Copy of Letter Addressed to a Member of the Italian Parliament upon the Importance of the Eastern Mails, now despatched vi Marseilles and vi Southampton, being transmitted vi Brindisi.

London,

5th June, 1867.

In consequence of the promise I made when in Florence on the 20th and 21st ultimo, that I should write to you on the subject of postal communication between Great Britain, the East Indies, China, Japan, and Australia, I have the honour to address this letter to you.

I propose to commence it with a short sketch of the history of this communication, which, from being of comparatively trifling importance in 1830, has become, at the present time, one of immense magnitude, as well as of equally great commercial, social, and political importance.

Previous to 1830, the mail communications of Great Britain with the East were maintained solely by the route round the Cape of Good Hope. Letters then were never less than 90 to 120 days on the passage between England and Calcutta, and from 20 to 30 days more between England and China.

In 1830, the then great political and commercial company of England, called the East India Company, first placed a postal steamer in the Indian Seas; but it was not until 1834 that a regular monthly service was organised between Suez and Bombay.

In 1835, steam communication was organised, although in an imperfect and unsatisfactory manner, between England and Alexandria. By degrees this service became improved.

In 1839 the British Government, by convention with that of France, opened the Marseilles route for the conveyance of a portion of the Indian Mail; as, at that period, the railway system was not in operation in France, it required 108 hours to convey the correspondence despatched by this route, between Calais and Marseilles. It may here be mentioned that in 1845 great efforts were made by Lieutenant Waghorn of the British Navy, a man eminently distinguished in connection with the first attempt to establish postal communication between Great Britain and the East Indies, vi the Isthmus of Suez, to make Trieste the port for the embarkation of the mails. These efforts were, however, not successful, and the attention of Great Britain became thenceforward limited to the routes, vi Marseilles for the more rapid communication, and vi Southampton for the heavier and larger portion of the Indian mails.

Reverting to the year 1840, the British Government entered, at that period into a contract with the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company for a service once a month, from Southampton to Alexandria, and from Suez to Calcutta and China; and two services were organised between Marseilles and Alexandria, one in connection at Suez, with the service by the steamers for Calcutta and China, and the other in connection with a service between Suez and Bombay, which was performed by the postal steamers of the East India Company.

In 1849 the services between Southampton and Alexandria became bi-monthly instead of monthly as before.

In 1854 the postal steamers of the East India Company were withdrawn, and the whole of the services in the Indian Seas were transferred to the Peninsular and Oriental Company.

In 1858 the postal service with Australia, vi the Isthmus of Suez, was first commenced. It is a monthly service, but by recent intelligence received from Australia, there is probability of its becoming bi-monthly at an early date. I shall give particulars of the immense magnitude of this mail hereafter.

In 1857, in consequence of the very great increase of correspondence passing between Great Britain and the East, it was found necessary to augment the postal services to four a month in each direction vi Marseilles, and to four in each direction vi Southampton.

The whole of the sea service of the Indian, China, Japan, and Australian postal communications of Great Britain, is performed by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. This company is the largest in the world. It has a fleet of fifty-three steamers, with an aggregate tonnage of 86,411 tons, and 19,230 horses power. Its largest ship is of 2,800 tons. Its next largest is 2,600 tons, five are between 2,000 and 2,500 tons, and eighteen are between 1,500 and 2,000 tons each. Its routes extend from Southampton and from Marseilles to Alexandria, from Suez to Bombay, from Suez to Point de Galle and Calcutta, from Bombay to Calcutta, from Point de Galle to Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Yokohama (Japan), and from Point de Galle to Melbourne and Sydney. The total number of knots (sea miles) performed by the postal vessels of the company in 1866 was 1,194,952, equal to 2,290,320 kilometres.

By successive openings of the railways, the length of which between Calais and Marseilles is 1,190 kilometres, the time occupied in the transit of the Eastern mails through France has been diminished from 108 hours to 28 hours.

I have already stated the total contract service of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Packet Company, 2,290,320 kilometres.

