Laird Brothers to her Majesty’s Treasury.
Sir: We received your telegram late yesterday afternoon, as follows:
“Captain Inglefield will, no doubt, in his dispositions regarding the iron-clad vessels, take every proper precaution for the preservation of the property. The orders have been well considered, and cannot be revoked or altered.”
We take the liberty to draw the attention of her Majesty’s government to the peculiar construction of the hulls and machinery of the vessels built by us [Page 413] and seized by the government, and to express to them our conviction that it is not possible, in their present incomplete state, for any naval officer, by any dispositions he can make, to protect the vessels from damage even in a dock, and much less in the open roadstead of the Mersey, where, in our opinion, they cannot even be moored with safety in this inclement season of the year.
We are, sir, your obedient servants,
The Secretary to the Treasury.