantage of posting letters up to 9 o’clock on the morning of sailing, but take from the Provinces the benefit of an evening Foreign Mail, and 27 country letters would then have to be posted in the morning of the day previous to the Packet leaving, instead of on the even¬ ing, the most important time for posting all correspondence. If the West India Steamers called at Palmouth or Plymouth to land and embark the Mails, the Specie coming home would be detained at least a day in reaching the Bank of England, and all the Specie sent out must leave a day sooner on the outward voyage. Upwards of 40 millions of money were conveyed by the Mail Steamers last year to and from Southampton, a large portion of which was conveyed by the West India Steam Packets, the interest on which would alone amount to several thousand pounds, even for the detention of one day. The Specie, Mails, and Passengers can be put on board the Mail Packets at Southampton alongside the Docks, not so at Palmouth or Plymouth. The ordering a Mail Steamer to call at a Western Port for the Mails would compel its leaving Southampton a certain time earlier, and whether two days beforehand, as is the practice with the Cape Steam Ships, or any less period, it would inflict a serious loss on Passengers, and delay a whole cargo of valuable goods, at the least one day. As the bulk of the Passengers leave, or go to, London, or places generally more distant from Palmouth and Plymouth than from Southampton, a serious additional cost would be imposed on Passengers for themselves and their baggage. Large numbers of Passengers now reaching Southampton from the Continent, on account of the speed and certainty of the English Packets, would be deterred from adopting this route through the additional delay. 2S All tlie Commanders, Officers, and Seamen, are now tho¬ roughly acquainted with the making and leaving the Port of Southampton, and the Commanders often bring up their Vessels without a Pilot. It is not desirable to move the men experienced in one Port to leam the peculiarities of another; and by the Mail Steamers calling at a "Western Port, two Ports would be used instead of one, and Double Ports every voyage create double risks and frequent casualties. Southampton, as shewn by the past, enables the Govern- ment at any time, with only seven clays' notice, to dispatch from that Port alone as many as 12,000 troops, with their equipment, baggage, and stores, and victualled and supplied for a long voyage, either for the defence of our colonies or the protection of our commerce; and in the Trent disturbance, within seven days the West India Company alone actually dis¬ patched from the Port 3,600 troops, thoroughly victualled and equipped for the winter service, and out of which seven days the Ships w r ere placed two days in dry dock, for the Govern¬ ment inspection. It has sometimes happened that, either by the necessities of the Crown, or accident to other Steamers, a Mail Packet has had to deliver the Mails, discharge cargo, refit, including the placing the Ship one tide in dry dock, reload, and take on board the outward Mails, in three days; this has been done in Southampton; it could not be clone at Falmouth or Flymouth. Although not a strictly commercial point, it should be stated, in the interest of humanity, that the Mail Packets bring home numerous Military Invalids destined for the Poyal Victoria Hospital, on the banks of Southampton Water, who (if any plan were encouraged for removing the Packets to a 29 Western Port) would have to be conveyed at great personal suffering to that Hospital, whilst in time of war these Packets so largely engaged in the Transport Service would, if existing arrangements are undisturbed, bring back Invalids to the very doors of the Hospital, and be at that Port from which new cargoes of stores would be again dispatched, or regiment after regiment embarked, as was so satisfactorily done on every occasion when this country was engaged in distant military operations, as well as at a considerable saving to the public funds; a similar argument