The annual land service of the Eastern mail is as follows; first, as regards Marseilles:—

It should be explained that the heavy mails that are conveyed by the steamers of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, between Southampton and Alexandria, are taken across the Isthmus of Suez by separate trains from those which convey the light mails vi Marseilles; hence, there are ninety-six trips of Eastern mails per annum across the Isthmus for the Marseilles mails, and ninety-six for those vi Southampton. Thus the total annual length of this great postal service is:—

The weight and dimensions of the Eastern mails have increased very greatly during recent years. This is owing partly to the immense expansion of the trade of England in the Indian, Chinese, and Australian oceans, and partly to the British army in India, consisting of at least three times as many Europeans as previous to the Indian mutiny of 1857. England has also a larger fleet in the Indian and Chinese Waters than formerly. In 1865, the trading interests of England, in the Eastern seas, was as follows, in pounds sterling:—

The value of all the imports into the United Kingdom for the year 1865, was £271,131,967; so that the value of the imports of the countries above enumerated is very nearly one-fourth of the total value of English imports. British exports, consisting of materials and of articles manufactured in Great Britain in 1865, were £165,862,402, of which nearly one-fourth was exported to the above-enumerated countries. The total tonnage of the vessels cleared inwards in British ports during 1865, was 14,317,866 tons. The total outward tonnage was 14,576,206 tons. The inward tonnage, to the countries enumerated above, was therefore a tenth of the total inward tonnage of the kingdom; and the outward tonnage was an eighth of the total outward tonnage.

In proof of the immense and rapid extension of England’s trade with the East, it may be stated that the figures given above show amounts three times as great as they were five years, and nearly twenty times as great as they were fifty years ago.

The Eastern mails, sent vi Marseilles, are packed in wrought-iron boxes. They weigh about thirteen pounds, and their contents usually weigh about thirty-seven pounds. A box, fully packed, contains about 220 newspapers; the average weight of each of which is 3¼ English ounces. If a box be filled with letters, the number of them is about 1,800. The average weight of each letters is a little more than a quarter of an English ounce, or about 7½ French grammes.

The mails sent vi Southampton are packed in wooden boxes of larger dimensions than those sent vi Marseilles. As the letter postal rate is really double vi Marseilles what it is vi Southampton, and as the great proportion of the official letters passing between the Indian office in London and the three presidencies in India, as well as the official correspondence with the army and navy, is conveyed vi Southampton, the number of letters carried in a box is about the same as in a box vi Marseilles, notwithstanding the difference of dimensions. The number of newspapers sent in a box vi Southampton is about a third more than in a box sent vi Marseilles.

In 1850, when there were only two despatches of mails from England to the East per month, vi Marseilles, and one per month vi Southampton, the average number of boxes per despatch was 57 vi Marseilles and 152 vi Southampton.

In 1858, as I have already stated, mails commenced to be despatched between England and Australia by the Overland Route—that is both vi Southampton and vi Marseilles. The service is once a month, and the Australian mail forms a part of the mails despatched from Southampton on the 20th of each month, and from Marseilles on the 26th of each month.

The dates for the three other despatches of each month are vi Southampton the 4th, the 12th, the 27th; vi Marseilles the 3rd, the 10th, and the 17th.

I mentioned in the last paragraph but two the number of boxes of mails despatched per month in 1850.

In 1861 the average number of boxes despatched vi Marseilles, on the three occasions in each month when the Australian are not forwarded, was 89; but on the 26th of each month, when the Australian mail is included, the number of boxes despatched was 232.

The weight of the mails from the East towards England is never so great as from England towards the East; and this is caused from the fact that for every fifty newspapers that are sent from England to the East there is not more than one sent from the East to England; and the average weight of the latter is little more than one half the average weight of the former. For this reason the number of boxes received on each occasion in each month of 1861, when the Australian mail was not received, was twenty-two; but when the Australian mail was received the number was fifty-three.

I regret that I am not able to give the same information for 1861 as regards the Southampton route; but an Appendix to the Report of a Committee of the House of Commons which sat in 1866 upon the postal and telegraph communications of England with the East, enables me to state them with accuracy for the years 1864 and 1865.

In 1850 the total number of boxes despatched by that route was 1824, or an average of 152 each departure—in other words, each month; for at that time there was only one despatch a month vi Southampton.

In 1864 the total number of boxes despatched during the year had risen to 16,559, an average of 345 per despatch. The actual weight of these 16,559 boxes was 690 tons, an average of nearly 14½ tons per despatch. If we compute these mails according to the rules by which articles are received on board ships—that is by measurement or bulk—the tonnage was 1,540 tons, or an average per voyage of 32 tons.

