The Sun. — London, England, 1859-02-24 00:00:00

MANNING THE NAVY. The following is the Report of the Royal Com missioners appointed to inquire into the best means of manning the Navy; just presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of her Majesty : TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. We, your Majesty's Commissioners, appointed " to inquire into the best means of manning the navy, and in what manner, and under what arrange ments, seamen may be readily obtained for such purpose, either during peace or in case of sudden emergency of war," and to offer such suggestions as may occur to us " for the amendment of the system at present in existence, and the means by which, under the prerogative of the Crown, the fleet was heretofore manned in time of war ;" and especially to report to your Majesty our " o pi n i o n as to the way in which the valuable services of the seamen of the mercantile marine and the seafaring population of the United Kingdom may be rendered more readily and willingly available, when required for your Majesty's naval service," do most humbly report to your Majesty as follows :- 1. We have, in obedience to your Majesty's com mands carefullyperused the report of the committee of naval officers appointed in the year 1852 to in quire into various subjects relating to the manning of the navy, together with the evidence taken before them, as also your Majesty's order in Council, dated the Ist of April, 1853, by which the recommenda tions of that committee were, as far as it was then deemed necessary, carried into effect ; and we have called for such papers and returns, and have ex amined such witnesses, as appeared to us to be likely to afford the best information on the matters referred to us. 2. The points to which our atttention has been directed are :-1. The mode in which y'our Ma jesty's ships are manned in time of peace, the con dition of the seamen, and whether any alterations could be introduced by which the service might be rendered more popular; 2. The mode in which the fleet has heretofore been manned in time of war ; the means which exist for that purpose ; the cha racter and extent of the reserves on which reliance can be placed ; what measures it is now desirable to adopt ; and the means by which the services of the merchant seamen and the seafarin g population of the United Kingdom could be rendered more readily available. MODE OF MANNING THE NAVY IN TIME OF PEACE. 3. Prior to the year 1853 the practice during peace • was to enter volunteers for particular ships, nominally for five years, but practically for the period during which the ship remained in commis sion, averaging from three to four years. This s y s t e m was attended with great inconvenience to the public service, and even to the seamen them selves. Men who had been trained at great trouble and expense, and had been brought to a state of the highest efficiency, were suddenly dismissed, and, being unable to obtain readmission to the ser vice, often sought employment under a foreign flag, and thus, when required for your Majesty's ships, were not to be procured. This led not only to great delay in conducting th e or di nar y d u ti es o f the service, but was the source of serious embar rassment, when political considerations rendered necessary the speedy equipment of a fleet. _ CONTINUOUS SERVICE SYSTEM. 4. With the view of ascertaining whether other arrangements might not be adopted with advan tage to the service, and at the same time be the means of improving the condition of the petty officers and seamen of the fleet, a committee of naval officers was appointed in the year 1852 by the Duke of Northumberland, the then First Lord of the Ad miralty, to consider " the question in all its bear ings ;" and, in pursuance of the recommendations of that committee, the continuous service system, by which seamen were induced for certain advan tages to engage themselves to serve con ti nuously for a period of ten years, was introduced into your Majesty's navy. 5. That system has now been in partial opera tion between five and six years, and, although it has not been carried out to thd full extent contem plated by the committee, it has already been at tended with very beneficial results, and has secured to the country a body of well-trained and efficient seamen, whose attachment to the service is the best security for the faithful performance of their duties. 6. We have the strongest evidence before us that under this system the ordinary peace establishment of the navy can be maintained by voluntary recruit ment at'whatever constant force your Majesty and Parliament may determine ; and if the recommen- ' dationi of the committee, to which we are about to advert, were carried into effect, we think that the country would reap the full benefit of the system, and that the peace establishment of the navy would be,placed upon a satisfactory footing. BOYS. 7. The committee of 1852, in their report, ob served that it was chiefly to the boys that they must look for the gradual organisation of a perma nent navy. They stated that by official returns it appeared that, during the preceding 12 years, up wards of 2,000 boys had upon an average been annually entered, " a number which would go far, on the usual peace establishment of the navy for that period, to replace the vacancies caused by deaths, invalidings, pensions, casual discharges, &c." And they add, that experience had taught them, that "men, who have been received into the navy as boys, become, from early habits and asso ciations, more attached and adhere more closely to the service, than those entered at a more advanced age, and that they eventually constitute, from their superior education and training, the most valuable part of the crews of her Majesty's ships." In this opinion we concur. 8. At the present time, however, only about 500 of those who annually enter the navy have the ad vantage of passing through the training vessels, and so sensible are we of the advantages of early train ing that we recommend that a large ship, eimitnr to the Britannia, at Portsmouth, and capable of affording accommodation to 500 boys, should be placed at Plymouth; and that four additional training vessels should be provided, which would enable the whole of the boys required for the navy to receive the same instruction. This would entail an expense of about .£15,918 per annum. RESERVE IN THE HOME PORTS. 9. Another recommendation of the committee of 1852, which has not been hitherto carried into effect is the maintaining an adequate reserve of seamen in the home ports. They observed that from the information and evidence that had been laid before them " during the progress of the inquiry, they ,had been led to the conclusion that it was desirable to keep a larger force at home than had been cus tomary of late years," and they recommended, " that your Majesty's navy should be maintained at such a numerical force in commission as, inde pendently of the Channel squadron, will admit 10,000 seamen and boys (exclusive of officers) being retained in England for the protection of the ports and the coasts of the United Kingdom." 10. The evid ence b e f ore us shows t h a t , w h en a ship of war is commissioned, the most costly part of her complement, namely, the o ffi cers, and perhaps the greater part of h er crew, immediately become a charge upon the State, and continue s o fo r several weeks, and even months, during whi c h s h e i s una ble to put to sea for wa n t o f th e smaller p art of her crew; while the whol e expense o f the ship which she was intended to relieve is going on. 11. We are, therefore, of maintainedopinion that a reserve of seamen should always bethe home ports, ready to complete the crew s o f . ship c ommission, for the relief of foreign stations,s put and in the best and most prompt of all reserves in the event as of a sudden armament. The number to be thus re tained n the home ports should bear arelliroenseto t the number in commission ; and, with our peace establishments, we think that it should not be less than 4,000, besides those retained in the harbour guard ships. Such an arrangement also would afford a ready means of giving a systematic train ing in gunnery to all men in your Majesty's na va l service. We estimate the additional expense of this reserve, after allowing for the economy consequent on the rapidity of the reliefs, at the sum of L 132,000. SEAMEN-GUNNER