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With a garrison of less than 500 men, half of whom may at any time be on the sick list, the troops in Mauritius may be said to be almost reduced to the danger point, even for internal, let alone defensive, security. There should be telegraphic communication with such a Colony.
A large fleet of British merchant shipping always lies in Port Louis Harbour. There are some- times, I believe, 200 sail. Such a fleet is seen in no Cape port. It would have to be protected in war time, and its protection, as well as underwriting interests, would be greatly served by a telegraph.
Even in the transport operations connected with the late Zulu war, Mauritius was much used as a coaling and supply station. In war-time it must always be an important point for this purpose, and a port which could not fail to be much relied on for provisions and fuel by the navy should be connected with head-quarters by telegraph.
I trust these reasons, which could be much amplified, will be sufficient to induce the Commission to recommend aid from Imperial funds towards the construction of a cable to this important island.
The Eastern Telegraph Company will construct and work a cable from Zanzibar (connecting there with the African line) to Port Louis and Bourbon for a subsidy of 25,000l. a-year for twenty years.
Mauritius will give 10,000l. a-year towards this sum; but it cannot afford to pay more. I believe the French Government will give 5,000l. a-year.
be laid.
If, then, the Imperial Government will subscribe 10,000l. a-year for twenty years, the cable can
I have, &c. (Signed)
F. NAPIER BROOME,
Colonial Secretary for Mauritius.
Appendix No. 4.
MAURITIUS.
No. 37.
Colonial Office to Royal Commission on the Defence of British Possessions and Commerce Abroad.
Sir,
WITH reference to the letter from this Department of the 30th ultimo,* I am directed by the
Downing Street, April 23, 1880. Secretary of State for the Colonies to transmit to you, to be laid before the Royal Commissioners on the Defence of British Possessions and Commerce Abroad, a copy of a letter from Mr. Broome, Colonial Secretary of Mauritius, relative to the proposed extension of telegraphic communication to Mauritius, and I am to observe that Sir Michael Hicks Beach has no doubt that when the Royal Commission have considered the subject they will favour Her Majesty's Government with their views on this important question.
I am, &c.
(Signed)
JOHN BRAMSTON.
Inclosure in No. 37.
Sir,
Mr. Broome to Colonial Office.
7, Glendower Place, South Kensington, April 13, 1880.
SIR GEORGE BOWEN having requested that I would endeavour, during my stay in England, to forward the construction of a telegraph to Mauritius, I have also, with the permission of the Secretary of State, been in communication more particularly with the Colonial Defence Commission, and with Mr. Pender, the Chairman of the Eastern Telegraph Company.
2. I was to have given evidence before the Commission on the defensive value of a cable, but I shall not now, as I leave England this week, be able to attend the Commission, and I have forwarded the substance of what I had to say in a letter addressed to Lord Carnarvon, the Chairman. I inclose, for the information of the Right Honourable the Secretary of State, a copy of this letter, and trust the Commission may, in their Report, recommend the cable as a defensive measure, and, therefore, worthy of Imperial support.
3. With regard to the actual construction and working of the telegraph, Mr. Pender, at my request, has drawn out the terms on which a cable may be laid, and his two alternative schemes are already, I believe, in possession of the Secretary of State. According to one of these schemes, it is proposed that the Colony should be the proprietor of the cable, and, if all went well, it is shown that a large annual outlay would be saved by this course. It will probably be thought, however, that the risk is too large and uncertain for a Government to take, and there remains the second scheme, by which Mr. Pender's Company would construct and work the cable for a subsidy of 25,000l. a-year. Of this large sum, not more than 15,000l. a-year could, I apprehend, be provided by Mauritius and Bourbon, and so far as the inquiries I have made, and which I now beg respectfully to report, have gone, it appears that the achievement or the indefinite postponement of this important undertaking must turn upon the willing- ness or otherwise of the Imperial Government to contribute 10,000l. a-year of the subsidy. In the hope that, as a matter of policy, this expenditure may be considered to be not only justified but neces- sary, I would beg you to bring to the Secretary of State's notice the several points mentioned in my above-referred-to letter to the Chairman of the Royal Commission on Colonial Defence.
I have, &c. (Signed)
F. NAPIER BROOME,
* No. 35.
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Colonial Secretary for Mauritius.
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