and, might be taken to Georgetown. He said that he could not take
them; that he sailed his vessel to make money; and that he could not
do other people's business. As I walked away from him rather abruptly,
he called to me and wished to know to whom the letters were addressed.
I told him, to Sir Edmund Wodehouse, the Governor of the Province; and
that they related to the establishment of steam mail facilities
between this country and that Province. He at once begged my pardon
and explained; asked that I would let him send the letters; and said,
moreover, that he would at any time be glad to give me a passage there
and back on that business.

[D] See Parliamentary Papers for 1852-3, postal affairs, Report of
Lord Canning, July 8, 1853.

The experiment of employing the steamers of the Navy in the postal
service has been very fully made by Great Britain. After attempts on a
considerable number of lines, and extending over a period of ten
years, this service has been found inefficient, cumbrous, and more
costly, and has been entirely abandoned. Murray, page 172, says that
Mr. Anderson, Managing Director of the Peninsular and Oriental
Company, said before the Parliamentary Committee as follows: "The
postal communication can be done much cheaper by private contract
steamers than by Government boats, because of the merchandise and
passengers carried. The steam communication between Southampton and
Alexandria, with vessels of 300 to 400 horse power, was done for 4_s_
6_d_, per mile. From Suez to Ceylon, Calcutta, and Hong Kong, with
vessels of 400 to 500 horse power, for 17_s_, 1_d_ per mile. The
East-India Company's line (of naval vessels) between Suez and Bombay
with vessels of only 250 to 300 horse power, cost 30_s_ per mile. Her
Majesty's vessels in the Mediterranean cost about 21_s_ per mile."
France also tried the experiment, but soon abandoned the system, as
fruitless and exceedingly annoying. It is quite a plausible idea that
our mails should go under the flag of the country, with power to
protect them, and that vessels generally supposed to be idle should be
engaged in some useful service. But this presupposes a fact which does
not exist. No vessels in the world are more actively employed than
those of the American navy, and there are many stations on which we
could employ twice as many as we have with excellent effect on our
commerce and foreign relations generally. We constantly hear the
complaint that the Secretary