IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

4^^

1.0

I.I

1.25

1^ 12.2

z m

1^ IIIIIM

1.8

U IIIIII.6

Photographic

Sciences

Corporation

23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, NY. M580

(716) 872-4503

s ^

CIHM/ICMH

Microfiche

Series.

CIHM/ICIVIH
Collection de
microfiches.

Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut canauien de microreproductions historiques

Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes tachniquas at bibliographiquas

Tha Instltuta has attamptad to obtain tha bast
original copy availabia for filming. Faoturas of this
copy which may ba bibliographically uniqua,
which may altar any of tha imagas in tha
raproduction, or which may significantly changa
tha usual mathod of filming, ara chackad balow.

L'Institut a microfilm^ la maillaur exemplaira
qu'il lui a 6t6 possibia da sa procurer. Las details
da cat axampiaira qui sont paut-Atra uniquas du
point da vua bibliographique, qui pauvant modifier
una imnge reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une
modification dans la mithoda normaia da filmage
sont indiqu6s ci-dessous.

Coloured covers/
Couverture de couleur

I I Covers damaged/

Couverture endommag^a

Covers restored and/or laminated/
Couverture restaur6e et/ou peilicul^e

n Cover title missing/
Le titre de couverture manque

I I Coloured maps/

Cartes g6ographii,ues en couleur

Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/
Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire)

I I Coloured plates and/or illustrations/

Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur

Bound with other material/
Reli6 avac d'autres documents

Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion
along interior margin/

La re liure serr6e peut causer de I'ombre ou de la
distortion la long de la marge intdrieure

Blank leaves added during restoration may
appear within the text. Whenever possible, these
have been omitted from filming/
II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajoutias
lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte,
mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont
pas 6X6 filmdas.

□ Coloured pages/
Pages de couleur

□ Pages damaged/
Pages endommagdes

□ Pages restored and/or laminated/
Pages restaurdes 3t/ou pelliculies

Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/
Pages d6color6es, tachetdes ou piqudes;

D
D

Pages detached/
Pages d6tach6es

[771 Showthrough/

Transparence

Quality of prir

Qualiti inigala de ('impression

Includes supplementary materia
Comprend du material suppi^mantaire

I I Quality of print varies/

I I Includes supplementary material/

Only edition available/
Seule Mition disponible

Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata
slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to
ensure the best possible image/
Les pages totalement ou partiellement
obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure,
etc., ont 6t6 filmdes 6 nouveau de fa^on 6
obtenir la meilleure image possible.

Additional comments:/
Commentaires suppldmentaires;

This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/

Ce document est film6 au taux de reduction indiqu6 ci-dessous.

10X

14X

18X

22X

26X

30X

12X

16X

20X

24X

28X

32X

The copy filmed h«r« has b««n reproduced thanks
to the generosity of:

Legislature du Qik^bec
Qutbec

L'exemplaire film* f ut reproduit grAce A la
ginirositi de:

L^iilature du Quebec
Quebec

The images appearing here are the best quaMty
possible considering the condition and legibility
of the original copy and in keeping with the
filming contract specifications.

Les images suivantes ont 6t^ reproduites avec ie
plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et
de la netteti de I'exempiaire filmA, et en
conformity avec les conditions du contrat de
filmage.

Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed
beginning with the front cover and ending on
the last page with a printed or illustrated impres-
sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All
other original copies are filmed beginning on the
first page with a printed or illustrated impree-
sion, and ending on the last page with a printed
or illustrated impression.

Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en
papier est imprimte sont fllmte en commenpant
par ie premier plat et en terminant soit par la
dernlAre page qui comporte une empreinte
d'Impression ou d'illustration, soit par ie second
plat, selon Ie cas. Tous les autres exemplaires
originaux sont fiCmis en commenpant par la
premiere page qui comporte une empreinte
d'Impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par
la dernlAre page qui comporte une telle
empreinte.

The last recorded frame on each microfiche
shall contain the symbol —^>( meaning "CON-
TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"),
whichever applies.

Un des symboies sulvants apparaltra sur la
dernlAre image de cheque microfiche, selon Ie
cas: Ie symbols -*> signlfie "A SUIVRE", Ie
symbols ▼ signlfie "FIN".

Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at
different reduction ratios. Those too large to be
entirely Included in one exposure are filmed
beginning In the upper left hand corner, left to
right and top to bottom, as many frames as
required. The following diagrams illustrate the
method:

Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre
filmte A dee taux de reduction diff Arents.
Lorsque Ie document est trop grand pour Atre
reproduit en un seul clichA, il est film* A partir
de I'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite,
et de haut en bas, an prenant Ie nombre
d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants
iliustrent la mAthode.

32X

1 2 3

THE HON. Mr. MERRITT

AND THE

ffh

OUGBECBOARD OF TRADE;

OR THE

ST. LAWRENCE.

7rlat«d by AVO. OOTfi * Co.

QUEBEC.

(ia'S:>b

ADVERTISEMENT.

As the few merchants who .sit in the Council
of the Quebec Board of Trade seem desirous of
jkweeping away by one and the same blow both
the pilots as a body, and the Trinity House of
Quebec, and this solely with the view of increa-
sing their own share of the spoils, and because
their recent Correspondence with the Honble. Mr,
Merritt has been solely dictated by the individual
interest of each of them, it is but justice to those
whose interests run counter to the interests of the
Board of Trade, to lay before the public the mo-
tives of those who seek advantage in the des-
truction of our body. It is therefore in self
defence that I have caused to be translated the
following articles recently published in the Journal
de Quebec ; they are as ample a refutation at
could possibly be desired of the egotistical pre-
tensions of the Quebec Board of Trade and of itt
Champions.

A. MARMEN,

Pilot.

Mr. MERRITT

AND THE

©@^[^© ©\F ¥^^©1=

(From the Journal dt Quibtc of the 31st. Dec. 1850.)

In our last number, we promised to notice two
documents bearing date, respectively, the 4th
Oct. and the 18th Nov. last, and addressed by
the Quebec Board of Trade to the Honble. Mr.
Merritt ; and whilst in such our notice of these
documents we shall be as brief as possible, ^n e may,
nathless, dwell more at length thereon than we
should otherwise desire, owing to the necessity
we shall be under of entering into certain details,
which are essential to a thorough investigation of
the subject.

When Mr. Merritt communicated with the Que-
bec Board of Trade, he no doubt expected that he
was addressing a highly respectable body, such a one
for instance as the London Board of Trade, a body
incapable of any dishonorable or unworthy act or
be biased in its turn by low intrigue, private inte-
rest, or personal animosity — the offspring of deceit
and distrust.

From the Board of Trade, the reputed organ oi
commercial interests in this district, one might na-
turally enough expect calm and deliberate re^^xion,
information of a nature at once substantial and
useful in its tendency — views in fine which, if they
were not profound, would at least possess a certain
consistency. But in place of this what has he recei-
ved ? Two cumbrous epistles, where all the var-
ried productions of ambitious hopes deferred and
disappointed interests, and of the ill disguised

hatred which they invariably engender with each
other in admirable confusion. An analysis ot
these remarkable documents will suffice to con-
vince the public, as it has done us, that the ffreal
interest ot Trade and the love of public zeal are
not among the prevailing virtues of the clique
in question.