applies with great force to seamen intended for the Royal Naval Hospital at Portsmouth. It may be fairly remarked, as an incident of consideration, and which will no doubt be held in view, that without the ap¬ pearance of very strong and unquestionable advantages, no alteration in the location of the Mail Packets should take place. Clerks in offices, shopmen, workmen and their families, at Southampton (and the small shopkeepers dependent thereon), would not only be most seriously injured, but many of them brought to destitution; whilst the same cause would break down the savings of a large number of workmen, seamen, and petty officers, who, in the confidence that the selection of a Mail Steam Packet Station would be final, have, through the agency of the numerous Building Societies in Southampton, and some by other means, extensively possessed themselves of small freehold residences, which they would, in case of any change, have to leave, with no prospect whatever of letting or selling; and the same kind of injury would reach commanders, mates, and engineers, who, though no doubt possessed of better means, would be very severe sufferers, and participate in the serious damage which every inhabitant and owner of property in the town would experience, with, it is believed, no counter¬ vailing benefit to the public service. Undoubtedly, all these considerations, and even so far as they may refer only to personal loss or inconvenience to Passengers, to the Shippers of (roods, the delay of Merchan¬ dise, the detention of Specie, or the safety of the Mail Packets, must give way before the advantage of the public service, and the earlier delivery of Letters to London and the several districts in England; but it is respectfully submitted that, whilst the evils suggested are certain to occur, it is extremely doubtful if any benefit could be derived. It is, therefore, confidently believed that, without great superiority in another Port (not mere equality), even if it could be shewn, his Lordship the Postmaster- General would be unwilling to disturb the Mail Packets at Southampton—a Port which has afforded an immense amount of accommodation to this special service, and where so many hundred-thousand pounds have been ex¬ pended to secure every facility, and afford every dispatch, to the great Mail Packet Service of the Country. THOS. a. GTJTCH, PRINTER, SOUTHAMPTON. Statement Ship. La Plata .... Tasmanian .... Atrato . Shannon. La Plata .... Tasmanian .... Atrato . Shannon. La Plata .... Tasmanian .... Seine . Shannon. La Plata .... Tasmanian .... Seine . Shannon. La Plata .... Tasmanian. Seine . Shannon. La Plata . Atrato . Seine . Shannon. Shewing the Time at which the last 12 Months have reached London, via Southampton, and the Time at which the same Mails could nave leached London had they been Landed at Falmouth or Plymouth respectively. Time at which the Mails would have reached London, via Ealmouth, if no delay in Landing or Casualty occurred. Date. Ship) Arrives at Falmouth. Train Leaves Falmouth. 1 Train Arrives at Paddington. 1863. March. 16th .. .noon. 16th ..12.41 p.m. 16th ...11. 0p.m. 33 . 30th ...10. 0 a.m. 30th ..12.41 p.m. 30th ...11. 0 2i.m. ... 6. 0 21 . 111 . April . 11th ... 5.30p.m. 12th .. 7.30 a.m. *12th 33 . 27th ... 9.30 a.m. 27th ..12.41 2i.ni. 27th ...11. 0 p.m. ... 6. 0 p.m. May. 12th ...11. 0p.m. 13th .. 7.30 a.m. 13th 33 . 28th ...10. 0 a.m. 28th ..12.41 2i.ni. 28th ...11. 0 p.m. June . 12th ... 5. 0 a.m. 12th .. 7.30 a.m. 12th ... 6. 0 21 . 111 . 33 . 28th ... 3.30 a.m. 28th .. 7.30 a.m. *28th ... 6. 0 p.m. Jul J. 14th ... 4.45 a.m. 14tli .. 7.30 a.m. 14th ... 6. 0 p.m. 33 . 28 th ... 8.30 p.m. 29th .. 7.30 a.m. 29th ... 6. 0 p.m. August ... 13th ... 6.15 a.m. 13th .. 7.30 a.m. 13 th ... 6. 0 p.m. 33 27th ... 6.30 a.m. 27th .. 7.30 a.m. 27th ... 6. 0 p.m. September 12th ...10.45 2 >.m. 13th .. 7.30 a.m. # 13th ... 6. 0 21 . 111 . 33 28th ... 4.30 a.m. 28th .. 7.30 a.m. 28th ..6.0 p.m. October ... 13th .. 5.20 a.m. 13th .. 7.30 a.m. 13th .. 6. 0 p.m. 33 28th .. 9.45 a.m. 28th . ..12.41 p.m. 28th ..11. 0 21 . 