The greatest mail carried by any one steamer was by the departure from Southampton of the 20th of April, 1864. There were 1,117 boxes; they weighed 46 tons actual weight, but by measurement they were 99 tons.

In 1865 the total number of boxes despatched was 17,839, being 1,280 more than in 1864. The average per despatch was 372. The actual weight of these 17,839 boxes was 747 tons, an average of a little more than 15½ tons per despatch. Their tonnage by measurement or bulk was 1,660 tons, or an average per voyage of 35 tons. The greatest mail carried by any one steamer was by the departure from Southampton of the 20th of November. There were 1,207 boxes; they weighed 49¾ tons actual weight; but by measurement, 106½ tons. The mail despatched on the 20th of each month is, of course, invariably the heaviest, containing as it does the Australian mail, which mail usually consists of about six times as many boxes as are despatched to Egypt, India, China, and Japan combined. The mail despatched on the 27th of each month is invariably the lightest; the mail despatched on the 12th is the second lightest; next comes in weight the mail despatched on the 4th.

I was favoured last month with official returns, which give the number of boxes despatched outwards, both vi Marseilles and vi Southampton, during the months of January, February and March of this present year, and the same information as regards mails received inwards. As these returns give the latest information respecting the mails conveyed by both routes, I send you the following very full compilation of them.

Number of boxes of Eastern mails despatched from and received at London during the first three months of 1867:-

Vi SOUTHAMPTON.

Vi MARSEILLES.

The returns, vi Marseilles, do not separate the numbers of boxes to and from Australia, from those for the Mediterranean, India, and China, but the great difference between the number of boxes despatched outwards on the 26th of each month, and the number received inwards on the 10th of each month, will show approximately what is the number of boxes attributable to Australia. Outwards, it would be about 240; inwards, about 40.

But this is certain, that during the three first months of 1867 no less than 6,288 boxes (or at the rate of 25,152 boxes per annum) were despatched outwards, and 1,675 boxes (or at the rate of 8,980 per annum) were received inwards. Total outwards and inwards for three months, 8,533, or at the rate of 34,132 boxes per annum. Taking each box at the weight of 30 kilogrammes (which is below their weight taken all round) it follows that the gross weight of the Eastern mails per annum is 1,024,000 kilogrammes, or about 1,100 tons. By ship-board measurement it would be about 2,300,000 kilogrammes, or 2,550 tons.

There are two important subjects which it appears to me should at once be impressed upon the minds of the members of the Italian Government. The first is, the probable very early completion of the Mont Cenis Railway on Mr. Fell’s system, and the second, the notice given at the end of last year by the British Government to the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, to terminate its existing Mediterranean contracts on the 31st of January, 1868, and the advertisement which it has since issued, inviting parties to tender for these services, dating from the 1st day of the ensuing month—that is from the first of February, 1868. This advertisement contains, for the first time, an intimation that the British Post Office is desirous of establishing an ocean contract service between Brindisi and Alexandria, in addition to its existing services between Southampton and Alexandria, and between Marseilles and Alexandria.

As regards the Mont Cenis Railway, the testimony of the various Imperial and Royal Commissioners who were present at the trials on the experimental line above Lanslebourg, made in 1865, is so uniformly in favour of the system, that we have simply to look forward to its opening as the commencement of a revolution, not only as regards railway construction in mountainous districts, but also as leading to the most important results, in connection with the transport of the Anglo-Eastern mails.

The two kingdoms most deeply interested in the success of the system are, undoubtedly, England and Italy, the former, because, by means of the railway the transport of the fast mails can, according to the testimony of Captain Tyler, of Her Britannic Majesty’s Royal Engineers, and the Commissioners of the British Government, at the trials on the Mont Cenis, be effected between London and Alexandria, in thirty-nine hours less time than vi Marseilles. Italy becomes, by means of this railway, a route hitherto undeveloped, and it can be brought into active operation not only for mail transport, but also for that of passengers; and no doubt, eventually, for that of light goods, and of specie also.