We quote from the official letter of Mr. A. Gil-
lespie, by him written, as Secretary of the Quebec
Board of Trade : —

" To illustrate this forcibly the Council hand
herewith a statement shewing the comparative
charges on a vessel of 700 tons here and in New-
York, which exhibits a difference in favour of the
latter city, amounting in public charges, such as
pilotage, lights, hospital and police dues
to, £22 2 3

In private charges, such as wharfage,
loading, &c., to 27 10

In all to £49 12 3*>
against the St. Lawrence ; a difference which the
Council conceive ought not to exist, and the causes
of which it is their duty to ascertain and point out
with a view to equalization. With private charges
the Council would avoid interference, believing
that open competition must ever regulate these,
and that every man has a perfect right to make the
most profitable use of his own property, and of his
personal labour, but they unhesitatingly state that
they think the public charges susceptible of great
reduction. They consider the rates of pilotage
inward and outward, above and below Quebec, as
too high, whether the exigencies of the trade are
looked at, or the capacity, social position or edu-
cation of the recipient pilots. These men, it is
conceived, would not be underpaid, were a reduc-
tion established of one third on the existing
rates. "

In order the better to understand the foregoing
quotation, and more clearly to render the thought
of the Quebec Board of Trade, it is necessary that

[2 3*>
h the
Eiuses
out
irges
viiig
lese,
the
his
that
reat
age
as
are
edu-
t is
duc-
ting

•>

wc should further cite the following tahle, to br
found at the conclusion of Mr. Gillespies' letter : -
" Comparative charges in Quebec and New- York
on a vessel of 700 tons register, drawing 15 feel
inward and 18 feet outward:

public; chakoes.

Quebec.

Pilotage in Xia 10

Do. out 14 3 6

Light dues 14 11 8

Marin« Hospt. 2 18 4

Police 2 3 9

Public charges

in Quebec £47 7 3
Do. in N. Y. 25 5

New- York.
Pilotage in $37 50

Do. out 40 50

Harbour dues 10 50
Seamen's fund

Hospital and

money

12 50

$101 00
£25 50
Consul's fees, 27

Balance in fa-
vor of N.Y., £22 2 3

PRIVATE CHAROES.

Quebec. — Wharfage, discharging, viz: —

7 days moorage, a 10s. £3 10

Landing 400 tons, k 6d. 10

15 days* moorage, loading, 7 10

Loading 700 tons, a 6d. 17 10

£88 10

New- York — 22 days' Wharfage, dis-
charging and loading $44

£11

Warfage in Quebec, £38 10

Do. in New- York, 11

Difference in favour of New- York, £27 10 0"

This, as may be seen hy the above quotatioiw,

the Board of Trade divides into two classes, the

expenses attendant on vessels sailing to and from

this Port, viz. : public charges, ( such as tonnage

dues, pilotage dues, &c., ) and private charges, ( audi

as commission, wharfage, moorage, tonnage, &«.}

The supposed exorbitancy of the public charges
weighs as a night mare on the Board of Trade,
whilst the Board coolly and distinctly states that
the private charges must not by any means be
touched, and that from competition alone are we
to expect any reduction therein. But whence this
predilection of the Board for the private charges ?
Why, on the one hand, advise a reduction in
the public charges, and why, on the other, confide
the private charges to public competition ? The
secret is soon told : — The public charges are prin-
cipally borne, and the private charges pocketted
by the very clique that sits in the Council of the
Board — and because the Board well knows that
competition in the matter of private charges is an
event impossible under existing circumstances.

The number of wharves is very limited indeed,
and for this reason a monopoly in that line can be
with difficulty prevented or controlled. The Mer-
chant to whom a vessel may be consigned here,
easily finds a means of levying from the owner the
(■ustomary Black Mail. In the first place the
Merchant charges his Commission^ which is but
fair ; again, the same Merchant being the possessor
of a wharf, whether with or without title, it is not
for us to say, charges as high a rate of wharfage
as he possibly can do, during the whole period that
the vessel usually takes to discharge and receive
her cargo ; this may or may not be fair. Most fre-
quently indeed, if not always, does he oblige the
Master of the vessel to lay out a considerable sum
for towage of timber from the Coves to his wharf
in town, in order that he, th« Merchant, may
profit by all this in the shape of wharfage. This
is certainly not fair ; — but the Merchant's profits
in the shape of private charges do ^ot end here.
Should his consciencious scruples not be over nice,
he acts much after the fashion of that ship-master
who, on suffering shipwreck, muttered compla-
cently to himself, ** It is a speculation just like any
other" ; the Merchant purchases for himself the
cargo which has been consigned to him, and as he

I •, \

m "

cannot but be extremely liberal towards this pur-
chaser the Merchant's Commission by this expert
transaction receives a very fair increase. One day
(and we could name the authors of the drama were
we desirous so to do) a pretended purchaser enters
the office of a Merchant, the Consij^nee of a cargo
of coals, and asked their price —the price, said the
Merchant, is 22s. 6d. per chaldron — " Oh, that is
too dear, " replied the other ; " I cannot help it, "
answers the Merchant, " but return in the evening-,
we will follow the market price. " In the afternoon,
coals were selling at 20s. The purchaser was iu»
othe^ than the secret agent of the Merchant.

No ! so long as the River St. Charles cannot
boaSc of Public Docks, so long as the Britisli
owner shall not imitate the American owner, so
long as he shall not make the master part owner
of his vessel, and by that means oblige the master
to economise and do without the services of a Con-

signee, so

long

will the British ship-ownei be

unable successfully to compete with the American
ship-owner.

Our readers may now understand why it is that
the Board of Trade is desirous of confining to com-
petition a reduction in the private charges, because,
says the Board, each man has a right to exact for
his services as high a rate of remuneration as he can
possibly obtain — and our readers may further
understand, without a word in explanation from
us, vt^hy it is that the Board is desirous to get rid oi
what it is pleased to cdWpublic charges. Amongst
the public charges, the Board, unadvisedly enough,
places the pilotage class, as if pilotage were not
the semces of the pilot, as much a private charge
as the service of the commission merchant. As
well might it denominate a public charge the fees
exacted by attornies. — The only difference between
pilotage dues and other salaries consists in the fact,
that the first are regulated by law, as they arc
everywhere else, and they are so fixed by law,
solely because the pilot is subjected by law to a long
•ind severe apprenticeship. Seven years appren-

ticeship, four voyages to Europe, and a severe
examination must be undergone, and a more than
moderate share of education must be possessed by
liim, who wishes to obtain a pilot's branch.

The Board of Trade have discovered that the
pilots are too well paid, taking into consideration
their capacity, their social position, and their edu-
cation. Nothing is more easy than to prove that they
are much less remunerated than the London and
New- York pilots ; and the fact of two wrecks only
having occurred this season in the St. Lawrence,
is sufficient evidence of the capacity of our pilots
There are certainly exceptions to this rule, but
these exceptional cases are disappearing each day
under the effect of the recent statute and bye-laws
of the Trinity House. Is it not a fact worthy of
being noticed that two pilots only have been
amerced, during the past season. But should the
salary of the pilots be reduced, the educated and
active man will no longer be found devoting him-
self to the arduous and responsible duties of a pilot.
Scarcely ten pilots will be found who can boast of
having made £175 during the seven months of the
season of navigation, — and from £25 to £30 of
these J£175 must have been laid out by the pilot
in travelling expenses. The greater number do not
make £100 each season. And is this remuneration
too high for one whose life is in almost constant
peril ? The hardships which the pilot has to
undergo in the exercise of his profession, more
especially during the spring and fall, would appear
incredible to those who do not know them.

But let us return to the comparative statement of
the Board of Trade — and expose a few of its glaring

errors »

And if to the charges at New-York

we add the Consul's fees indicated in the table,
under the number 27, this difference will be foumd;
to be much lower. \Vhat the meaning of this num-
ber 27 is we do not know.

