PURCHASE OF ENGLISH TRANSPORTS BY THE FRENCH.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXIII, Issue 7484, 25 February 1885, Page 6

PURCHASE OF ENGLISH TRANSPORTS BY THE FRENCH.

(Pall Mall Gazette.) The statement that the French Government is in negotiation for the purchase of seven vessels in England, which was contradicted in Paris last week, is perfectly accurate. The vessels are of the Castle (Currie) and Monarch lines, and are now lying in the docks in the Thames. They were used by the English Government for the conveyance of troops during the Egyptian and Cape campaigns, and are well adapted for that purpose. As soon as the sale is completed they are to be re-named, and the new names of three of them are given as Turgot, Dupleix, and Lally Tollendal — names suggestive of the struggle for Colonial supremacy with England in the East in the last century. In order to evade the Foreign Enlistment Act, the purchase of these vessels has been conducted by an agent in London acting on the part of the Minister of Marine. The affair has been conducted with great secrecy and considerable adroitness, the main object being that the French Government should not be compromised, as would have been the case if the French Embassy had openly appeared in the transaction. The news that French vessels are constantly refitting and provisioning in Hongkong, four of them bting always in the harbour, and that but for the assistance rendered tothe French by the Hong-kong authorities the war could not be carried on against China, which was telegraphed to the Times on Dec. 24, has long been known in tion among, the Chinese, and if now these seven vessels.should be allowed to escape, the English;Government will, it is believed, incur a very serious responsibility, not only with regard to the Chinese Government, but also to our merchants who have such vast commercial interests in the East.

The indecision of the. British Government in enforcing the, i provisions of the Foreign Enlistment has already been proclaimed in the •.former place, is attributed in well infornied quarters to the weakness of our squadron in the China seas. An which strongly reveals our weakness there has hitherto been kept secret, and has only become known in London quite recently. After the bombardment of Foochow, the pirates in the Min river, taking advantage of tho disorder, attacked the hulk which forms the terminus of the Eastern Telegraph Company's cable at Sharp's Peak near the mouth of the river. The employees were compelled to fly for their lives, leaving the hulk and instruments in the hands of the pirates. An application to Admiral Dowell for a gunboat to protect the station of this import-ant English Company was met by the reply that there was not one to spare; but the English Admiral applied to Admiral Courbet to give the protection which he, could not afford himself. A French gunboat was accordingly told off for the duty.