The advertisement of the British Government leads to the inference that it desires the conveyance of the fast mails,—that is the mails that now take the route vi Marseilles—by way of Brindisi, as soon as all the arrangements for their transit are completed. It is to be feared, however, that the French Post Office, instigated no doubt by the Paris, Lyons and Mediterranean Railway Company, whose interests are concentrated at Marseilles, and who has no love whatever for the Mont Cenis Railway, will offer all the opposition in its power to the divergence from Marseilles to Brindisi taking place. In the first instance the department gave assurances that it would not only not put obstacles in the way of the British Government making the transfer, but would co-operate with it and assist it whenever required to do so. But in December last, the Marquis de Moustier, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, addressed to Earl Cowley, the British Ambassador at Paris, a despatch which contained a memorandum from the French Post Office, the object of which was to show that the Brindisi route would only save ten hours over that vi Marseilles, for mails from England, and would not effect any saving for mails coming from Egypt towards England. The memorandum contains several errors of fact, the most conspicuous of which is that the calculations are the same as were brought forward by the department when the Ferrovia Meridionale was only opened as far as Ancona, whereas it is now extended to Brindisi, 559 kilometres farther southwards, and therefore that much the nearer to Alexandria.

I have reason also to know that the French Government expressed, in December last, to the British Government, its willingness to reduce its present transit rate for British correspondence to and from India, China, Australia, &c., one-half, provided the fast mails continued to be conveyed vi Marseilles, and that they be not deviated to Brindisi.

For these reasons I am sure that the Italian Government will see the necessity and importance of vigorous action; and vigour is all the more necessary, as the officers of the British Post Office have very frequently made the avowal that their leading principle in all their postal arrangements is to make each self supporting. Therefore, unless under compulsion to the contrary, they would probably accept such a proposal,—at all events I am convinced that they would, if they could. At the present time the British Government sustains a loss of about 1,000,000 francs (£40,000), a-year by its Anglo-Eastern mail services.

So far as regards the substitution of Brindisi for Marseilles in the conveyance of what are known in this country as “The Fast Eastern Mails.”

I now desire to approach a subject which I consider to be of at least equal interest and importance, both to Italy and to England, and I shall be much gratified if the Italian Government consider the suggestion I have to offer (which I may state is an original idea of my own), in the same light as I do. In order that I may make myself clearly understood, it will be necessary to go into rather lengthy details.

England has two rates of postage for the letter correspondence. Newspapers and printed matter, which are conveyed by her Anglo-Eastern Mails, by the Marseilles route, the letter postage rate for half ounce, or fifteen grammes, is 100 centimes (tenpence); newspapers thirty centimes (threepence) each. Book post sixty centimes (sixpence), per four ounces, or 120 grammes. By the mails which are conveyed vi Southampton, the letter rate per half-ounce, or fifteen grammes, is sixty centimes (sixpence); newspapers twenty centimes (twopence) each. Book post forty centimes (fourpence) per four ounces or 120 grammes. It follows therefore that a great number of newspapers and all heavy letters are forwarded vi Southampton.

At the commencement of the Overland Indian Mail Service, in consequence of the absence of railways in France, there was scarcely any difference between the time required to convey correspondence vi Southampton and vi Marseilles. But by degrees, as the railway system between Calais and Marseilles came into operation the time by that route diminished, and what, in 1840, was a journey of 120 hours, or five days, between London and Marseilles, has in recent years, for the Eastern mail service, been reduced to thirty-four hours.

The contract speed of the steam vessels that sail between Southampton and Alexandria is ten knots an hour, exclusive of the stoppages allowed by the British Post Office, at Malta and Gibraltar. The time, therefore, occupied in the passage between Southampton and Alexandria is fourteen days, and as the vessels are timed to arrive at the latter port, at least one day in advance of the steamer vi Marseilles, the journey may be said to require fifteen days. As the mails conveyed by the steamers vi Marseilles only requires eight days, it follows, in order that the mails vi Southampton and vi Marseilles be carried forward by the same steamer from Suez, that there shall be an interval of from 6½ to 7½ days between the time of posting a letter for the same destination in the east. Thus precisely the same occurs in the reverse direction, that is to say, if the writer of a letter in London wishes to forward it, on account of its comparatively cheap rate of postage, vi Southampton so that it shall arrive in, say, Bombay, at the same time as a letter despatched vi Marseilles on the evening of the 10th of the month, he must take care that it is posted in time for despatch by the morning mail of the 3rd; or if the writer of a letter in Bombay forward it for delivery in England vi Southampton, he must be content that his correspondent receive it seven days later than if he sent it vi Marseilles; as the usual time for a letter to be conveyed between London and Bombay vi Marseilles, is twenty-one days, the letter if sent by the other route, is practically one-third longer on its journey. The comparative penalty in time is not so great for Calcutta and other places more distant than Bombay, but the absolute penalty is the same in all cases, a delay of six days and a half as a minimum, seven days and a half as a maximum.