S. 12. And here we beg to call your Majesty's at tention to the extreme importance of encouraging s eamen to qualify themselves as seamen gunners. The committee of 1852 recommended that the num ber under training in the Excellent and her tenders should be increased ; they stated that they could not overrate the " advantages which the naval service had derived from the systematic instruction and training, both of officers and men, in gunnery and the use of arms, as established on board that ship." 13. In this opinion we concur ; we believe that seamen, well-trained in gunnery, are becoming daily more and more essential, and in order to induce seamen more readily to enter the gunnery ships Ex- ' cellent and Cambridge, and to qualify themselves for the highly important situations of seamen gun ners, we recommend that the pay of each class of seamen gunners be increased to the extent of id. a day. With a view also retaining them when once quali of fied, we recomm en d that a period of five years' service as seamen-gunners should count as six years towards a long service p ens ion, and that the to pension should he payable th em only in the United Kingdom and the Chann e l Island s . Th ese me asures appear nece ssary to be rendered this "view of the relative position o f class as com pared with the Coastguard and otherte 4,000 In-- branches of en th e service. We think, also , that of h retained in the home p orts 1,000 should always seamen - gu nners. The • extra charge on this be head would be about £6,239 per annum. 14. These measures are, in oar opinion, all that are needed under the foregoing heads to place the peace -establishment of the navy on a firm and satisfactory basis, and to secure the complete and efficient working of the system. Great care should, however, be taken in selecting the men. ooking to the efficiency of the reserves, which we hope to form out of those who have entered foi 10 years' continuous service, we think that it desirable that they should not be above the age of 25 at the time of their admission, and above ail that they should be strong and healthy. CONDITION OF THE SEAMEN IN THE ROYAL NAVY. 15. Though there is no difficulty under the con tinuous service system in maintaining the peace establishment of the navy, yet your Majesty's ser vice is not so popular as it should be with the great body of the mercantile marine. The disinclination to enter the navy in the minds of a large portion of the merchant seamen is to be traced chiefly to ignorance of the usages of the service, and of the advantages which it offers to the seaman, for we find that the better the service is known the more its brivileges are appreciated, and the greater is the willingness to join it. We have satisfied ourselves that there is no undue severity in your Majesty's service ; on the contrary, the witnesses place a high value on the strict observance of discipline, and consider that crews are exposed to , injury and injus tice whenever, from weakness in the commander of a ship, disci pline is relaxed. At the same time we are of opinion that some arrangements in re gard to the condition of the seamen might properly be introduced, which would tend to make the ser vice more popular. These we proceed to indicate to your Majesty. THE HULKS. 16. The witnesses complain of the condition of the hulks, in which the men are lodged while their ships are fitting out. They state that the hulks are so uncomfortable th at both o ffi cers an d men have the greatest dislike to them ; all desire to escape from them as soon as the d a y' s wor k i s over , p re ferring a residence on shore to the great detri ment of theinfant discipline of th e new ly r aised crew. An experiment has, however, been lately tried at Portsmouth, by the establishment of a model hulk, the Bellerophon, which has been attended with great success. We recommend that the atten tion of the Admiralty be called to this matter, and that improvement s b e ma d e i n th e li g hti ng , venti lating, warming, and other internal arrangements of the hulks, upon which the health and comfort of the men so much depend. PROVISIONS. 17. Witnesses of great authority have told us that they consider the allowance of provisions on board your Majesty's ships to be sufficient ; and in proof of that opinion they point to the fact that large payments are frequently made to a ship's company for savings of provisions. This, however, is not conclusive evidence, for the savings of a ship's company arise from a variety of causes ; first, the provisions, when of indifferent quality, are not taken up, and are consequently paid for as savings; secondly, when a ship is in port the men purchase largely from the shore out of their pay, and in that case do not take up their provisions ; and, thirdly, a considerable proportion of the savings is due, not to the men, but to the officers, who very generally save the whole, or nearly the whole, of their allow ance. 18. On the other hand, we have the evidence of the men themselves, strongly confirmed by that of several eminent naval officers, that the allowance in your Majesty's service of both bread and meat, which is only 11b. of each daily, is inadequate. In the Peninsular and Oriental and the Royal Mail Steam Packet Companies' services the allowance of salt meat is half as much again ; and in Mr. Green's ships, where the allowance of bread is unlimited, nearly a pound and a half of meat is served out daily to each man. We find, also, on comparing a great number of tables of allowance produced to us by the Registrar. General of Seamen, that in the merchant service generally the daily allowance is : —Of salt beef one pound and a half, and of salt pork one pound and a quarter. These tables will be found in the appendix. 19. On the whole, we are of opinion that the allowance of both bread and salt meat should be increased to one pound and a quarter of each daily. At the same time, as the object of this increase is to give the men a full allowance of food, and not to enable them to receive a larger sum for savings, we think that the rate of payment for them should be diminished, and that instead of 2d. a pound being allowed for bread and 4d. for salt meat, id. only should be allowed for the former and 3d. for the latter. The additional annual charge on account of the increased allowance of bread would be £43,181, and of salt meat £37,040, making together £80,221; against which would have tobe placed the diminished payments on account of sav ings, which we are informed would be £37,890, leaving an increase on the annual estimates under this head of £42,331. CLOTHES BEDDING AND MESS UTENSILS. --- 20. We understand also that when men enter your Majesty's service they are furnished with bed ding and clothes, the whole value of which is charged against their future pay. They thus incur a debt to the Crown, and until that debt has been satisfied can neither allot nor receive that portion of their pay termed " monthly allowance." They have also to provide their mess utensils. So that for several months from their first entering the men are in difficulties, and their wives and children too fre quently dependent on the parish for support. To enable the men to commence their service free from debt, we recommend that the bedding and mess utensils should be issued, as the hammocks now are ; and that to every man on his first entering for 10 years' continuous service a suit of clothes should be given gratuitously. This would entail an addi tional charge of £14,200 per annum. Great evil is experienced from the want of the prohibition, which exists in the case of the army, against the purchase of clothes issued to the men. We think that this opportunity should be taken of placing both ser vices on the same footing. PAYMENT OF WAGES WHILE THE SHIP IS FITTING OUT. 21. The witnesses have also stated that great in conveniences result from the present regulations in regard to the payment of wages while the ship is fitting out. We understand, however, that this subject has recently engaged the attention of the Admiralty ; and that, since this commission has been sitting, arrangements have been under consi deration, with the view of enabling the seaman to receive his monthly allowance, and to allot a por tion of his r.ltges at an earlier period than he now can. We strongly recommend that these arrange ments should be carried into effect. We think, how ever, that as the matter is now under the considera tion of the Admiralty, the details of the measures to be taken should be left to their discretion; and we therefore refrain from making any more specific recommendation on the subject. ALLOTMENTS. 