Colonial Despatches
The colonial despatches of Vancouver Island and British Columbia 1846-1871
Public Offices document
Hamilton, George Alexander to Merivale, Herman 3 December 1858, CO 60:2, no. 12378, 326.
Abstract
Public Offices document.
Minutes (4), Other documents (1).
Hamilton, on behalf of the Treasury, discusses options for mail routes between England and
“New Columbia.” He requests Lytton’s “views upon this subject.”
The minutes are unsure of changing mail services but accept the Treasury’s proposal
that they investigate their options.
Enclosed is a draft from Merivale to Hamilton declining to offer an opinion until more information was received but agreeing that
any contract be limited to one year because the future population and prosperity of
the colony “are so little within the compass of reasonable calculation at the present
time.”
Hamilton to Merivale (Permanent Under-Secretary)
Treasury Chambers
3 December 1858
Sir,
I am desired by the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's
Treasury to state, for the information of Secretary Sir E.B. Lytton, with reference to your letter of the 2nd October
last,
1
that My Lords have been in communication with the
Postmaster General, and also with the Agent of the Panama
Railway
Company
2
on the subject of the Postal Service with
British Columbia.
My Lords are informed
that considerable expense and
inconvenience might arise, in reference to the passage across
the Isthmus of Panama, unless satisfactory arrangements
should be made in the first place with the Railway Company
and with the Government of New
Granada.
3
that considerable expense and
inconvenience might arise, in reference to the passage across
the Isthmus of Panama, unless satisfactory arrangements
should be made in the first place with the Railway Company
and with the Government of New
Granada.
3
The Agent of the Company undertook to procure from
his Company an undertaking that any arrangement made with
the Company by Her Majestys Government should cover any
demands made by the Government of New Granada, and secure
the Mail Service from the interruptions and inconveniences to
which the
Mails of the United States have been subjected in
the passage of the Isthmus.
Mails of the United States have been subjected in
the passage of the Isthmus.
It was necessary, however, to refer to the Company in
America, and My Lords await the reply which the Agent expects
to receive shortly.
In the mean time an Overland Mail has been established
by the American express
Company
4
in connection with the Atlantic
Royal Mail Steam Navigation Company, which has now entered into
a monthly service to New York, and My Lords are disposed to
believe that a cheaper and more expeditious route could, at
least for the present, be established by this, than by any other mode.
The Postmaster
General has recommended that the contract
vessels of the Royal Mail Steam Company from Southampton to
Colon should be used rather than the Contract vessels to New
York or Halifax, in order to save the expense of a new service
from Halifax or New York to Colon, but in either of these cases
the arrangements must, in the first instance, be completed for the
passage of the Isthmus of Panama, and a Steam Service instituted
between Panama and New Columbia, which will be expensive, and
require a considerable time in its preparation.
General has recommended that the contract
vessels of the Royal Mail Steam Company from Southampton to
Colon should be used rather than the Contract vessels to New
York or Halifax, in order to save the expense of a new service
from Halifax or New York to Colon, but in either of these cases
the arrangements must, in the first instance, be completed for the
passage of the Isthmus of Panama, and a Steam Service instituted
between Panama and New Columbia, which will be expensive, and
require a considerable time in its preparation.
My Lords are, therefore, disposed to think that it
would
be desirable, without further loss of time, to communicate
with the Atlantic Royal Mail Steam Navigation
Company,
5
who
represent themselves as the Agents of the American Express
Company, and as authorized to contract for the delivery of
goods and Passengers at New Columbia, and to ascertain whether,
and on what terms, they would contract for the delivery of
Her Majestys Mails for a limited period—say one year.
would
be desirable, without further loss of time, to communicate
with the Atlantic Royal Mail Steam Navigation
Company,
5
who
represent themselves as the Agents of the American Express
Company, and as authorized to contract for the delivery of
goods and Passengers at New Columbia, and to ascertain whether,
and on what terms, they would contract for the delivery of
Her Majestys Mails for a limited period—say one year.
I am to request that you will move Secretary Sir E.B. Lytton to cause My Lords to be favoured
with his views upon this subject.
with his views upon this subject.