When the Brindisi route is available for the mails now taken vi Marseilles, the interval, in consequence of the saving of thirty-nine hours, between the despatch of the mails, vi Brindisi and vi Southampton, must never be less than eight days as a minimum, or more than nine days as a maximum. The consequence is, in my opinion, that arrangements must be made for conveying, by the Brindisi route, the great portion of the “Heavy,” or “Southampton Mails,” as well as the conveyance of the “Fast,” or the “Marseilles Mails.”

It can, however, only be accomplished by the countries interested consenting to take a transit rate, very different from that which is the ordinary transit rate for mail correspondence.

As long as the Mont Cenis Railway is the only railway open towards the western extremity of the Alps, France may refuse to agree to such an arrangement. There would then be no alternative but to continue the heavy mail service vi Southampton, until the completion of the Simplon Railway would make both England and Italy independent of France. The reason is, that there would then be two routes between England and Italy, vi the Simplon; one, undoubtedly the shorter, through Paris, Dijon, Pontarlier, and Lausanne, the other through Ostend, Belgium, Rhenish Germany, and Switzerland.

The distance from London to Brindisi, vi Paris, Dijon, &c., would be 2,395 kilometers; vi Ostend, Belgium, and Rhenish Germany, 2,758 kilometers. At the present time the fast mails are conveyed between London and Alexandria, vi Marseilles, in 193 hours, or eight days one hour.

According to the calculations of Captain Tyler, the fast mails can be conveyed from London to Brindisi, vi Mont Cenis, in sixty-nine hours. That is to say, a letter posted in London on the evening of the 11th of a month would arrive in Brindisi at 5·30 p.m. on the evening of the 14th; allowing two hours for placing the mails on board the steamer, she would start at 7·30 p.m., and at the existing contract rate of ten knots an hour, she would reach Alexandria in eighty-three hours; that is at 6·30 a.m. on the 18th. If the Simplon line were opened, the mails would be conveyed in, at least, three hours less time; making the arrival at Brindisi 3·30 a.m. Thus, the total distance would be accomplished in 151 hours, or six days seven hours; showing a saving over the Marseilles route of forty-two hours.

If the French Government would enter into an agreement for carrying the Heavy Mails, through French territory by ordinary trains, they could be conveyed between London and Alexandria in seven days nineteen hours; or six hours less time than at present, vi Marseilles: in other words, these mails need not be despatched from London until thirty-six hours before the departure of the fast mails.

But if the adoption of the route, vi Ostend, Belgium, and Rhenish Germany, be unavoidable, it will then be necessary to despatch the heavy mails twenty-four hours earlier than if they were transmitted vi France. Still this despatch will only be two days and a half earlier than the despatch of the fast mails, instead of being eight or nine days, which would be the case if the heavy mails still continued to be despatched vi Southampton.

The progress of the heavy mails by ordinary trains vi Ostend, &c., would be as follows:—Despatched from London on the morning of the 9th of a month, they would reach Basle on the evening of the 10th. At present there is no night mail trains on the Swiss railways, but they will be established before the opening of the Simplon Railway. They would thus reach Lausanne very early on the morning of the 11th. The distance from Lausanne to Milan, is 351 kilometres, of which, 77 would constitute the passage across the mountain; allowing five hours for it, and nine for the remaining 234, the train would arrive at Milan two hours before departure of the 9·10 p.m. train southwards; leaving Bologna at 3·40 on the morning of the 12th, the mails would, at the latest, arrive at Brindisi at noon on the 13th. Thus, the whole journey from London to Brindisi would be performed in 101 hours, or four days five hours, and the heavy mails would be there 29 hours in advance of the light mails despatched on the evening of the 11th.

The following table will show at one view the distances (given in kilometres) and the times occupied, or to be occupied in the several routes between London and Alexandria.