We have gone over the data and calculations ot
the Boardof Trade on the supposition that they, as

a.s

well as the reflections with which they are accom-
panied, are correct, — ^butwehc leason to doubt
their exactness, and the com .-ions which the
Board draws from these same data : — because the
great majority of vessels frequenting this port mea-
sure 700 tons and upwards, and do not, on their
arrival from sea, draw more than 12 feet water.
Formerly the largest vessels frequenting tliis port
did not measure more than 400 tons, and had a
greater draft ol water than the largest vessel at the
present day. A vessel of 1200 tons does seldom
now draw more than 12 feet of water on her arrival
from sea. The position of the pilot must have
therefore experienced a change decidedly for the
worse, since, instead of three pilotages which he
heretofore received, he now receives but one, and
the burthen of trade is in consequence lightened by
so much. A vessel of 700 and even of 1200 tons,
drawing but 12 feet water, is only charged with
£10 16s., pilotage dues at Quebec, whilst at New-
York the pilotage of a vessel of 700 tons amounts
to £9 7s. 6d. ; — the difference is not therefore so
great in favor of New- York. But one important
fact the Board of Trade has, intentionally, it would
seem, omitted to state, viz : that the New-York
pilot has only a distance of 19 nautical miles to
run, whilst the Quebec pilot has one of 150 miles ;
therefore is it that at New-Y ork a pilot has been
known to perform three pilotages in one day, whilst
the Quebec pilot is at times detained by a contrary
wind from 12 to 15 days on board the same vessel.
The New- York pilot cannot possibly be detained
over 24 hours on board the same ship. Considering
the respective distances, is it not therefore true
that the pilots of New- York are sevenfold better
paid than the pilots of Quebec ? To this it may be
answered, " perfectly true ; but if there be then a
difference of but a few shillings only between the
rates of pilotage at Quebec and New- York res-
pectively, how shall you €ompete ? " To which we
answer — that if this trifle be such an obstacle as to
counter-balance the superior advantages offered by

the St. Lawrence route in other respects, then let
us abandon it for ever, and for ever despair of a suc-
cessful competition ; for it is not the pilot's fault if
the pilotage distance be 150 miles at Quebec and
but 19 at New-York.

No 1 the reason why trade has not hitherto taken
the St. Lawrence route is, because the price of
freight has hitherto been too high at Quebec and
at Montreal, owing to there being no return freight
by these two cities and further because the insurance
premiums have been too high, and finally because
the Quebec merchants have themselves represented
in England the route of the St. Lawrence to be dan-
gerous ; but it is now proved beyond a doubt that
this route is the safest of any. So soon as it shall
become generally known that the route of the St.
1/awrence is perfectly safe, and that freight is not
higher here than at New- York, the whole western
trade will take this direction because the coolness of
our waters preserves flour in a better condition than
do the warmer waters of the Erie Canal ; and that
the freight from Buffalo to Quebec is one-half less
than from Buff'alo to New- York

Before continuing to disclose the motives which
influenced the concoction of the two letters of the
Board of Trade, we shall translate the more salient
passages of these letters.

After advising the Government to reduce the
pilotage dues, the Council adds through Mr. Gil-
lespie, their Secretary : —

" The Council are not prepared to indicate any
other source whence the revenue for maintenance
of the lights in the St. Lawrence should be drawn ;
nay, even consider that such should legitimately
fall upon the shipping, enjoying the advantage of
the lights; but then, they maintain that such fund
should be managed with economy, and no more be
thus levied than is sufficient to support one properly
constituted Trinity House regulating the mainte-
naace of good and efficient lights, buoys, &c. The
necessity of having a Trinity House in Montreal
a:* well as Quebec is not apparent to the Council

?!■<

and as regards the establishment at Quebec, they
hare already by petition, endeavoured to direct the
attention of the Government to the inefficiency and
extravag-ance of the Board as well as to the multi-
plication of offices and sinecures engendered by the
system of nepotism there prevailing.

" But while they conceive it their duty to point
out abuses, they are also desirous of offering sug-
gestions for the better regulation of the esta-
blishment.

" They would like to see the whole of the present
cumbrous system, with its inefficient unqualified
and non-attendant members, its Secretary, its
Treasurer, and other well salaried officers done
away with, and, in their room, two Commissioners
appointed, who, with the Harbour Master, should
conduct the whole business. One of these Com-
missioners should have such compensation for his
services as should induce him to devote his whole
time to the business of the Trinity House, and he
should not only be competent to discharge the
duties of Secretary, qualified by character and
responsibility to be entrusted with all the monetary
affairs of the office, but acquainted with shipping,
and able to adjudicate on all such matters as now
come before the Board.

" The other Commissionner should be of equal
qualifications, but not being expected to devote
himself exclusively to the business of the Trinity
House, his office should be honorary or compara-
tively so. Notarial and other business should be
given to whomsoever is best qualified to conduct it
with efficiency and economy.

" It has also occurred to the Council <'.hat lights,
buoys, &c., in fact all the business of the Trinity
House, except the regulation of pilots, might, with
great saving of expenditvire, be placed under the
charge of the Board of Works.. "

In order not to return twice to the same subject,
we shall translate at once that part of Mr. Dean's
letter, written in the name of the Board.

On the second subject referred to in your

((

letter, viz., the expediency of building steamers at
the public expense, for towing vessels below
Quebec, I have to repeat the opinion of the Council
already communicated to you, namely, that the
advantages to be derived from such a measure, are
by no means so apparent as to justify them in ad-
vising its adoption, and I may add that although
there are now, and have long been boats here, able
and ready to perfonn such service, I can recollect
no instance of their assistance being required below
Quebec by any except wrecked or disabled vessels.
I have also to renew the recommendation of the
Council on this subject, that the expensive and
useless boat lately imported by the 1'rinity Board
should be sold, and replaced by a powerful steamer
capable of performing the services required of her
by that institution, and which need not give her
more than a month's employment during trie year,
and being ready at all other times either to go to
the aid of vessels in distress or to tow from or to
sea, vessels requiring such assistance, upon such
terms as might be fixed on by agreement or other-
wise. The expediency ol the measure in question
might thus be tested without incurring any new
expenditure j indeed the enormous expenses of the
Trinity Board would be thereby considerably
lessened, as it is believed that such a boat would,
by assisting disabled or wrecked vessels alone,
eara sufficient at least to pay ber own expenses. "

Enough translated ; here it behoves us to unravel
the odious plot concocted in their hatred, by inte-
rested, by disappointed men. We shall proceed
categorically : —

Why did the Board of Trade never complain of
the Trinity Board before the enactment, in 1840,
of the law under which the latter Board is go-
verned ? And yet the " nepotism, " if any there
be, of which the Board of Trade complains so
bitterly, had existence then as well as now. There
were not then a Clerk and a Treasurer, but the two
persons v/ho now fill the respective offices of Clerk
and Treasurer were thten joint Registrar and Trca-

surer, aud another officer was paid for receiving
the Trinity House dues collected at the Custom
House. There was then aa now a Harbor Master,
a Master of the Trinity House, and a Superin-
tendent of Pilots. The Salary of the Harbor
Master, together with the perquisites which he
levied from the Trade, then anuounted to much
more than the limited salaries of the present Harbor
Master and Junior Superintendent of Pilots. The
present Trinity House Act is so framed, that it puts
an end to all future pensioning off, while it
enables the Trinity Board to reduce its. officers to
a minimum figure. Did the Trade ever raise its
voice against the transaction by which Mr. Lamblj
was struck from the Trinity Board and replaced by
Captain Boxer ? Will it be because Mr. W. Ste-
venson became, for Captain Boxer, through hi*
influence with Lord Sydenham, the disinterested
agent of this economical transaction, which levied
from the Trade a salary of £795 for the acting
Harbor Master, and j£275 for the retired Harbor
Master, — in all £1070 ? The office of assistant
Harbor Master is a sinecure, and in fact the pre-
vious law merely obliged him to act during the
absence of his principal, when for ins-tance, the
Military Government employed him to explore the
Upper Lakes. The new law has not touched any
acquired right, neither has it proscribed any person ,
but it has foreseen every thing for a futuie, which
cannot be far distant. It enacts that, from the
death of the present pensioners who annually
absorb the sum of £700 from the Trinity Funds,
no more pensions shall be granted. By this law
the office of assistant Harbor Master is to cease at
the death or resignation of the present incumbent.
Now, two of the Trinity House pensioners are aged
over 80 years ; — the third is 77 years of age, and
the assistant Harbor Master is already advanced in
years. This system of pensioning, which is Tnerely
tolerated, cannot therefore exist long.