22. The system of allotments has been much com plained of. Under the Merchant Shipping Act the only persons who can recover as allottees from the owners are the wife, the father or mother, the grandfather or grand mother, the child or grand child, or the brother or sister of the seaman (17th and 18th Victoria, cap. 104, sec. 169). But in the Royal Navy seamen have the power of alloting to any persons they please, and we have the evidence of those well acquainted with the present practice, that allotments are frequently made by seamen to very undeserving characters, to persons who have no natural claim whatever upon them, while their families are perhaps compelled to resort to the parish for relief. The practice in regard to allot ments is perfectly satisfactory to the merchant sea men, and we recommend that it should be adopted in the Royal Navy. MADGE MONEY. 23. The preceding remarks apply to the seamen of the Royal Navy generally, but there is one sub ject which affects the petty officers, which we beg to submit for your Majesty's consideration. Able seamen receive from ld. to 3d. a day badge money, according to the number of good conduct badges they have earned, and this extra allowance is con tinued if they are subsequently promoted to be petty officers. But petty officers, becoming entitled to a good conduct badge, receive no extra pay for it. So that a petty officer, who had earned three good conduct badges during the time he was an able seaman might be in the receipt of 3d. a day more than a petty officer having the same cha racter and the same Qualifications, who for his good conduct and ability liad been promoted to be a petty officer before he had earned any good con duct badges. Thi s , we are of opinion, should be remedied, and th e same payment made for good conduct badges whether they are earned as able seamen or as petty officers. This would require an additional sum of £6,833 per annum, 23. The case of the warrant officers haso whichocc hed WARRANT OFFICERS our attention. It is the highest grade t s eaman ordinarily, aspires, and to pl ace this ss t of e officers in the position to which they are entitled will offer an additional inducement to s eamen to enter your Majesty's service. We have rece i ved from the warrant officers a memorial, which will be found in the appendix. 25. They complain that the precedence assigned to them on board your Majesty's ships is not such as they ought to hold. Formerly they ranked next afteisecond masters, and since 1844 have been placed below the young and inexperienced cadet, although they are at times required to take charge of a watch and during the late Russian war frequently had charge of mortar and gunboats. We recommend that they should rank after second masters. 26. They likewise complain that their widows have been deprived of the pensions to which they were formerly entitled. There are few more diffi cult subjects than that of widows pensions; and, in evidence well worthy of attention, we have been urged rather to recommend that the sum which these pensions would require ;should be expended THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 24, 1859. in improving the position of the officers themselves. We have no reason, however, to suppose that any general alteratiOn on the subject of widows' pensions is intended ; and in the present state of the service we think that the benefits conferred upon the widows of officers in the higher ranks ought not to be withheld from the widows of seamen who have risen by merit through successive stages of promo tion to the rank of warrant officers. We think that in fairness this payment should be retrospective. The cost involved is £19150. PROMOTION OF WiRRANT OFFICERS. 27. In the circular (No. 121) of the Lords Com missioners of the Admiralty, dated the 14th of June, 1653, it was stated that, " as a further mark of their approbation of the merits of this deserving class of officers, my lords are pleased to direct that warrant officers of exemplary conduct, who have distin guished themselves by acts of gallantry and daring in the service, be considered eligible to hold com missions in her Majesty's fleet, in such rank or position as their lordships may deem them, after undergoing an examination, entitled to receive and competent to flit and all warrant officers so pro moted will be granted respectively the sum of £lOO as an outfit." - We anticipate the best results from the occasional promotion'of a warrant officer to the quarter-deck; at the same time we are ready to admit that the promotion should only be granted for distinguished service combined with exemplary conduct ; and it should not be limited to the war rant officers, but should be open, in the case of very signal and extraordinary services, to any seaman in your Majesty's navy. PROMOTION OF PETTY OFFICERS. 28. There is also a point relative to the promo tion of petty officers which'sleserves attention. We have been assured that seamen have occasionally refused the warrant in consequence of the expense necessary to provide a suitable outfit. We think that the principle of giving a gratuity to a warrant officer on his promotion to the quarter deck is equally applicable to the case of a petty officer promoted to the warrant. But we under stand that since our commission was issued this subject has been reviewed by the Board of Ad miralty, and £l6 assigned by a recent order for this purpose. 29. Such are the measures which we have ven tured to recommend to your Majesty with reference to the mode of manning the navy in time of peace. They appear to us the best than can be devised for improving the condition and raising the character of the seamen in the Royal Navy; and, aided by frequent visits of vessels of war to the different mercantile ports of the United Kingdom, will render the service more popular, and tend to effect the object which we have in view—namely, the speedy and efficient manning of your Majesty's ships. II.—MODE OF MANNING THE FLEET ON AN EMERGENCY. 30. We now propose to consider the means which exist for manning the navy in case of an emergency; how far those means can be relied upon ; what ad ditional measures it is desirable to adopt ; and in what way the merchant seamen can be rendered more readily available for the service of the coun try, if required. 31. The law now contemplates obtaining men, in addition to the small reserves which already exist, if any emergency occur and voluntary enlistment fail, in the following manner—viz., 1. An embargo prohibiting merchant vessels from going to sea. 2. A bounty inviting seamen to enter your Ma jesty's service. 3. A proclamation compulsorily requiring the service of seafaring men in classes, according to age or generally. 32. The evidence of the witnesses, with scarcely an exception, shows that the system of naval im pressment, as practised in former wars, could not now be successfully enforced. We speak, not of any objections to that system which may exist in our minds on the score of humanity or justice, nor of the political excitement to which, in the opinion of some witnesses, the revival of that system would give rise, nor of the strong and determined opposi tion with which, according to others, it would be met; we speak rather of difficulties arising from the altered circumstances of the times. The sailor who wished to avoid impressment would have much greater facilities than formerly for desertion in foreign ports, and for escape after his arrival at home. The improvements in gunnery, also, have effected a complete revolution in naval warfare, and have rendered it absolutely necessary that our vessels should in any future war be manned, not by a promiscuous collection of untrained men, such as impressment formerly provided, but by seamen who are practised gunners. 33. The French system, by which every seafaring man is liable to serve on board a ship of war during a term of years, and is bound to come forward when required, could not be successfully applied to this country, where the relative proportion between the merchant seamen and the navy is so different; added to which it would be open to many of the objections which affect the system of impressment. 