any new law, and still more so in the subsequent process of acting upon it. Nine departments, he explained, were concerned in the Merchant Sea Service Laws; and there was no central board to point out to each department how each could best act for the success of the whole; each department being left to look merely to those interests committed to its charge, and to its own convenience. The Board of Trade was indicated as the department to which the community would naturally look with regard to everything relating to commerce, whether at sea or on shore.
Board of Trade Commission, May 17, 1847.
Its results.
Previously to the issue of Mr. Murray's 'Memorandum,'
that Board had, on the 17th May, 1847,[1]
announced the intention of Government to issue a
commission without delay to examine into certain
matters relating to the commercial marine. This
inquiry confirmed in all material respects the information
previously received by Mr. Murray. Indeed,
three only out of seventy-five reports from
consuls stated that the condition of British shipping
had improved rather than declined; and, in these
cases, it was shown that, from the nature of the
trade in which the vessels were engaged—the fruit
trade of Greece, and from the perishable character
of their cargoes—the greatest care had to be taken
in selecting the best ships.
There can be no doubt that, as early as 1843, when Mr. Murray issued his circular letter to the consuls, and more especially in 1847, when Lord Palmerston ordered further inquiry to be made by
- ↑ See Sir John Shaw Lefevre's letter, page 144, part ii., Parl. Papers relating to Mercantile Marine.