We have said that the Trinity House may, by
the operation of the law, and under the directions

of the Government, reduce its officers to a minimum
(ifjfure. At present the Trinity House Master
receives the very same salary which his predecessor
Mr. Stewart received, and which he himself received
long before the existence of the new law. But life
has an end, and often our strength fails us before
death has stricken us, and when the Trinity House
Master shall have met with either of these two
casualties, his place may be filled by another mem-
ber of the Board. The Harbor Master himself,
whose salary is evidently too high, considering his
services and the nature of his duties, cannot live
for ever, and the Trinity House may then, with an
eye to economy, combine the latter office with
another of nearly similar duties.

We have always been of opinion that £300 was
a sufficient remuneration for the officer acting in
this double capacity, inasmuch as the duties of
Harbour Master amount to almost nothing, and are
the least difficult to fulfil, and because the boarding
of vessels arriving at Quebec, is invariably per-
formed by a young man in the employ of the Har-
bour Master, but under pay from the Trinity
House.

But the present Harbour Master set forth ac-
(|uired rights, and to reduce his salary to £500 was
a point of some importance.

When circumstances shall therefore permit it,
the Trinity House will reduce its expenses by up-
wards of £1,400, of which one half in pensions, and
the other half in salaries.

But why, we ask again, does the Board of Trade
curse that law which nevertheless works so well ?
The reason is, that Mr. Stevenson no longer is a
member of the Trinity Board ; that he has been
struck therefrom by a clause in the act itself,
suggested by Mr. Christie, and draughted by Mr.
W. H. Boultou. We may be asked, what has
that to do with the Board of Trade ? We answer,
Mr. Stevenson is a member (and lately sat in the
(/ouncil) of the Board of Trade, and Mr. Dean is
President of the same Board. But what connexion

exists between the two facts of Mr. Stevenson
being struck from the Trinity Board, and of Mr.
Dean being President of the Board of Trade ? Two
words from us will explain this connexion. Messrs,
Dean and Stevenson were joint proprietors of a
steamer called the *S7. George^ leased by the Tri-
nity House from 1846 to 1849, inclusively ! When
Mr. Stevenson was a member of the Trinity Board,
the Board of Trade never complained of the repeated
absence of members from the sittings of the Trinity
Board, and yet this absence was the cause of much
delay and considerable inconvenience. But this
abuse does not exist at present, because the paid
members are in suflicient number to form the
quorum required by law. The reason, we repeat it,
why the Board of Trade raises this hubbub^ is be-
cause Mr. Stevenson is no longer at the Trinity
Board to enlighten it with the economical sparks
issuing from the extremely well qualified furnaces
of the St. George.

The Board ol Trade does not things by halves.
Indignant last year at the refusal of the Trinity
House to employ the St. George, because he asked
£350 for a contract which another offered to per-
form for £200, Mr. Stevenson wrote lengthy com-
munications in the newspapers against the foolish
expenses of this department of the Public Service,
and said to a person whose name we will give on
being required so to do : " The Trinity House
would not take my Steamboat, but there will be a
terrible row about this. " These words are now
most significant, and Mr. Stevenson cannot boast
of such talent as would enable his actions and his
words to defy the danger of analysis. The " ter-
rible row " is nothing more than the hubbub raised
by the Board ol Trade, or rather by Mr. Dean,
one of the proprietors of the steamer St. George,
who undertakes in the name of the Board to put in
execution the threats of his co-proprietor Mr. Ste-
venson.

No ! the Board of Trade docs not things by
halves, for when it affirms that the present system

is worth nothing and is too expensive by far, it is
prepared at least to suggest, a more efficacious and
more economical one. The language ol the Board
of Trade on this head may be translated thus —
" Drive away that flock of Tttle birds which picks
without scruple the smaller grains, and make way
for one of those birds of prey which will empty
the platter in one bill-full ! We want there a
clever man to act as clerk and expertly to handle
as Treasurer the Trinity House Funds ; one who
is further well versed in the science of navigation. "
As a matter of course this man of universal talents
and acquirements can be no other than Mr. Wil-
liam Stevenson, and in fact he has succeeded in
pressing on the minds of a few good hearted mer-
chants thas he is a man fit for any and every
emergency ; and public rumor, which some times
goes too fast, has already given him a salary of
£700, over and above the management of the
Trinity House Funds, in consideration of his
ontire devotedness to the business of that Institu-
tion. The second commissionership, requiring an
incumbent as well qualified as the first, would na-
turally devolve on Mr. Dean, who might or might
not be as well remunerated, comparatively spea-
king, because he would be obliged to attend to
other business ; but in his absence the universal
genius of Mr. Stevenson would grapple with
everything and not a cent would be squandered
iaaspilk). These two gentlemen, who may be
denominated the Nisus and Euryalus of trade, may
be seen fighting side by side, and for each other,
their way to honors and emoluments.

Let us subject to analysis throughout the econo-
mical plan oi" the Board of Trade. By this plan
the Harbor Master is to continue in receipt of his
salary of £500, which, with that of the Chief
Commissioner, as suggested by the Board of Trade,
would place these two officers in receipt of £1200,
not to speak of the Notarial deeds, &c., which
would thus have to be done by Notaries without
the Institution, and would then absorb their share

of the funds. Would the organisation proposed Ijy
the Board of Trade cost less than the present sys-
tem, when it shall have been disincuinDered of the
embarassments created by the past ? One must
be blind to answ^er in the affirmative, for those
who know the business transacted by the Trinity
Board, are well aware that without many assis-
tants, the Universal Genius would be unable to
fulfil a sixth part of the duties required of him.

Mr. Dean begins by saying that it would not be
expedient to construct Tug Boats to ply below
Quebec, because these boats would not be em-
ployed by the trade, except in cases of shipwreck
or of vessels in distress ; nevertheless he advises
the Government to sell the steamer which plies
regularly every summer between Quebec andGrosse
Isle, and also that of the Trinity House, in order to
replace them by a powerful steamboat, which being
able to perform in one month all the necessary work
of this department, would be of service as (o ship-
wrecks and in succouring vessels in distress.

The present steamer of the Trinity House is an
excellent vessel, perfectly adapted io the object
for which it has been piirchasea ; it being almost
constantly employed in visiting the several light-
houses, and in placing and removing the Buoys,
which have of late been considerably increased in
number, and which do now require an almost con-
tinued surveillance. In 1849, Messrs. Dean and
Stevenson received £69 15s. from the Trinity
House for going to replace a buoy which was said
to be displaced, but which had never moved from
its position.