34. The ballot has been suggested, but we think it is open to most of the same objections, and that it would fail to provide any great number of men on an emergency. The ballot for the militia would act on the whole adult population, out of which probably not more than 100,000 would be required at one time ; the ballot for the navy, on the other hand, would act upon a much smaller body of men, of which a much larger proportion would be re quired. Again, the ballot for the militia would fall on a resident population ; the ballot for the navy on a floating population, a large portion of whom, when their services were required, would be absent from the country. OUR STANDING RESERVES. 35. We therefore postpone the question of com pulsory service until we shall have first examined what is the character and amount of our present reserves, to what extent they can be relied upon in case of emergency, and whether we can suggest any new reserves. The present reserves consist of-1. The marines on shore. 2. The coastguard. 3. The naval coast volunteers. 4. A small body of short service pensioners. THE MARINES 36. The marines are a useful and efficient body of men, second to none in the service of the State ; they are excellent troops, both as artillerymen and infantry, and are at the same time capable of per forming many of the deck duties of a ship of war. There is, however, a limit beyond which they can not be conveniently increased, for it is necessary to their efficiency that they should spend a large por tion of their time afloat. There is ordinarily a re serve of 6,000 marines in the home ports, ready for active service afloat. We think that this force might, with great advantage to the State, and without impairing its efficiency, be increased by 5,000 men, who• would be well fitted to garrison the seaports in time of peace, and when required to serve at sea they could be at once embarked, and their place in the seaports supplied by the regular army or the militia. THE COASTGUARD. 37. The coastgQrdisafOiCeCitpable of affording a very efficient reserve of seamen for your Majesty's fleet. It can be assembled with ease and rapidity, and may be relied upon in case of danger. When in 1856 this force was transferred from the Customs to the Admiralty, it was in contemplation, we un derstand, under the provisions of the statute 19th and 20th of Victoria, cap. 83, to increase it to 10,000 men, all efficient and fit for service at sea. Its num bers are insufficient for the protection of the revenue and for the discharge of those duties for the preser vation of life and property in case of shipwreck which by a recent statute have been assigned to the coastguard. We are of opinion that it might with advantage be raised to 12,000 men. This addition to the force would occasion an increased expenditure of £116,525 per annum. NAVAL COAST VOLUNTEERS. 38. There is also a body of men enrolled under special conditions, entitled the " naval coast volun teers." The evidence, however, leads us to think that no great reliance could be placed upon them for manning the fleet in case of an emergency. They are not seamen in the true acceptation of the term, but boatmen, fishermen, and alongshoremen. They are tolerable gunners, and would be useful for coast defence, or for service in port ; but they know little of the duties of a seaman on deck, and many of them are not capable of going aloft. But the most serious objection to them is the limit of distance—namely, 100 leagues—to which they can be carried from the shore; so that the operations of a fleet might be seriously impeded by having a few naval coast volunteeers on board some of the ships composing it. SHORT-SERVICE PENSIONIRRS. 39. Lastly, we have the short-service pensioners —seamen who have retired after 10 years' service on a pension of 6d. a day. Hitherto the men that have so retired are few in number, and we do not antici pate that any large reserve of men will ever be ob tained from this source. The advantages to the seaman of continuing in the navy until he gains his full pension and the privileges of admission to the coastguard are so great that we think that there will never be any great number of seamen the close of useful, a who will b e w i ll i ng to acpept the s h or t serv i ce pension. S uc h a reserve woul d , h owever , b e ex tremelyiafr to should diaebgar b e e f a o n u y n d la n rg ec e es n s u a number y be a r t of good men. 40. But there can be little doubt that a large reserve of short service pensioners could be formed out of the marines, if the principle were extended to them. The discharges from the marine corps under the Limited Service Act will commence in the present year, and it will be a great misfortune if those valuable men are allowed to separate with out any measures being taken to connect them with the service of the country. A corps of several thousand might be formed in this manner, and we strongly recommend that it should be done. At the same time we think that the pensions should be paid, in the case both of the seamen and of the marines, only in the United Kingdom and the Channel Islands, and to the men in person, so as to insure their speedily coming forward when required. We have included in our estimate the pensions of 5,000 short service pension marines, amounting to £45,625 per annum. 41. Besides the 4,000 seamen whom we propose to have in the home ports, there would be Et reserve force of 11,000 marines, 12,000 coastguard men, the short service pension seamen, and the naval coast volunteers. Of these the seamen in the home ports and the embodied marines would be immediately available for service in the fleet ; the short service pensioners, as well seamen as marines, in the course of a few weeks or less. Of the coastguard probably 8,000 or 9,000 could be collected within two or three days, ready at once to man your Majesty's fleets ; the rest would remain on shore, some to bring forward with rapidity detachments of volun teers as they arrived and became disposable for service, others as depot officers, to discipline the pensioners, enlist men for the navy, create new re serves, and be the maintaining and connecting links of a system which is intended not only to meet a tern. porary emergency, but to provide a continued defence in the event of the continuance of the war. This force, amounting to about 30,000 men, exclusive of the naval coast volunteers, would go far to meet the first outbreak of a war, but the difficulty would still remain how to provide for the rapidly growing demands of a continued contest, how to man the ships which must be put successively in commission in order to maintain the navy at a war standard. VOLUNTEER RESERVE FORCE. 42. Looking to the very large naval armaments which we were forced to maintain in former wars, amounting at one time to no less than 147,000 men,' it seems desirable that we should be able to add to; the reserves, of which we have spoken, a further' force of from 20,000 to 30,000 seamen well trained in gunnery. The problem to be solved is, how far it may be possible to obtain from the mercantile marine and the seafaring population of the kingdom a volunteer force of seamen all trained in gunnery, who could be relied upon to come forward when their services were required. 43. We have considered a great variety of schemes which have been suggested to us by persons who have long devoted their serious consideration to the sub• ject, and, having determined on a plan which ap pears to us best suited to attain that object, we have examined the witnesses most capable of giving an opinion on its practical efficiency. SHIPPING INTEREST. 