It is a well established maxim with all Post Office authorities to prefer land to water service for conveyance of mails; but especially so, when the land service can be effected by railway. There are two reasons for this preference; the first is, the greater certainty of land over water conveyance; and the second is that mails carried by railways, are conveyed at a rate of speed never less than double, and frequently it is three times greater than that of even the quickest water conveyance.

Viewed in that light, it will be seen by the above table what advantages the Brindisi route to Alexandria affords over all others. The direct route is not only 152 kilometers shorter than that vi Marseilles; but, whereas the sea voyage of the latter route is 2,835 kilometers, that vi Brindisi is only 1,629, showing a difference in favour of Brindisi, of 1,206 kilometers; again, the Marseilles route, has only an advantage of 211 kilometers in point of length over that vi Belgium; but the sea passage is still in favour of the latter by 1,206 kilometers. If the routes vi Southampton and Brindisi be compared, the difference exhibited will be still more striking, and the effect is, that a journey which can be accomplished in six days seven hours, vi Brindisi takes nearly twice and a half as long by the other route.

I therefore consider that great efforts should be made both by Italy and by England, to accomplish the conveyance of the heavy Eastern Mails vi Brindisi. Even if Italy made apparent sacrifices—that is, if she carried those mails along her railways at the rate charged for merchandise, it would be worth her while to do so. She would thereby not only secure a passenger traffic such as she does not possess at present, nor can she ever possess, unless with such apparent sacrifices, but she will thereby make Brindisi the Great European Terminal Port for all Eastern Postal and Passenger Traffic.

Let but the Government reflect upon the growth and development of Marseilles in the last twenty years. They are due solely to its being the port from which steamers depart, and at which steamers arrive daily from all parts of the Mediterranean. A gigantic commerce centres there from this cause only. Brindisi has, or at all events may have, the same career before it; and it is my firm conviction that, with well-organised arrangements between London and Brindisi, by which passengers would be attracted to the route, we should see a magnificent steamer starting daily for Alexandria, and one arriving from there also daily. Surely this is an anticipation by no means hazardous to make, when we remember that at the present time there are no less than eighteen first-class communications a month from Europe to Alexandria, and the same number from Alexandria to Europe. They are as follows:—from Southampton four; from Marseilles six; of which four are by the steamers of the English Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, and two by those of the Messageries ImpÉriales; four from Trieste, by the Austrian Lloyd’s Company, subsidised by the Austrian Government, and four from Brindisi, subsidised by the Government of Italy. In addition, there are two second-class steam communications a month from Liverpool to Alexandria, by the Bengal Steam Packet Company, and one from Marseilles, which belongs to the Messageries Imperiales.

I regret to observe that in the advertisements for New Mediterranean Contracts, issued by the British Government, the speed proposed is only ten knots an hour. This was a suitable speed twenty years ago, but does not correspond with modern requirements. No doubt this speed will be exceeded before long, and there is no reason why we should not have, on the Mediterranean, a rate of speed equal to what the steamers of the Atlantic, built in the last five or six years, have accomplished. They frequently run during a considerable portion of the entire voyage from New York to Liverpool at a rate of fifteen knots an hour, but even if there were a speed between Brindisi and Alexandria of twelve knots an hour, the passage of eighty-three hours would be converted into one of seventy-one hours—thus diminishing the time between London and Alexandria to 139 hours, or five days, nineteen hours—at all events, this is certain, that it will be much easier to apply increased speed to vessels which have before them only voyages of the distance between Brindisi and Alexandria, than to those which have to run from Marseilles to Alexandria; and the argument is still stronger when we refer to the vessels between Southampton and Alexandria.

Brindisi will, in my opinion, also become, on the completion of the Alpine Railways, the port for the postal and passenger communication of England and Western Europe, with Greece, the Ionian Islands, Turkey, and the Black Sea. The trade of England with those parts of the world has increased greatly in recent years.

This letter has extended to much beyond what I had originally proposed; but I feel that I shall be pardoned its length, in consequence of the great interest I have for several years taken in the subject, and of my desire to impart to you all the information I possess relating to it.

Probably, the points I have opened for consideration may lead to the desire for further particulars. If so, I shall only say that I am completely at your service for this purpose.

(Signed)————CUSACK P. RONEY.