During each twenty-four hours of active service
the Doris consumes but eight chaldrons of coal,
and seldom or ever attains this figure, because, to
economize the coal, as great a use as possible is
made of her sails. We may add, that this vessel
when favored by the wind, goes at the rate of ten
knots an hour, without at all using her engine.
Replace her by a powerful Tug-boat, which will
cost from jES.'ijOOO to X30,000 at Irast, should it

he anytliing above ihe coininoi), and you will have
to adil to this trifling sum an annual ex)>cnse of
£5,000 ! And all this expense will have ))een
incurred for the sole purpose of going to two or
three wrecks, for of the two only which occurred
in 1850, both vessels were sold at the place where
they lay wrecked.

Such is economy, in the opinion of the Quebec
Board of Trade.

But ive have omitted to state that Mr. Dean
undertook to render the thought of Mr. Stevenson
and his own also, when he said, in the name of
the Hoard of Trader that the impotent steamer, the
Doris must be sold. For did Mr. Stevenson not
say to one of the officers of the Trinity House, that
he wanted the Doris for his fishing* trade, and
that he would have her before two years ? In fact
she cost very little, and is eminently fit for u con-
tinual service, requiring no great power.

To resume. The pvesent steamer of the Trinity
House is too expensive, because it has replaced
the St. George, which its owners have, for this
reason, been subsequently obliged to sell, owing
to her bein^ so expensive. The Doris must be
sold, because she would to a nicety stlit Messrs.
Dean and Stevenson, who would then purchase
her for almost nothing, as they would be tiio only
bidders.

Before concluding, it is necessary to lay before
the public a statement of what the steamer St.
George cost the Trinity House, from 1846 to 1849
inclusively, when it will be seen that the owners
of the St. George have reason to repine at a state
of things which ro suddenly cut off their brilliant
hopes of gain, ir may be as well to mention here
that the Trinity Board, seeing the immense sums
which it was obliged to lay out each year in pla-
cing and removing //«>/ee» Buoys, (at preseui the
number of Buoys is 34,) prayed the Legislature
for permissior to purchase a steamer. A Bill to
this eflfett passed the Lower House without diffi-
culty ; not a word wa"? said against it by the Board

of I'rude, until Mr. Stevenson, who had then arri-
ved from Halifax, assembled the Council if the
Hoard of Trade, and a petition was presentc J hy
it to the Letfisla o Council, whence, with the
assistance of Mr. Walker, this necessary meu> re
wfts thrown out.

The following is a statement of the c/pense
incurred by the Trinity House for the hire of the
St. George^ viz : —

1846.

For laying down the Buoys in the

Spring, and Mtii :; them up in

the Fall, ; w trips to the

several liigtits i.iid Provision

Depois £1300

Extra t.ii' to Aniiposti 460

Repla«Niig the Buoy on Barrett's

Ledge 225

1975
1847.

For ordinary service 1300

Going to the Traverse in room of the

Lightship 207

Going to Red Island 150

1657

1848.

For ordinary service 1300

Placing extri Buoys , 467 10

Lifting do 175

1942 10
1849.

For ordinary service 1500

Mooring a Buoy in the Traverse 63 15

Layin^ .jwn E. E. of Hare Island.... 10

1573 15

Total for the 4 years 7147 5

The year 1849 was less exjiensive in tliut respect
than the precedinp^ ones, because the Trinity
House, with a view to economise, employed a
Schooner to replace such Buoys as might be dis-
turbed from their natural position by any causes
whatsoever. It was no joke indeed to be con-
tinually paying? upwards of £225 to replace a single
Buoy. And now who so stupid as to call in ques-
tion the justice of the ire displayed by the Presi-
dent of the Board of Trade ?

The Quebec Gazette coiTectly states that the
great object which every Canadian should have in
view is the improvement of the navigation of the
St. Lawrence, — and for our part we think that
we have sufficiently proven that this object is as
ardently desired by ua as it possibly can be by any
one, and our wishes in this respect, whilst ihey
do not extend beyond the limits of possibility,
are in our opinion ample enough.

The Gazette has candidly expressed its views
on the proposed reductions in the rates of pilotage,
and whilst we fully give the meed of praise which
this candour unquestionably deserves, we feel that
our cotemporary will rightly appreciate the motives
which have led us, wholly for the sake of the
question at issue, to notice some errors of fact into
which he has inadvertently fallen.

It were almost needless licre to repeat our former
statement that the rate of pilotage, as given by the
Board of Trade in its report on vessels of 700 tons,
are exaggerated and false.

The expense of Light Houses, as they are now
maintained, is borne by the trade. Should this
mode of maintaining them be changed, the expense
must exclusively be borne by the government or
the diflferent sea ports being central trading points,
in proportion to the amount of benefit accruing to
each. In ihe first case, the duty which is now
payable by the owner of the vessel for this purpose,
will be transferred to the consumer of the import
article of trade, for the government revenue
unlike the Phaniix of the Fablf, does not spring up

it respect
J Trinity
ployed a
t be dis-
y causes
be con-
e a single
I in ques-
lie Presi-

that the
d have in
on of the
link that
jeet is as
be by any
lilst they
3ssibility,

its views
' pilotage,
Lse which
i feel that
e motives
ce of the
fact into

iir former

en by the

700 tons,

are now
ould this
3 expense
iment or
)g points,
crning to
h is now

purpose,
le import

revenue
spring up

afresh from its own ashes; it must weigh some-
where. In the second case, the different sea ports
would have to jpay a duty proportionate to the
benefit derived from the use of lights and other
beacons ; but this latter plan could not, in our
opinion, be easily carried out in practice, and the

f)resent system is about that that could devised, un-
ess that the Government, applying the excess of
revenue, if it had any, to relieve the Trade from all
taxation for this object, should undertake to make
of the St. Lawrence a great-highway of trade and
sustain alone the expense of Lights and Buoys of
the Trinity House department.

When Mr. Stevenson sat at the Trinity Board,
there were but nine buoys in the St. Lawrence,
and the Trade indirectly paid him ^2000 each
year to put down and lake up these buoys ; and
noiv that there are thirty four Buoys to be put
down and taken up each year, this same gentleman
may be hourly heard unfolding to our Merchants
his marvellous plan, by which the putting down
and taking up of those Buoys, together with the
superintendence of the Light Houses may be
effected for the sum of JElSOO.

The Gazette admits that the present rates of
pilotage cannot in equity be reduced ; but it states
that many experienced ship masters may be found
possessing as thorough a knowledge ol the River
as do the pilots, and that it is not fair to force the
services of a pilot on the master who feels that he
is competent to pilot his own vessel. But would
this privilege, if granted, have the effect of des-
troying the profession of the pi^ot, and of perilling
in consequence the interests of trade. It is incorrect
in the first place to state that masters of
vessels, arriving from sea, are as well acquainted
as the pilots, with the navigation of the St. Law-
rence, for independently of the fact that while
masters of vessels make but one or two trips by
the St. Lawrence each year, pilots make from
fifteen to twenty su(!h trips. It is a well known
fact that, relying on the skill of the pilot, the

master of the vessel is almost invariably in the
habit of taking his ease, while the pilot is on board,
and troubles himself but little with the study of
the shoals, currents, and depth of water in the
river. Even Captain Bayfield advises masters of
vessels to take a pilot, and indicates where one may
generally be found on entering the river. Cap-
tain T. Gorman of the Jane Black which he owns,
as we beleive, in whole, or at least in part, is an ac-
tive intelligent man, and on three different oc-
casions sailed up the river without having a pilot
on board, — using each time every possible pre-
caution to avoid being stranded, — and yet each
time his vessel grounded on the passage. Since
then he vowed never to undertake, unassisted by
the pilot's skill, the navigation of a river posses-
sing, it is true, sufficient depth of water, but re-
quiring, for a thorough knowledge of its intrica-
cies, frequent and continued study.