44. While we had principally in view the object of our commission—viz., the defence of the country —we have endeavoured to promote the welfare of the merchant service, believing that for the success of any scheme for a reserve to be drawn from that service it is most important to enlist its feelings on our side. The earliest and most disastrous conse quences of war will fall upon the shipping interest. On them the greatest ulterior difficulty will be im posed of carrying on their business during the con tinuance of hostilities. Under any system of defence the necessities of the navy must withdraw seamen from the merchant service, and raise the rate of wages. If, then, by timely precautions during peace we can diminish the probability that war will occur at all—and to this end nothing will conduce so much as a knowledge on the part of foreign Poweils that our defences are impregnable—if we can secure that, on the outbreak of war, the Channel and neighbouring seas shall be at once rendered safe for ships and cargoes homeward bound—if we can abolish or modify the risk that the employment of seamen will be abruptly suspended by embargo or interfered with by impressment—if we can attach the sailor to his country, and prevent the disposi tion which has hitherto prevailed of seeking ser vice under other flags—the owners of our commer cial marine will reap the greatest advantage. To them, therefore, we look with confidence for a cordial and patriotic co-operation in promoting, during peace, a system which is intended to accomplish these results. MERCHANT SEAMEN'S FUND. 45. Among the many suggestions that have been offered to us, none have been so strongly or so ably advocated as the re-establishment of a compulsory merchant seaman's fund; free, indeed, from those objections which caused the old fund to become insolvent, but still a compulsory fund. It has been urged that the seaman who reaches the age of 60, is g enerally destitute, and obliged to resort to the parish for support ; that it would be a great in ducement to young men to join the sea service if they saw seamen in their old age well provided for; that the seaman, who squanders his hard earned wages within a:few hours of his discharge, would never miss the deduction of one shilling a month from the large amounts which he frequently receives ; and, above all, that the prospect of an adequate pension in old age would be a strong inducement to the seaman to continue in the service of his country, instead of resorting to a foreign flag for employment. 46. There are doubtless many arguments in favour of a compulsory merchant seaman's fund; but, on the other hand, strong objections must be anticipated on the part of those who would regard it as a special tax levied on their own trade. Nor, indeed, would it effect the object which we have in view; it might retain the seamen in the country, but would not provide trained men for the navy. We are not unmindful of the advantages which would result from providing an adequate pension for seamen in old age ; but we think that it had better be done by means of a voluntary self-sup porting fund. This object we have kept in view in the plan which we venture to recommend to your Majesty for adoption. PROPOSED PLAN. 47. The force we require must be composed of trained seamen, and, as the necessity for such a reserve is urgent, it must, in the first instance, be recruited from adults. But the enlistment of adults b'y pay and pension is in many respects undesirable, for the adults have not had the advantage of early training, and are consequently not such valuable men as those who have been trained from boyhood ; and the pension, if only commensurate in amount to a short period of service, would not be ade quate to the support of the seaman in his old age. Your Majesty will, therefore, perceive that for the future maintenance of the force we propose to rely in a great measure on boys trained specially for the purpose, in conformity with the practice which has been adopted in the navy with so much advantage. 48. That the force may be ready in case of emergency it must be selected f r om men who will never be long absent from the ports from which they hail. It appears from the returns that have been furnished to us that the coasting trade of this country employs 63,000 men, including masters. The returns do not comprise watermen and others who might be made available for the purpose. If we add the Baltic and Mediterranean trades and the voyages to the North American and other ports, including the seamen employed by the large steam packet companies, we shall have not less than 100,000 men who are never absent for any length of time from the ports of this country. 49. We propose that not less than 20,000 such men, as in point of age, ability, character, and per manent connexion with their respective ports may appear most suitable for the purpose shall be selected from this number. This new body of men might be called the " Royal Naval Volunteers." 50. The inducements which we propose to hold out to seamen to join this force will be, 1. A payment at short periods. 2. •A pension at the age of 50 to 55. 3. Payment for time spent in practice. 4. Admission to the coastguard. 5. Participation in the benefits of Greenwich Hospital. On their part they would engage to practise gun nery, and to serve in case of emergency ; and condi tions would be framed to secure their coming for ward to join the navy within a very short period after their services were required. MODE OF SELECTING THE FORCE AT FIRST. 51. The marine department of Board of Trade has, by recent statutes, been invested with exten sive powers and duties, and is thrown into very intimate connexion with the whole of the merchant service. Every seaman who engages for, or is discharged from, a foreign voyage may be said to be personally known to the Board of Trade, through the Registrar-General of Seamen, the shipping masters of the Local Marine Boards, and the officers of the Customs. We propose that the assistance of these officers should be made use of in selecting the required number of men from the short voyage trades. Their acquaintance with the men would enable them to select those who would best answer the purpose in view. Those who were selected and accepted the terms offered would go on board the district coastguard ship for medical examination and approval generally. Their actual engagement would rest with the captain of the coastguard ship, and he would make such arrangements for training in gunnery the men who required it as the Govern ment might think from time to time expedient, suiting as far as possible the convenience of the men with regard to time. 52. After the men had returned to their ordi nary avocations the Registrar-General of Seamen, through the shipping masters, would at all times be acquainted with their present occupations, and a complete statement of those in port, and of the times when the return of the remainder might be looked for, could always be promptly furnished. 53. The shipping masters would be a ready mode of communication between the coastguard officers and the volunteers. The periodical payment could be made at the shipping office upon the authority of the coastguard officer. The shipping master would distinguish, by some obvious mark, the discharge of a volunteer from ordinary discharges. The ip ping masters should have power from the Admiralty to give definite information to the men as to the pensions and other advantages to which they will become entitled in case they shall be called into actual service. PLAN FOR ITS FUTURE SUPPLY. 54. Having thus obtained, in the first instance, by careful selection from adults now in the merchant service, the number required to constitute this body, we recommend that the following provision be made for its future supply :—We propose that school ships should be established in the principal com mercial ports, capable of accommodating from 100 to 200 boarders in each ship, of whom 100 should be supported by the State. 55. The boys should be of respectable parentage, strong, and healthy ; and if any difficulty arose as to the mode of making the selection we doubt not that the inspectorslmployed by the Committee of Council for Educalion in Great Britain, and the Education Commissioners in Ireland, would readily assist in obtaining from the different schools throughout the United Kingdom the requisite num ber. We have reason to believe that by this means the whole number would be readily obtained, and a considerable stimulus given to the cause of educa tion. These boys should be sent for approval, medi cally and otherwise, to the coastguard ship, or the naval surgeon should attead on board the school ship to admit them. 56. Besides these 100 boarders the school would be open to all children residing at the ports. These last would be day scholars, and would contribute weekly. The school would also be open to other boarders, whose expenses, however, would not be defrayed by the State, and they therefore would probably net be numerous at first. 57. While in the school the boys should re ceive not only the requisite instruction for the merchant service, but also some of the peculiar in struction requisite for the navy, gunnery, &c. ; and those of them who went into the merchant service would probably have the opportunity of revisiting a school ship occasionally when their own ships returned to port, so as to keep up the instruction they had received. 