Minutes by CO staff
Mr Elliot
The Atlantic Royal Mail Steam Company 6 is, I believe, the Galway Line, and the "Royal Mail Steam Company" the West Indian. The Treasury prefer the former & the Post Office the latter Company—and the "views" of the Secretary of State are requested. Did the selection rest with this office our chief object would I suppose be to secure the safest & most expeditious conveyance for our Despatches. The expedition & punctuality of the old established Company (the Royal Mail Steam Compy) is I believe admitted on all sides; of the New Line we as yet know nothing.
The Atlantic Royal Mail Steam Company 6 is, I believe, the Galway Line, and the "Royal Mail Steam Company" the West Indian. The Treasury prefer the former & the Post Office the latter Company—and the "views" of the Secretary of State are requested. Did the selection rest with this office our chief object would I suppose be to secure the safest & most expeditious conveyance for our Despatches. The expedition & punctuality of the old established Company (the Royal Mail Steam Compy) is I believe admitted on all sides; of the New Line we as yet know nothing.
VJ
4 Decr
I cannot say that I am aware that the West India Company has
been particularly successful. All that the Treasury propose
is, not that we should select the other Company, but merely
that we should ascertain on what terms they could undertake
the required service. I should be disposed to agree to
their taking that course.
TFE
9 Decr
C
D 10
Other documents included in the file
Draft, Merivale to Hamilton, 17 December 1858, declining to offer
an opinion until more information was received but agreeing that any
contract be limited to one year because the future population and
prosperity of the colony "are so little within the compass of reasonable
calculation at the present time."
Minutes by CO staff
A most judicious letter.
EBL
Decr 13
Footnotes
- = Mer-Tre, 2 Oct 58 postal service FIND Mer-Tre, 2 Oct 58 re postal service. Cf. Douglas to Lytton, 5 November 1858, 535, CO 60/1, p. 360.
- In 1848, after William H. Aspinwall bought the contract from the U.S. government to provide steamer mail service on the Pacific ocean, he and two partners (Henry Chauncey and John L. Stephens) entered into a contract with the government of New Granada to build a railway across the Isthmus of Panama. The discovery of gold in California in 1849 heightened the need for a quicker passage to the west coast, and construction on the railway was speeded up. The first train crossed the isthmus in 1852 and the railway was officially completed in 1855; it had cost $8,000,000 to build. For a contemporary discussion of the railroad, see Otis, Illustrated History of the Panama Railroad. Cf. Douglas to Lytton, 23 October 1858, 12723, CO 60/1, p. 241 and Douglas to Lytton, 5 November 1858, 535, CO 60/1, p. 360??
- The republic of New Granada, comprising the present countries of Venezuela and Columbia, was formed in 1830, replacing the Viceroyalty of New Granada that had been established in 1717. Panama was one of eight provinces of New Granada. Cite Otis?? Laura add info.
- = Butterfield Overland Mail. On 16 September 1857, the U.S. government awarded a contract for overland mail service to John Butterfield of Utica, New York. The mail would be brought from Mississippi to San Francisco twice a week in four-horse post coaches, for $600,000 a year. Service began on 16 September 1858, and the Butterfield Overland Mail company soon gained an international reputation as a transcontinental carrier. The mail contract was renewed in 1864, but the company was absorbed by Wells Fargo and Company in November 1866. In 1868, the contract was awarded to Carlton Spaids of Chicago, but when he failed to meet his obligations, Wells Fargo again took over the mail service. In May 1869, the completion of the Union Pacific Railway ended the need for the overland mail, and coach service was halted. See Roscoe P. and Margaret B. Conkling, The Butterfield Overland Mail: 1857-1869, 3 vols. (Glendale, California: Arthur H. Clark, 1947), 3 vols.
- The Atlantic Royal Mail Steam Navigation Company, also known as the Galway Line, ran steamers from Galway, Ireland, to New York City via St. John's, Newfoundland. Before 1859 the company was called the Atlantic Steam Navigation Company. Cf. Douglas to Lytton, 5 November 1858, 535, CO 60/1, p. 360.
- Royal Mail Steam Company, the West Indian Line, ran steamers from Southhampton to Colon. BC58,p. 143. See T.A. Bushell, "Royal Mail," A Centenary History of the Royal Mail Line, 1839-1939 (London, 1939). Cf. Douglas to Lytton, 5 November 1858, 535, CO 60/1, p. 360.