Even Captain Boxer, when commanding the
Pique once discharged his pilot at Bic Island ;
but when afterwards the gallant Captain met
with severe weather off Father Point, he was
rather pleased than otherwise to find there a pilot,
who brought him safely back into Bic harbour,
and who, at his request, remained three days on
board the Pique until after the tempest had sub-
sided, in order then to pilot the Frigate safely out
of Bic Harbour. These services which Captain
Boxer paid for, by the amount of full pilotage of
a vessel drawing twelve feet water, (because the
pilot represented that on taking the I ique in
charge, he had lost the pilotage of a vessel of that
draft of water, then entering the river,) did not
seem over paid at that amount.

The facts prove beyond a doubt that it is easier
for gentlemen seated in their cabinet to weave a
splendid theory on this head than to put the whole
or part of such theory into practice, the more es-
pecially as wind and weathei frequently play
false.

New-York has also had its liuic of delusion and

easier
save a
whole

re es-
play

unrestricted liberty in this matter and the State
legislature preferred to the trade of that great City
to abolish the privilege of the pilot ; the offer was
refused in consequence of the immense danger,
that such a system would entail on the interests of
commerce. Under such a system the choice of
a pilot may be fortunate on one day and unfortu-
nate on the next, because the unfit and the ex-
perienced will alike be at liberty to tender their
services ; the man of no experience whatever may
board a vessel which the tempest has assailed
and '- "^er to pilot the vessel ; too happy to have
some person on whose judgment to rely, the master
can scarcely be expected to have time or thought
to ask him whether he is experienced, and the
consequence may be that the vessel may be lost ;
other wrecks will follow this one and rates of in-
insurance will rapidly encrease. Morever by throw-
ing open to public competition the profession of
the pflot, their apprenticeship, the only means of
insuring efl&ciency in this branch, is destroyed, for
when any man can become a pilot without under-
going an apprenticeship, it can hardly be ex-
pected that he will subject himself to such a severe
ordeal as he is now obliged to do. Those pilots
who are now the most expert, being obliged from
this self same system of competition to tender their
services for a mere nothing, will seek elsewhere a
mean of subsistence ; the dearest interests of
trade will be at the mercy of a horde of inca-
pables ; and shipwrecks instead of decreasing in
number, yearly, as at present is the case, by the
daily improving skill of our pilots, will multiply
in an alarming ratio ; and Insurance companies
will either abandon us or put an end, by their enor-
mous premiums, to all our hopes of competion
with other commercial countries.

In almost every case, the ship-master will tender
to the pilot a half, perhaps a third of the pilotage
dues, and enforce the offer by a threat to pilot
the vessel himself, despite his incapacity, in case
the pilot should reject the proposal. Should the

pilot accept the profened amount, as most pro-
bably he may, who will profit by the transaction ?
the Master or the owner ? the Master say we.
There has already been more than one instance of
wilful shipwreck, and many such will still occur,
should the wholesome fear of losing his branch be
with drawn from o'er the pilot's head, and should
he cease thereby to feel personnally interested in
the fate of the vessel under his charge.

Whence it is that in England and the United-
States, two countries where the interests of trade
and the advantages of both systems are as well un-
derstood at least as they are here, admission to the
profession of the pilot is only allowed under res-
trictions.

The Gazette is in error when stating that small
craft are obliged to employ pilots ; the Statute of
last year has exempted them from this.

The Gazette concurs with the Board of Trade in
the opinion that the .Trinity House expenses are
excessive, and that the proposed system of Com-
missioners would work much better than the
present one of Wardens ; for with the Board of
Trade or rather with Mr. Stevenson, quite fu-
rious at being expelled from the Trinity Board, and
consequently obliged to sell his steamer, has ori-
ginated the proposed plan of replacing the present
Trinity House Wardens by three persons, viz, two
Commissioners with salaries of J£750 and j£500
respectively, and Captain Boxer as Harbour
Master with his present salary of ^500 ; the self
same Captain Boxer, who, in the fulness of his
self esteem, recently wished to be the Board itself,
and required for four years the exclusive control
of the navigation of the St. Lawrence.

We request our readers to examine attentively
the following table to see if the economy proposed
by the Gazette can be eflfected to the extent which
it points out.

(Vide table A at the cud of the book.)

■:f.

In the first place, we cannot for the life of us,
see what difference the name makes in the thing
itself, and why Commissionners should be more
efficient than Wardens ? Does a name transform
men and make them more honest, more vigilant
or more intelligent ? The Gazette can scarcely
have studied the question or it would hardly be
surprised that a single man should not be equal
to the duties fulfilled by a body. There are va-
rious duties which can only be fulfilled by men
ot specific talents ; and even Mr. Stevenson with
all his talent for intrigue of the lowest order, could
not possibly at one and the same time act as Clerk,
Treasurer, Jurist, Pilot, Superintendent of lights
and buoys, &c. Previous to the present Trinity House
system, the Board was composed of seven or eight
members, two of whom received salaries from this
department and yet in most instances it was then
impossible to assemble a quorum of the members ;
but now this inconvenience is no longer felt and
every thing works with a harmonious ease which
no one will dare to call in question.

The Gazette falls into another grave error, when
it asserts that, in England,Trinity Houses have been
superseded by Commissionners. The word Trinity
House in this respect is properly applied, but in
England only ; for it is well known that the Board
of Navigation of London has merely assumed
the name of Trinity House from the fact
of its sessions taking place in the old Catholic
Convent of the Trinitv. It should more properly
be called Board of Navigation, and whether its
members were named Wardens or Commissioners,
would not save the Country one farthing of ex-
pense. We will nevertheless shew the Gazette that
it is mistaken even in the appellation.

We are ignorant as to the source whence
it has drawn its information; for amongst the
various Imperial Statutes creating or amending the
constitution of the various Corporations named
Trinity House, all of which statutes we have now
before our eyes, not one is as yet abolished or

r !

repealed. The most important of these Corpora-
tiousare those of Dcptfora, Strands at London, of
Newcastle-upon-Tyne and of Kingston upon Hull.
These Corporations are composed of experienced
mariners, generally pilots. The only alteration
in the first of these is an extension of its powers ;
in the second of those, by a very recent Statute, the
Mayor and municipal councillors of Newcastle are
empowerd to name Harbour Masters having
power to regulate by bye-laws the anchorage of
vessels, &c. This Trinity House levies from the
trade much higher taxes than it formerly did. The
Trinity House of Kingston upon Hull has suffered
no restriction in its primitive powers, but for cer-
tain objects only, the Mayor and councillors of Hull,
together with a few ship owners, have been em-
powered to sit at the Board- Six of the nine
members composing the Quebec Trinity Board
are Merchants, the other three are Mariners ; the
trade cannot therefore complain of not being re-
presented therein. But this latter Institution suf-
fers an irreparable loss in the exclusion from its
bosom of Messrs. Stevenson and Lee. Every com-
plaint against the Quebec Trinity House was
hushed whilst the former gentleman sat at its board
and fattened on its revenue ; and the latter fondly
cherished the now vain hope of one day figuring
there.

It is a matter of surprise that no one should have
made ere this the discovery of the excessiveness of
the Trinity House master's salary, which has been so
at the same rate for yearslong past. This officer may
have absented himself at times but has assiduously
fulfilled his duty, and with few exceptions indeed
the paid officers of the Trinity Board are the only
persons who assist regularly at its deliberations.
The Board of Trade never murmurred at the absence
of Captain Boxer during two consecutive years in
his exploration of the Upper-Canada lakes at the
expense of the military government, and yet his
salary and his excessive fees were paid him as
though he were present. The Trinity House

eed
nly
ons.
nee
s in
the
his
as
■tuse

master is entrusted with the examination of all the
accounts of the department, and it is but justice
to him to say that he is to be found whenever
he is wanted, and that no neglect can be traced
to him in the fulfilment of his various duties.

