The portion relating to the West Indian Department, shall separately
and first be taken as a comparison.
Yearly cost by the proposed plan £81,900
Yearly cost by present system:--
Six Mexican packets at £4,200[8] £25,200
Four steamers and coals, say 39,000
Hire ten mail-boats, West Indies 6,000
Ditto mail-vessels, Nassau, Chagres,
&c., say 4,000
Assistance navy,[9] equal to, say 3,000
------- 77,200
------
Apparent increase £4,700
But against this there is to be placed, the proportion
of saving in coals 5,635
-------
Difference _gained_ £935
-------
[Footnote 8: See Appendix No. 1., Calculation of
Expenses of Steamers and Sailing Packets.]
[Footnote 9: Men-of-war frequently carry the mails
from Barbadoes to Jamaica; also in other places.]
_Capital._ (p. 049)
Capital required by new plan £157,000
By present system:--
Six Mexican packets, at £9500 £57,000
Four steamers, _above_ £20,000, say 86,000
Ten mail-vessels, Windward Islands,
£1500 15,000
Mail-vessels, Nassau, St. Martha, &c. 5,000
Aid men-of-war,[10] equal to 7,500
------- 170,500
-------
Difference: decrease £13,500
-------
[Footnote 10: This assistance is worth more in
capital than this sum.]
Under the present system, all Demerara, Jamaica (Kingston and Spanish
Town excepted), and a large portion of Trinidad, cannot reply to their
letters by the same packet by which they receive them. Also Nassau,
Havannah, Tampico, Vera Cruz, Honduras, Chagres, Carthagena, Santa
Martha, and Laguayra, have only ONE mail each month; while all Porto
Rico, all the north side (the most important part) of Hayti, and all
the south side of Cuba, are wholly left out; while in all parts the
system is imperfect, irregular, and uncertain.
By the new plan, Nassau, Havannah, Tampico, Vera Cruz, Honduras,
Chagres, Santa Martha, and Laguayra, would have two mails each month;
all Porto Rico, the north side of Hayti, and the south side of Cuba,
would be included, and have two mails each month also; and all
Jamaica, Trinidad, and Demerara, would have time to reply to their
letters by the same packet which brought them. Time would everywhere
be saved, and the whole system would be regular and certain, and
properly combined.