58. We propose further that the school ships, as they would be intended to train boys principally for the merchant service, should be placed in a great degree under the direction of the civil branch of the Administration—i.e., the Registrar-General of Seamen, and through him, under the Board of Trade. This would be the more convenient because if day scholars were received the ship must always be moored in the port with ready access to the shore, while the coastguard ship would probably be sometimes absent on duty. The military part only of the training would be dependent on the coastguard officers, and there ought to be no diffi culty in the Registrar's receiving such instructions as would obviate the danger of any inconvenience arising between the two branches of the service. 59. When the time of training in the school ships had expired the boys should be inspected, and those whom the inspectors placed at the head should have the option of going, if they preferred it, and if fully qualified, into the Royal Navy. This option, however, would apply only to a limited number, according to the wants of the navy ; the majority would probably go into the merchant service. 60. We further contemplate that when the system has been fairly established and has proved success ful in practice it may be found desirable to unite the training ships for the navy with those for the volunteer force, and to raise boys for both services on board the same ships. We anticipate, as the results of such an arrangement, greater economy in regard to the training ships, and the creation of those kindly feelings between the boys destined for the two services which it is of the utmost im portance to encourage. 61. But, speaking exclusively of the school ships for the volunteer force, we will assume that the number of boys nominated and approved by the naval authorities would be 1,200 annually, and that as many more would be furnished from the sea ports, so that in all 2,400 boys would be supplied annually by these school ships to the maritime occupations of their country. 62. We conceive that the shipowners would be willing to take in each year the whole number. The great increase which has recently taken place in the number of apprentices encourages us to be lieve that well-trained boys would be highly valued by the shipowner, and we, therefore, propose that the shipowner should during the engagement make for the boy a contribution to the fund of which we are about to speak. This contribution would be only a small return for the cost of the boy's educa tion. While the apprenticeship continued the boy would not be under the obligations of the volunteer force, but would be as available in every respect for his employer as any other apprentice. 63. The Registrar of Seamen would undertake the management of the indentures of the boys to be trained in the school ships, as he now does of boys apprenticed through the shipping offices ; he recom mends that they should be sent at 13 years of age under articles to the superintendent of the school ship, with a covenant of assignment ; the schooling to be one year, the subsequent service four years. 64. At the close of the apprenticeship the habits acquired, the inducements of pay and promised pension, and the knowledge that four years' contri bution had been paid for him by the shipowner to the pension fund would, we think, as a general rule, draw the sailor at once into the body of volunteers. 65. In some cases, however, youths of 18 might prefer to go for a while on the long voyages. We propose, _therefore, that the Board of Admiralty should authorise the -shipping master, when each apprentice comes out of his articles, to offer him immediate entry into the volunteer corps, and also in a certain proportion of cases to give leave of ab sence for a specified time. In the latter case the claim to pension would revive if the sailor at the expiration of the leave returned to the short voyage ; but his annual pay would not be allowed during the period of his absence. By an ar rangement of this kind the whole number of men in the volunteer force would be larger than the number paid for, and in case of war it would be in the power of the Crown to call on the men, wherever they might be, to join her Ma jesty's vessels on their respective stations. A simi lar leave might also be given to adults now serving in the long voyages and who might be willing t o join the volunteer force. 66. We think also that probably some youths would he deterred from joining if it were obligatory upon them to continue in it for life, and especially in the event of their becoming masters or mates in the merchant service. We propose, therefore, that at the end of each period of five years it shall be in the option of any one to withdraw, and that the same option shall arise when a youth obtains the certificate of the Board of Trade and becomes master or mate of a merchant ship. The only penalty on any one who retires will be the loss of his claim to a pension, unless he elect to continue the necessary contribution out of his own funds. This permission to retire will admit of a larger number of the whole merchant seamen of the coun try passing through the force, and so becoming trained in gunnery, while the country will not be charged with, any additional payment on that account. PENSION FUND. 67. We, will now speak of the pension fund, to which allusion has been already made. We pro pose that it shall be self-supporting. We attach the greatest importance to this point, for, although the annual contributions of the volunteers are to be paid by the State, yet we wish to admit to the benefits of this fund every seaman, whether in the navy or in the merchant service, who may think proper to contribute. We believe that the volun tary contributors, probably not numerous at first, would become more numerous as the advantages of the pension to the volunteers became known, and especially after the influence of the school ships in raising the character of the service had become per ceptible. And in proportion as the fund became general would the service be more and more closely attached to and united with our system of maiktime defence. The machinery for managing such a fund is already in existence at the Board of Trade, and we propose that, accurate tables having been pre pared by some' competent actuary, stating the pension to which each man will be entitled in proportion to the amount of his con tributions, the contributors should have the guarantee of the State for the due payment of their pensions: We also recommend that a married man, when he became entitled to his pension, should have the option of taking either the full pension, or a smaller one, according to the table, payable on his own and his wife's lives. ANNUAL PAYMENT AND CONTRIBUTION TO FUND. 68. The next point to be considered is the amount of the annual payment which will be sufficient to induce the seaman to join the volunteer force, and the amount of the contribution which it will be ne cessary to pay to the pension fund for the purpose of securing to him an adequate pension in old age. 69. We have examined the Regist r a r -G enera l o f Seamen, the shipping masters, and other witnesses on these points, and we have come to the conclusion that an annual payment of £5 is that which we ought to recommend, desiring to obtain for this force the very best men in the merchant service. This sum must be tested by actual experimont, and may hereafter be either diminished or increased according to the result. We are also informed by the actuary, to the National Debt office that . an annual contribUtion of £1 from the age of 14 would secure to the seaman a pension of not less than £l2 at the age of 50, of £l5 at from 52 to 53, and of .EIS at 55. We therefore propose that £5 be paid, either quarterly or at other short periods, to the seamen in person, so as to secure their appearance at short intervals. We propose also that the State shall contribute to the pension fund £1 per annum for every man in the force. But during the time any one of the boys shall be under articles in the merchant service the shipowner shall contribute the £1 annually to the pension fund for him, in consideration of the education which the boy has received on board