The Gazette is mistaken in its estimate of the
salaries and contingent expenses of the Trinity
House for the year 1849 ; instead of being £3399
lis. they are but £2774 1 5, to which might
perhaps be added £334 for the Interest on loans
expended in the construction of Light houses, and
yet these expenses would only be £3108 1 5. It
must be borne in mind that out of the £2774 1 5
upwards of £700 go to pay pensions of retired
officers, which, by virtue of the new Law, are to
cease at the death of the present incumbents.

Our Contemporary states on the authority of one
of the Trinity House members, who is said to
know some thing of the matter, that a light house
may bo maintained for £217 per year. The infor-
mant of the Gazette is no other than Captain
Boxer, who admitted that the Gazette held this
piece of information from him.

The object of this gentleman in intriguing against
an Institution of which he is a member, is but too
apparent. He never ceases repeating that he
should be deputed the sole directing authority;
that things cannot possibly go on well so long as
the Legislature of the province neglects to invest
him with an exclusive control over the waters of
the Saint-Lawrence. It galls him to the quick to
find that the present law effectually prevents him
from impeding the working of the Trinity Board,
and that every thing is now done there in harmony
and with perfect ease ; he vainly thirsts for a
change which may place him on his former
footing. It may be that, placing implicit faith in
the power of the intrigues of Mr. Stevenson who,
once had sufficient influence with Lord Sydenham
to procure for Captain Boxer, his present position,
by the removal of an officer, who was still efficient,
the gallant captain hopes that by pinning his

fortune to that of Mr. Stevenson, in opposition to
that of his colleagues, he may save himself, when
the inevitable wreck of the Trinity House shall
swallow up the others. Hence it is that the Board
of Trade does not include the Harbour Master in
its universal proscription list, and that it consents
to leave his salary of £500 ; to that, of which more
anon.

But let us proceed to prove that Mr. Boxer
knows not what he says, and that even were he
telling the truth, he would be rendering himself
guilty of a grave dereliction of duty, in defiance of
his sacred and solemn oath.

With reference to Captain Boxer's figures, as
reproduced by the Gazette^ but on the correctness
ofwhich our contemporary has, very properly, cast
a doubt, they are as follows :
Salary of the keeper and various ex-
penses £\60

450 gallons oil @ 3i per gallon 67 10

£217 10
Let us test the exactness of those figures, and in

order to verify them let us take the expenses of the

Pillar Light House, the first to be met with after

leaving Quebec.

Salary of keeper £125

Allowance for Fuel and Water 40

450 gallons oil @ 3[ according to
Captain Boxer's estimate 67 10

Various expenses, according to the
estimate of the Trinity House 17 10

je250
Add to this 1-lOth, of £1573 15s. ex-
pense of the steamer which visited
and supplied the Light Houses in
1849 157 7 6

' *

je407 7 6

Let us now take the expense of a more costly

light, that on the South West Point of Anticosti,

1 1'

^ \

s
c

er
lie
eU
of

as
less

past

oftbe
after

7 6

costly
lnticosti»

being the farthest removed from Quebec.

Salary of keeper JBlOO

Allowance for 2 assistants 50

Do for provisions 50

Various expenses 20

450 gallons oil @ Sf (this light con-
sumes 500 gallons) 67 10

£287 10
Add to this 1-lOth of the expenses of
the steamer because provisions and
oil must needs he conveyed to this
barren Island ; neither is the light
taken care of by angels nor by
Captain Boxer himseliL. £157 7 6

444 17 6
Estimate of Captain Boxer 217 10

Error £227 7 6

Would Captain Boxer be kind enough to
point out in detail what reductions might be made
in the above, so as to reduce the expense of this
light to the figure given by him, and also how it
is that if these reductions could have possibly
been made, he did not propose them to the Trinity
Board, because if they can be effected at all they
are as feasable to Wardens united to the Harbour
Master, as they are to Commissioners united with
the same person. The calculation of Captain
Boxer based on the price of oil are as erroneous as
the rest of his calculations, and he knows but too
well that, however disposed the Trinity Board
may be to purchase oil at tha lowest rate, it
cannot always do so, because market prices are
not over obedient to the will of the Trinity House,
moreover common oil is not suitable for all the
lights ; in some of them, for a well known reason,
whale oil only is burned during the spring and
fall. Let us see what prices the Trinity House
paid for oil in 1849. On reference to the accounts
of that year, it will be found that oil has, at

various periods of that year, cost 2/2, 2/4, 3/, 5/,
8/ 10 J, and 9/2, per gallon.

The puhlic may now see the mover in the line
of conduct adopted by the Board of Trade and
it may further appreciate the reason which
pompted, partly clandestine and partly open, cor-
resi)onding steps on the part of Captain Boxer,
who wishes to obtain, on land, the position
which he held on board, the " Pique, " that of
Supreme Master and Judge without a])peal ; with
the same view it was that when Mr. Stewart
resigned, our gallant Captain addressed to the
Government a lengthy petition whercin he prayed
the appointment of the Trinity House Mastership,
jointly with that of Harbour Muster, concluding
no doubt that he himself was the person best
qualified to fill this important station. The go-
vernment of the day differed in opinion from our
gallant Captain, and judging that this important
situation required an intelligent and learned man,
well versed in the English and French languages,
appointed Mr. Le Mesurier, disregarding the
pretentions and professional qualities, of Mr.
Boxer, whom this preference irritated in the
highest degree. From that moment the latter
gentleman conceived the design of breaking up
the Trinity House and ceased not to repeat to
every willing listener that the business of this de-
partment was extremely ill conducted and that
things would go on much better if the present
]5oard were superseded by Commissioners. The
Board of Trade adopted the rancorous suggestions
of their new friend ; we call him their new friend
because he has often been heard to say that Mer-
chants were stupid men of great pretentions, and
that none others than professional men should
have seats at the Trinity Board.

The object of Capt. Boxer being once known,
may not one naturally ask himself the reason why
Capt. Boxer never breathed a word about economy
from his place at the Trinity Board; why he
never complained of its excessive expenditure in

Lights and in salaries ; why he wished to re»
compense at the expense of the Trinity House
one Smith, a mechanic, already hut too well paid
lor the duties he had to perform ; why he retained
in the service of the Trinity House, Cfapt. IJankier,
with a salary of JGIOO per annum ; why it is that
for him the Trinity House pays JE50 yearly for the
services of a clerk, who performs all the duties
of the Harbour Master, whilst the latter gentleman
divides his time and his attention between the busi-
ness of the City Council, Electric Telegraphs, Rail-
roads and Transports, without forgetting to pocket
one shilling sterling on each certificate of discharge
granted to seamen, and also to torment his brain
with any thing and every thing that does not in the
remotest manner bear upon his already too well
paid duties of Harbour Master ; why it is that
during two years, the period of his absence, in the
exploration of the upper lakes, at the instance
of the military government, he nevertheless con-
tinued to receive his accustomed salary and rather
high per(|uisites ; why is it that he strained every
nerve to induce the Trinity House to throw away
£250 per annum on Capt. Coyle (viz : JS190 for
salarv and about £60 for rations), though Mr.
Smith, the junior Superintendent of Pilots, a man of
experience, being already, by his position, obliged
to visit the several lights and Buoys, had already
offered to command and has commanded the Doris,
and thereby saved the Trinity House these JS250 ;
why it is, in fine, that when, in November last, a
communication addressed by Mr. Merritt to the
Trinity House was taken in consideration by the
Boar^ our gallant Captain should have been of
opinion then that no reductions in the expendi-
ture was practicable for the present ? The answer
was transmitted to Mr. Merritt, accompanied by
a tabular statement of the present expenditure on
Light Houses; did Capt. Boxer then propose
his plan of maintaining a Light House with ^21 7
10/ per year, instead of £400 and of £600 as men-
tioned in the table in question ? To admit that Mr.

