Note 176 — Chapter XIII

When the war ceased, the Transport Board was abolished, and the mode of conducting this important branch of the public service reverted pretty much to what it had been previously. The Admiralty found ships for the transport of troops at home and to our colonies abroad, but a board at the India Office engaged vessels for all the troops and stores to and from our possessions in the East, while other departments had their own separate shipping offices; all of which, when vessels were in demand, were bidding against each other, and also against another department of the government, the Emigration Office. The rates of freight were, of course, materially enhanced by this unnecessary competition; and there would have been the same sad story to tell as in the case of the Crimea, had we been unfortunately involved in another war. Unable to obtain the necessary reform by any other means, I, on the 5th of January, 1860, brought the existing state of affairs under the notice of the House of Commons (see ‘Hansard,’ vol. clviii. pp. 2051-2061), when a committee was unanimously appointed on my motion, “To inquire into the organisation and management of those branches of the Admiralty, War Office, India Office, and Emigration Board, by which the business of transporting, by means of shipping, troops, convicts, emigrants, materials of war, stores, and any other similar services, is now performed.” After a diligent inquiry which lasted the whole session, the Committee did me the honour to almost as unanimously adopt my report. But some time elapsed before a permanent Transport Board was established, so numerous were the obstacles, or rather prejudices, which had to be overcome. That board is now, or ought to be, responsible for the conveyance of all troops and Government stores from their embarkation until landed at their port of destination.