182
guns on the Palliser principle into 64-pounder rifled guns, and also with reference to the manufacture of projectiles for the converted guns.
1 am, &c.
(Signed)
EDWARD WINGFIELD.
No. 197.
The Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bart., to Governor-General the Marquis of Lorne, K.T.
(General.) My Lord,
Downing Street, April 10, 1880. IN continuation of my despatch, General, of the 23rd March,* I have the honour to transmit to your Lordship, for the information of your Ministers, a copy of a further letter from the War Officef having reference to the construction of the projectiles for certain guns which are being converted by the Dominion Government on the Palliser system into 84-pounder rifled guns.
I have, &c.
Sir,
(Signed)
No. 198.
War Office to Colonial Office.
M. E. HICKS BEACH,
Surveyor-General's Department, War Office, April 12, 1880.
I AM directed by Secretary Colonel Stanley to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 5th instant; respecting the construction of projectiles by the Government of Canada for converted 64-pounder rifled guns, in which it is stated that a copy of a letter from this Department on the same subject of the 24th ultimo has not been sent to Captain Palliser, and in reply: 1 am to acquaint you, for the information of Sir Michael Hicks Beach, that Colonel Stanley agrees with him in thinking it unnecessary that Captain Palliser should be furnished with a copy of the Wa. Office letter above referred to.
I am, &c.
(Signed) F. A. CAMPBELL, Major-General.
No. 199.
Governor-General the Marquis of Lörne, K.T., to the Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bart. (Received April 13.)
(No. 94.) Sir,
Government House, Ottawa, March 31, 1880.
I HAVE the honour to transmit herewith, for communication to the proper authorities, a copy of an approved Report of Council, to which is appended a Report by the Superintendent of the Canadian Government Telegraph and Signal Service, embodying suggestions relative to the proposed establishment of submarine telegraph communication between England and the Island of Bermuda.
I have, &c. (Signed)
LORNE.
Inclosure in No. 199.
Report of a Committee of the Honourable the Privy Council for Canada, approved by his Excellency the Governor-General on the 30th day of March, 1880.
ON a memorandum, dated the 20th March, 1880, from the Honourable the Minister of Public Works, submitting copy of a Report from the Superintendent of the Government Telegraph and Signal Service, embodying certain suggestions relative to the proposed establishment, by the Imperial Government, of submarine telegraph communication between England and the Island of Bermuda, the Minister recommends that his Excellency the Governor-General may be pleased to transmit to the Imperial Government a copy of
⚫t No. 195.
• No. 185.
+ No. 186.
No. 186.
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183
the said Report for their information, and such action as they may deem proper to take in connection therewith.
Sir,
The Committee submit the above recommendation for your Excellency's approval.
Certified,
(Signed) J. O. COTÉ,
Clerk, Privy Council, Canada.
Telegraph and Signal Service, Ottawa, March 16, 1880. My attention having been directed to an article, which appeared in a late London newspaper, relative to the proposed establishment of submarine telegraph communication between England and the Island of Bermuda by the Imperial Government, I have now the honour to report-
1. That I consider the best and safest route for a trans-Atlantic cable would be direct from England to Sable Island, thus avoiding the banks of Newfoundland with other dangerous shoals, and thence, distant 100 miles only, to Torbay or Whitehaven, Nova Scotia.
h
The main cable would be no longer than the first French cable of 1869, nor of the direct cable now controlled and so successfully worked by the Anglo-American ('om- pany.
2. The distance from Sable Island to Bermuda is under 1,000 miles, and the soundings per chart are of a favourable nature.
3. The distance from Bermuda to one of the Bahama Islands, say Great Inagua, is about 900 miles, and thence to Jamaica 300, the entire route forming a direct cable connection in moderate and perfectly feasible lengths between Great Britain and the West Indies.
Finally, I may add that the adoption of the Sable Island route would place the Imperial Government in immediate communication with the entire system of coast hue telegraph and signal stations, already successfully inaugurated by the Canadian Govern- ment, and at the same time enable them to utilize the island as one of the most important meteorological stations upon the coast of North America, and to reduce the risks of that much-dreaded locality by all maritime nations.
The Hon. the Minister of Public Works,
&c.
&c.
&c.
No. 200.
I have, &c. (Signed)
F. N. GISBORNE.
Governor Sir J. H. Glover, G.C.M.G., to the Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bart.—
'(Received April 13.) (Confidential.)
Sir,
Government House, Newfoundland, March 25, 1880.
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, Secret, of the 28th February, transmitting, for the use of my Government, six printed copies of the Report by Lieutenant Morgan, R.M.L.I., on the defence of Newfoundland.
2. Prior to the receipt of your despatch Mr. Whiteway applied to me to show him the Report, but this I declined to do, on the ground that it was a confidential communica- tion, and, according to the terms of your Secret Circular of the 22nd October, 1879,† it was << very desirable that all matters relating to the defence of the Colony should, as far as possible, be kept secret."
3. I have thought it unadvisable to submit the printed copies of the Report in its present form to my Government, as there are remarks on the character, &c., of the people which, although necessary for the information of the Royal Commission on the Defence of British Possessions and Commerce Abroad, might, if known here, offend the susceptibilitics of certain members of my Government.
4. These remarks are to be found at page 14, and are: (1.) “Their great want is education, which, owing to a defective system and the scattered condition of the population, is very limited." (2.) The whole of the two paragraphs under the heads of “ "People easily influenced by political agitators" and "Religion.”
5. I am aware, from previous experience in cases of the Reports of Naval Officers engaged on the fisheries of this station, how very susceptible certain members of my
+ No, 44.
* No. 145.
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O. 885
4
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH--NOT TO
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