111 . November 12th .. 9.30 a.m. 12th . ..12.41 p.m. 12th ..11. 0 21 . 111 . 3 3 29 th .. 1. 0 a.m. 29th . .. 7.30 a.m. 29th .. 6. 0 p.m. December 14th ..10.35 p.m. 15th . .. 7.30 a.m. 15th .. 6. 0 p.m. 33 30th .. 3.30 a.m. 30th. .. 7.30 a.m. ' 30th .. 6. 0 p.m. 1864. January ... 13th .. 1.15 a.m. 13th . .. 7.30 a.m. 13th .. 6. 0 p.m. 33 28th . .. 8.40 2i.ni. 29 th . .. 7.30 a.m. 29th . .. 6. 0 p.m. February... 12th. .. 5.10 a.m. ! 12th . .. 7.30 a.m. 12th . ..6.0 p.m. 33 28th . ..11.45 p.m. 29th . .. 7.30 a.m. 29th. ..6.0 21 .m. Sunday. Time at wliicli the Mails would have reached London, via Plymouth, it no delay in Landing or Casualty occured. Date. 1863. March 3? April May... 33 ... June 3* July... 55 ... August 33 September 33 October . 33 November 3 3 December 1864. January ... 33 February... Ship Arrives at Plymouth. 16th 30th 11th 27th 13 th 28 th 12th 28th 14th 28th 13th 27th 13th 28 th 13th 28th . 12th . 29th . 14th . 30th . 13th . 28th . 12th . 29th . .. 2. Op.m. .. noon. .. 7.50 p.m. ..11. 0 a.m. .. 0.10 a.m. .. noon .. 7.30 a.m. .4.0 a.m. ,. 7.0 a.m. ,10.30 p.m. . 7.45 a.m. . 7.30 a.m. . 1.20 a.m. . 5. 0 a.m. . 6.10 a.m. .11.15 a.m. .11.30 a.m. . 2.40 a.m. ,11.33p .in. . 4.45 a.m. . 3.30 a.m. .11.15 p.m. , 6.30 a.m. . 1. 0 a.m. Train Leaves Plymouth. Train Arrives at Paddington. 16 th 30th 12th 27th 13 th 28th 12th 28 th 14th 29th 13th 27th 13 th 28th 13th 28th 12th . 29th . 15 th . 30th . 13th . 29th . 12th . 29th . 3.15 p.m. 3.15 p.m. 6.45 a.m. 3.15 p.m. 6.45 a.m. 3.15 p.m. 9.15 a.m. 6.45 a.m. 9.15 a.m. 6.45 a.m. 9.15 a.m. 9.15 a.m. 6.45 a.m. 6.45 a.m, 6.45 a.m. 3.15 p.m. 3.15 p.m. 6.45 a.m. 6.45 a.m. 6.45 a.m. 6.45 a.m. 6.45 a.m. 6.45 a.m. 6.45 a.m. 16 th 30th *12th 27th 13th 28th 12th # 28th 14th 29th 13th 27th # 13th 28th 13th . 28th . 12th . 29th . 15th . 30th . ...11. 0 p.m. ...11. 0p.m. ... 4.45p.m. ..11. 0p.m. ... 4.45p.m. ..11. 0 p.m. .. 9.30 p.m. .. 4.45 p.m. .. 9.30 p.m. .. 4.45 p.m. .. 9 . 3 O 21 . 111 . .. 9.30 2i.m. .. 4.45 2).m. .. 4.45 p.m. .. 4.45 2 >.m. ..11. 0 2 >.m. .11. O 21 .n 1 . .. 4.45 p.m. .. 4.45 p.m. .. 4.45 2i.m. 13th... 4.45 21-in. 29th... 4.45 21 .m. 12th... 4.45p.m. 29th... 4 45 21 .n 1 . * Sunday. Actual time at which the Mails reached London, via Southampton. Date. 1863 March 33 April May... 33 June 33 July... 55 August 55 September 55 October .. 55 November 55 December 1864. January .. 55 P ebruary.., Mails Landed. 17 th 30th 12th 27th 13th 28th 12th 28th 14th 29th 13th . 27 th , 13th . 28th . 13th . 28th . 12th . 29th . 15th . 30th . 13th . 29th . 12th . 29th . . 0.45 a.m. . 9. 5 21 . 111 . . 8.15 a.m. . 7.30 p.m. . 9.15 a.m. . 9. 0 p.m. . 3.50 21 .m. .10. 0 a.m. . 3.30 21 . 111 . . 7.15 a.m. . 5. 0 21 . 111 . . 4.50 2 >.m. . 9. 0 a.m. . 1.30 21 .n 1 . . 3. 0 21 . 111 . 7. 0 p.m. 7.10 p.m. 9.25 p.m. 2.15 p.m. 1.30 p. m. 0.30 p.m. 9.15 a.m. 9.35 p.m. 1.40 21 .n 1 . Mails Dispatched. 17th 30th 12th 27th 13th 28th 12th 28 th 14th 29th 13th 27th , 13th . 28th . 13th . 28th . 12th . 29th . 15th . 30th . 13 th . 29th . 12th . 22th . .. 1.30 a.m. ..10. Op. 111 . ,. 9.30 a.m. . 8.10 p.m. .10.50 a.m. . 9.45 p.m. . 5.10 21.111. .11.15 a.m. . 5.10 p.m. . 8.40 a.m. . 5.10 p.m. . 7.15 p.m. .10. 0 a.m. . 3. 0 p.m. . 5.10 p.m. . 8. 0 p.m. . 8.35 p.m. .10.10 p.m. . 3. 0 p.m. . 3. 0 21 . 111 . . 1.25 p.m. .10. 0 a.m. .10.15 p.m. . 3. 0 p.m. What Train. Mail. Special.. . Ordinary Special... Special... Special... Express Special... Ex2iress Express Ex2iress Ordinary. Special.... Ordinary. Express . Special... . Special.... S2iecial.. .. Ordinary. Ordinary. Special.... S 2 iecial.... Special.... Ordinary. Arrive in London. 17th 31st # 12th 27th 13th 28th 12th # 28th 14th 29th 13th , 27th . # 13th . 28th . 13th . 28th . 12th . 30th . 15th . 30th . ... 4.30 a.m. ... 0.15 a.m. .. .12.50 p.m. ...10.25 p.m. .. 1. 0 p.m. .. midnight. .. 7.35 p.m. .. 1.30 p.m. .. 7.35 2i.m. ..11. 0 a.m. .. 7.35 p.m. ..10. 0p.m. ..12.45 p.m. .. 5.50 p.m .. 7.35 p.m. . .10.15 p.m. ..10.50 p.m. .. 0.30 a.m. .. 5.50 p.m. .. 5.50 p.m. 13th... 3.40p.m. 29th... 0.15p.m. 13th... 0.30a.m. 29th... 5.50p.m. Sunday. w '.v C