1389. When was that made, or when was it sent to the Treasury?—It appears to have been sent to the India Board.

1390. At what date?—On the 20th of January, 1844; the points upon which they gave information were, “The practicability of the proposal made by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company respecting the mode of ‘effecting the accelerated transmission of the East India Mails and Despatches between Bombay and Suez, combining therewith, for the year 1844, a two-monthly communication with Calcutta and Madras.’ The sufficiency of the means which the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company proposed to employ, and the propriety of their demand of £80,000 per annum for performing a service which the Admiralty understood to be that then performed by the East India Company, namely, conveying the mails by steam vessels between Suez and Bombay monthly; and, in addition to this, between Bombay and Calcutta every second month.” The estimate then goes on in detail: and “With respect to the propriety of the demand of £80,000 per annum the Admiralty forwarded a statement from the Accountant-general of the Navy, showing that the cost of building and equipment of the four steam vessels required for the service, under the naval regulations would be about £250,000, including £6,500 which the Admiralty added to the estimate of their Accountant-general to meet additional fittings for the necessary accommodation of passengers. The Admiralty, however, had every reason to believe that to this estimate of the cost, &c., of the vessels, which they considered to be absolutely necessary for the satisfactory performance of the Mail Packet Service in the Indian seas, the outlay of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company would be increased by an additional sum of nearly £50,000, for what may be termed the luxurious accommodation now expected by passengers. Upon this speculation the Company, of course, subjected themselves to a risk of loss, or corresponding advantage. With respect to the item of coals, which was omitted in the Accountant-general’s return, the Admiralty, in the absence of precise knowledge, estimated the cost upon the best information they could obtain, and their Lordships considered the Commissioners for the Affairs of India to be competent judges of the correctness of their assumed estimate, as well as of the assumed cost of coal depôts, coaling, and other incidental and contingent expenses. The item of oil, tallow, &c., was also assumed, as the consumption of these articles depended on the construction of the engine, both as to principle and manufacture. In explanation of the differences between the following calculations and the Accountant-general’s statement, the Admiralty observed, that the interest of the money was not taken into account in naval expenditure; and that 15 per cent. for wear and tear, and depreciation of hull and machinery, had been adopted, with six per cent. for insurance, in compliance with the suggestion of the India Board, for the purpose of maintaining a comparative uniformity with the estimate given in their Secretary’s letter of the 24th of November, founded upon the Parliamentary documents supplied by the East India Company. The investment the Admiralty were willing to admit for the first cost and equipment of three first-class and one second-class steam vessels, being £250,000; this capital, if dealt with as suggested, would require an annual expenditure, for performing the Mail Service between Bombay and Suez, in wages and victuals, of £35,000; for coals (taken at 48s. per ton,) £29,000; for oil, tallow, &c., £1,500; 15 per cent. on £250,000 for wear and tear, and depreciation of vessels and machinery, £37,000; six per cent. insurance, £15,000; four per cent. interest on capital, £10,000; making £128,300. To this sum of £128,000 must be added the expenses of coal depôts at Bombay, Aden, and Suez, and the cost of coaling the vessels at these stations, &c., which, according to the items supplied by the Parliamentary document, ordered to be printed on 3rd July, 1843, appeared to be, for coal depôts, £7,644; wages of mechanics and apprentices not attached to particular vessels, expense of receiving ships, and miscellaneous charges of the steam department, £8,594, making a total of £16,238; thus increasing the amount of annual expenditure by upwards of £20,000, as the Admiralty considered that at least £4,000 difference must exist between supplying vessels of more than double the horse power and tonnage of those of the East India Company, making an annual outlay of £148,000 per annum for performing a distance of 70,080 miles.[4] The result of this calculation, therefore, exhibited the comparative cost of the Mail Service on the line between Suez and Bombay as follows: If performed by the East India Company, in their, comparatively speaking, small vessels, as shown by their return to Parliament, after deducting passage-money, £108,000 per annum, which does not appear to include the cost of coal depôts. If performed by vessels of 500-horse power, and 1,500 tons, without deducting passage-money, £148,000 per annum. If performed by contract, by vessels of 500-horse power, and 1,500 tons, £80,000 per annum. The Admiralty, in conclusion, observed, that should a mail communication, as suggested by them, extending from Suez to Calcutta, be determined on, the increase in the item of coals (calculated at 33s. 6d. per ton) would be £15,000, and three coal depôts, with the expense of coaling, &c., might be taken at £20,000 per annum, in round numbers.”

1391. What is the date of that report you are reading from?—It is the report from the Select Committee of the House of Lords, ordered to be printed 21st June, 1847.

1392. You spoke of vessels of 1,800 tons, and vessels of 1,500 tons; do you mean to say they were of that number each, or that there were three vessels 600 tons each?—1,500 tons each, or 1,800 tons each, the larger class of vessels.

1393. If I understand you, from what you have stated from that report, the estimate of the Admiralty for the cost of their vessels, for three first-class vessels and one second-class vessel, was £148,000?—Yes, £148,000.

1394. That makes no allowance for any receipt from passengers?—It is without deducting passage-money.

1395. What was the amount of passage-money deducted from the East India Company’s account, which comes to £108,000?—That will be shown by the Parliamentary document ordered to be printed on the 3rd of July, 1843, I presume; It is not stated here.

No. IV.
Contract for conveying the Bombay Branch of the India Mails between Southampton and Alexandria.

Two Mail Communications per month with India being thus established,—viz., that by the Peninsular and Oriental Company to Calcutta, viâ Ceylon, and that by the East India Company’s packets between Suez and Bombay,—the Mails for the former being despatched viâ Southampton on the 20th, by the Peninsular and Oriental Company’s vessels, to meet the same Company’s vessels plying between Suez and India, China, &c.,—it became necessary to provide a means of conveyance for the Bombay branch of the India Mail between Southampton and Alexandria, which had hitherto been conveyed by the Peninsular and Oriental Company’s vessels, and was despatched from Southampton on the 3rd of every month. The Government required, at first, a continuous line of steam vessels, of not less than 400-horse power, to ply between Southampton and Alexandria, similar to that conveying the Calcutta branch of the India Mails; and the Peninsular and Oriental Company were called upon to submit proposals for undertaking the Service on that plan.