Boxer is sincere in the pretentions he now sets
forth, is to stamp the silence of Capt. Boxer, at
the time, as a grave dereliction of his duty.
Captain Boxer's greatest error in our opinion con-
sists in having forced the press to discuss the value
of his suggestions.

The Gazette states that the contingent expenses
and salaries of the Trinity House can, without
douht, be reduced to a much lower figure than they
at present are. This same opinion was expressca
more than once hy us ; more than this it was our
intention to reduced the salary of the present Har-
bour Master's successor, — this met witn opposition
and his salary was fixed at ^£400. It is, therefore, to
the Editor of the Journal^ that the abolition of the
Trinity House pensions is due by the new law
and the dispositions of the law, which empowers
both the Trinity Houce and the Government to
reduce gradually, both in number and amount, the
salaries of its officers and to retrench on the fees
of most of those officers with a view to economy.
It would be needless here to repeat what we have
already stated to prove that very soon indeed, a
reduction of J61200, may be effected on the sa-
laries and pensions. Hereafter should the num-
ber of vessels increase the tonnage dues will di-
minish in proportion.

The Gazette admits that the salary of the Har-
bour Master is too high at ^6500, but it seems to
console itself in anticipation of the reduction to
be effected on that of his successor ! The salary-
will be reduced to at least ^6400 and others will
entirely disappear. In fact, government has
power, by virtue of the new law, to reduce the salary
of almost every officer in the Trinity House, and
this it will no doubt do, so soon as circumstances
will conveniently admit.

The Harbour Master should not have a clerk,
because he needs no . -'sistance to perform his duty,
and because the clerk does precisely that which
the Harbour Master should do himself, leaving the

latter (gentleman at liberty to busy himself with
any thing* and every thing else.

The Gazette complaina of whwi u calls, the high
salaries of the Clerk and of the Treasurer, but it
seems to us that if any one deserves to be paid, it
should bo the person, who, with manifold duties,
fulfils them all, and not the person who, with but
little to do, leaves that little to be performed by
another. It would be a desideratum, indeed, if the
Gazette would make itself acquainted with the
assiduous labour from one of those two officers, —
and with the responsibility attached to the duties
of the other. — By so doing our contemporary would
be enabled to render justice to whom of right. The
Gazette is in error when it affirms that these two
situations were heretofore filled by one and the
same person, because Messrs. Lindsay and Le-
Moine were then joint Registrar and Treasurer,
and moreover the Collector of Customs, as Naval
officer, was entitled to 2^- per cent on all monies
by him collected for the Trinity House ; so that
there were, in reality, three Treasurers at that
time.

For our part, we strongly object to a union, in
the same person, of the duties of Clerk and Trea-
surer ; because no man, however honest he may
be, should be led into temptation and induced to
become a defaulter daily in consequence of not
being over strictly checked. A man through
whose hands, receipts and expenditure alike pass,
without a check on the amount of either, would
require more than an ordinary share of virtue to
resist the dangerous tempter.

The Gazette is astonished that the Trinity
Board should have borrowed money, and conse-
quently paid je334 for interest thereon in 1849,
because, says our contemporary, it had, at the be-
ginning of the year, a surplus revenue of JC29I3
10 9. Nothing is more easy to explain than this.
The Trinity House borrowed money to construct
light houses and if this surplus revenue of
j£2913 10 9, were not employed in paying a poi-

^ii

tion of the loan, it is solely because this sum was
needed to defray the Trinity House expenses da-
ring that portion of the year, in which the trade
contributed nothing to the support of the Insti-
tution.

The Gazette pretends that the Board of Trade,
in its statement to Mr. Merritt, laid the private
charges at their maximum amount, and toat in
many places in our Harbour, wharfage and the
expenses of loading and unloading, do not amount
to £38 10 0. We incline to the contrary opinion,
a:;d think that the Board of Trade did not lay the
private charges at their maximum amount, and that
in many cases they attain a higher figure even than
that of JS50. The only means of obtaining a re-
duction, in this respect, would be to construct
docks in the river St. Charles.

On almost eve^ other point our opinions co-
incide with the Gazette, and our ideas on the
navigation of the St. Lawrence may be found
in an article shortly to appear in the Journal.

um was
ses da-
trade
e Insti-

Trade,
private
toat in
md the
amount
opinion,
lay the
and that
7en than
ig a re-
onstruct

ions co-
on the
e found
ial.

ir;

TABLE A.

Description.

Lights.

ilevolving... .

Where situated.

Above of Quebec.

Fleating

Fixed, (red.).

Fixed

Revolving... .

Fixed

Kevolviiig... .

Fixed

Do (2 lights).

Distance

from
Quebec.

Pillars

Traverse (St. Rochs)-

Red Island

Green Island

Biquet ,

Pointe Desmonts.. . <
Anticosti (S. W. pt.)
Do (E. End.)
Ste. Croix, ) above
Portneuf, \ Quebec

Miles.

54.

106

112

142

221

384

462

Date of Original cost. Annual expeu Number
their | — j — of

const. I Halifax cy. ;Av. of3years. Lamps

1843
1830
1848
1809
1844
1830
1831
1835
1842
1843

£. S, D.

S. D. i

;4042
2925
,6734
,2925
4659
,5299
8454
6283
i 60
I 292

15 10
19 4

13
19
16
3
15

lOi

3:'3
741
462
281
413
303
607
502
27
90

1
8

6
3
3

11
8

11
4

15
16
24
13
21
17
21
17
1
2

Number

of
rcUectors.

15
16
24
13
21
17
21
17
1
2

Annual con-
sumption
of Oil.

Imperial
measure.

400 gallons.

190

600

375

400

450

500

400
60

120

n
a

Period during wh
are lighted

From 15th April to

From openg. t) clos(

From 10th April to
(( <(

(( ((

Fiom 1

« ((

« ((
From openg.

to ]

Remarks. — J. Baukier, Master of the Floating- liight, at ^325, per annum for him and his crew.
Jas. Mitchell, is Gunner at Pifjuet, at a sahiry of ^30 per annum.

LE A.

@5F (0

EJra

Period during which they

are lighted.

Names of
Keepers.

Annual
salary.

Fiom

((
((

<(
((

From opeug. t- close of nav

125
325
100

From 15th April to 10th Dec. Chs. Julyan. . . .

Frorn openg. t) close ofnavig. J. Bankier. ....

From 10th April to 10th Dec.JH. Fraser

R.N. Lindsay..! 100
J. E.Hammond. 1 100

Z. Bedard ;100

E. Tope jlOO

T. Roche 100

J. Thurber...

\r.

F. Rod

ngue.. .

3 p. m.
36

Allowances

over and

above salary.

Number

of
assistants.

je40 for Fuel and Water

Assistants &c 7

je40 for Fuel and Water ;l

£40 for an assistant Fuel :!

je65 for assist. Water, and Gunner. '1 & 1 Gunner.

je20 for Fuel and Water jl Assistant.

100 for Provisions, &c 2 do

£58 6;8 for do.