the school ship. 70. Assuming that these inducements are suffi cient to obtain recruits in time of peace, the vital question still remains, whether the men will come forward to discharge their obligations with fidelity on the outbreak of war ? We have examined this question with the anxious care which it demands. In the material inducements, especially in those which, like the pension, are prospective, in the penalties against desertion to which those who did not come forward would be liable, and in the moral influence which due selection and regular training will sup ply, we believe that sufficient security will have been taken. That security must mainly depend on the personal knowledge of the men on the part of officers of the coastguard, by whom they are to be brought forward whenever the emergency arrives. We believe that by local information in respect to the men employed in the coasting trade, and through the shipping masters in respect to those employed in foreign voyages, those officers can obtain such a knowledge as will enable them to select the right men ; and by their communications with them, whilst under training, or when coming forward to receive their periodical certificates, will be able to maintain that knowledge. The experi ence of the late war showed that in almost every instance the pensioners readily came forward to dis charge their duty, and that the militia volunteered for service abroad, incurring thereby a greater sac rifice than any seaman would make by serving in your Majesty's fleet. We have examined on this most important point the witnesses best qualified to give us their opinion. Their evidence is strongly confirmatory of the view which we have expressed. 71. Much also will depend on cordial co-opera tion between the Admiralty and the Marine De partment of the Board of Trade. As we have already observed, that Board is now in the posses sion of powers which did not exist in former wars —powers conferred for the benefit of the merchant service, which could never be more justly exerted than when employed in conjunction with your Majesty's naval officers to insure the safety of the commercial flag. COST OF THE PROPOSED PLAN. 72. It only remains to estimate the cost of this scheme. It appears from the evidence of the Registrar-General of Seamen, and of the Account ant of the Board of Trade, after an examination of the cost of the Marine Society's ship in the Thames, and of the Ackbar at Liverpool, that the expenses of the schoolships, including the establishment of masters and officers, will average from £24 to £25 for each boy, or for the whole 1,200 boys £30,000 per annum, say, however, that the charge will be £40,000. 73. Assuming then that the number of school ships would be 12 ; the number of boarders main tained and educated at the expense of the State 1,200 ; the number of volunteers in the short voyages 20,000, and on the long voyages with leave 5,000 ; assuming, moreover, that about one-third of the -whole force would on an average be trained for one month in each year at a cost of £5 per man ; the annual cost of the scheme will be as follows, viz. : 1. School ships £40,000 2. Annual'payment, £5 to 20,000 men lOO,OOO 3. Contributions to the pension fund for 25,000 num 4. Training in gunnery about Total 74. This is the computed annual charge when the system has been fully established, but in the first one or two years the expense for training the men will probably be greater than that at which we have placed it, from the necessity of rendering the force as soon as possible efficient. While the force is recruited from adults instead of from boys, the same annual contribution will not secure the same amount of pension. What the difference will be must depend on the ages of the recruits. It will be necessary, therefore, either to diminish the pension in the case of the adult, or to contribute a larger amount than £1 annually for him to the pension fund. The Accountant of the Board of Trade has shown us that, in regard to the question of enter ing boys at 14, or taking adults at 30, the addi tional contribution to the pension fund in the latter case would equal the whole cost of the schoolships in the former case. 75. The foregoing estimates are founded on the assumption that the volunteer force is to be limited to 25,000 men, of whom 5,000 are to be absent with leave on the long voyages. The plan, however, is not limited to these numbers, but can be extended as occasion requires; and in this case there will be an additional expenditure per annum for every ad ditional 10,000 men on the home station of from £75,000 to £BO,OOO ; and for every additional 10.000 men on the distant voyages of £lO,OOO only. 76. It is most important that those upon we are to rely should be thorough seamen, trained in gun nery, and qualified for immediate service on board a ship of war. At the same time it is desirable that all classes of the maritime population should, as far as possible, be made available for the defence of the country. It will, therefore, be worthy of consideration, whether the force might not be formed in two divisions, with open promotion from the one to the other. The first division would be recruited from seafaring men in the merchant ser vice already trained, or prepared at once to undergo training in gunnery, and ultimately from boys trained in the schoolships, and men trained in the second division. The second division would b e recruited from the resident seafaring population, and would receive a smaller rate of pay. This would supply to us a large additional force at a comparatively small expense. We contemplate that the second division would rapidly absorb and extinguish the present force of naval coast volun teers, by giving to the regular reserve the same men on terms more acceptable to themselves, and rendering them much more available for the Crown in case of an emergency. ADMISSION TO GREENWICH HOSPITAL. 77. Two questions still remain to be considered with reference to the volunteer force—viz., the admission of its members to Greenwich Hospital and their promotion to the coastguard. We think that the privilege of admission to Greenwich Hos pital would be a strong inducement to the merchant seamen to join the volunteer force, and that such an application of the funds of that tstitution would be strictly in accordance with the intentions of its royal founders. We have examined into the working of the hospital only so far as was neces sary for the objects comprised within the terms of our commission ; but we have satisfied ourselves that the advantages of the hospital may be far more generally distributed. The funds amount to about £140,000 per annum; to this we propose to add the freight-money received by officers in your Majesty's service, the present application of which is open to objection ; so that there would be an income of about £150,000 available for the purposes required. We are of opinion that with this addition and under judicious arrangement the hospital would be found capable of receiving all such worn-out and disabled seamen as would be fit inmates of an hospital, whether they belonged to the Royal Navy or to the volunteer force. Men who have adequate pensions for their support, and who have families or friends to take care of them, are better in their own homes than in any esta blishment of this description. PROMOTION TO THE COASTGUARD. 78. It is through the coastguard that we propose to connect the volunteers with your Majesty's naval forces. From the coastguard the petty officers of the volunteer force will be principally selected when the two bodies are called out for active ser vice. We, therefore, recommend that during peace intimate relations should be cultivated between the two forces. With this view we think that men who have served for a certain period in the volun teer force should be eligible for promotion to the coastguard. Any objection which might be enter tained in respect to the safety of the revenue would be sufficiently guarded against by the selection of the best men, and their employment as coas t guar d s men in a different part of the coast from that in which they had previously lived. It would be an inducement of the strongest character to the mer• chant seamen to join the volunteer force. 79, We do not intend that volunteers should be promoted to the coastguard in preference to seamen in the Royal Navy, but we think that the casualties in and the retirements from so large a body as 12,000 men, if they are to be kept always in a full state of efficiency, would be generally greater than could be conveniently supplied from the navy. W e think that arrangements of this kind, judiciously carried into effect by the naval officers in command, will tend to create a unity of action in the two forces, and to establish a good understanding be tween the Queen's and the merchant services, and thus to rivet together the joints of a system, on whose good practical working in the time of need the safety of the country will so materially depend. RECAPITULATION. 80. The following statement will exhibit to your Majesty the whole amount of reserve which will be at your Majesty's disposal, assuming that the coast guard and naval coast volunteers are raised to the full amount contemplated for those forces iespec: tively before ow commission was issued, and that the additions which we have recommended are also carried into effect. Men. 4,000 12,000 6,000 5,000 3,000 - 30,000 Royal Naval Volunteers .. 20,000 Naval Coast Volunteers .. .. 10,000 Reliefs in the home ports .. Coastguard .. .. • • • . . , .. Marines, embodied .. Ditto, short-service pensioners .. Seamen, short-service pensioners, say 30,000 Making in all .. 60,000 This does not include the addition of 5,000 men which we have said might be made to the marines without impairing the efficiency of that body as a naval force, if your Majesty should be advised either to substitute that number of marines for troops of the line, or to add that number of men to the whole military and naval establishments of the kingdom; nor does it include the 5,000 volunteers whom we have assumed to be absent on leave in the long voyages. 81. Of these forces the reliefs in the home ports and the coastguard may both be speedily raised, and this should be done at once. The marines em bodied are taken at the number usually stationed in this country. The short-service pensioners, sea men as well as marines, will be filled up in about seven years. The royal naval volunteers may, in the opinion of the witnesses, be recruited without any great delay. 82. Comparing the naval estimates of the year with the amount which will have to be expended before the Coastguard and the Naval Coast Volun teers have been brought up to the state contem plated by the statutes which regulate these forces respectively, a further expenditure will be required of £64,862. The whole expenses of the•additions which we have recommended will be as follows : IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PEACE ESTABLISHMENT. 1. Increased allowances of provisons £42,331 2. Pensions of warrant officers' widows 19,150 3. Mess utensils, clothes, and bedding 14,200 4. Instruction and training ships 15,918 6. Petty officers' badges 6,833 6. Pay and pen s i ons f or gunnery 6,239 TT 104,671 ADDITIONAL RESERVES. In the Queen's Service. 1. 2,000 additional Coastguardmen £116,525 2. 4,000 reliefs in home ports 3. 5,000 short-service pensioners, Marines 45,625 In the Merchant Service. 4. 20,000 royal naval volunteers in home and 5,000 in distant voyages (in cluding school ships) 200,000 494,150 Making in all £598,821 CONCLUSION. 84. When, however, everything shall have been done which prudence can suggest to furnish, in time of peace, reserves available on the outbreak of war, there will still remain as a last resource your Majesty's undoubted right to the compulsory ser vice of all your Majesty's subjects by sea as well as by land, in case of actual danger to this country'. Our earnest desire is to tender to your Majesty' such advice as may strengthen this necessary weapon of national defence, and render it more efficient and more readily available in the moment of danger. 85. We therefore do not propose to weaken the force of your Majesty's prerogative at common law, or of the successive statutes by which it has been declared and confirmed. But we think that in requiring compulsory service at sea as close an analogy as possible w ith th e laws which regulate the like service on land should be observed. By the statute 5 and 6 'William IV., chap. 24, it is enacted that no person shall be liable to be detained against his consent in the naval service of his Majesty for a longer period than five years, except in case of spe cial emergency, wh en th e comman di ng officer Is empowered to detain him fora further period of six months, or until such emerg'dncy shall have ceased. The latest enactment on this subject is the statute 16th and 17th of Vic., chap. 69, which empowers your Majesty to call out seamen either generally or by classes at discretion- We recommend that the provisions of that statute should be maintained; but we think that its force will not be impaired by the addition of the two following limitations, viz.: 86. First, that it shall only be called into opera tion in the case of danger to this country, declared by your Majesty in Council, after the voluntary re serves shall have been first called out for service. 87. And, secondly, pursuing the analogy of the militia, we have considered whether we could re commend a limit of distance from our own shores, but it appears to us that such a limit might defeat the usefulness of the force • for it is obvious that the pursuit o f th e enemy's fleet might be, as it has been in former times, the most efficient method of defence ; and, as we have observed, the limit, which confines the present Naval Coast Volunteers to a certain distance from the shore greatly di minishes the value of th a t f orce . W e thi n k , -how ever, that no objection can be urged against a limitation of time. It is in the highest degree im probable that such a danger as alone could justify compulsory service would continue for so long ~s period as one commi s si on , or th ree years ; an d, 1 1 it did, there would be no difficulty in providing such reliefs that no seaman, who declined to volun' teer for continued service, need be detained beyond that time. We recommend, therefore, that it, should be enac t e d th at, i f your Majesty shou l d ever find it necessary to proclaim compulsory ser vice, a relief should be provided for every seaman , within a period of three years from the time of his entry on board ship ; and that he should n ot be liable to be called upon for a second period of ser vice until after the expiration of a time to be ex pressed in the statute. 88. We believe that these provisions would not diminish the power of the Executive Government on the occurrence of an emergency, but, on the contrary, would increase it, since they would be regarded as the practical abolition of a system which has' long indisposed the seaman to your Ma jesty's navy, and would thereby conduce in an im portant degree to enlist his voluntary service for the defence of his country. 89. Your Majesty possesses in the merchant ser vice elements of naval power such as no other Go' vernment in the world enjoys. It is true that hitherto no sufficient organisation has existed f O l securing to your Majesty the immediate command of these resources. During a long peace reliance has been placed either on the improbability that danger would arise, or on the efficasy of impress' meat to furnish the means by which danger could be confronted and overcome. Changes in public sentiment and in the circumstances of the ease have shaken that reliance. We rejoice to believe, that by improvements in the administration of your Majesty's navy, and in the regulation of the mer chant service, other resources have in the mean time been placed within the reach of your Majesty's Government, and that it is now in their power to substitute for untrained compulsory service a sys tem of defence, voluntary, effective, and calculated to draw closer to yo ur M a j esty, at the moment o f danger, the loyal enthusiasm of those on w help your Majesty will relY. We therefore humbly and, confidently submit t o your M a j esty the adoption 01 measures which, while their primary object is the protection of this country from the hazards of war, must at the same time improve the position and elevate the character of the British seamen in the two services, and unite them together in the fain bonds of reciprocal good feeling and of common interest. Witness our hands and seals this 19th day of February, 1859. HARDWICKE. (LS: CHANDOS. L.S.: EDWARD CARDWELL. L.S. W. FANSHAWE MARTIN, L.S.: J. D. H. ELPHINSTONE. L.S. JOHN SHEPHERD. L.S 4 .4 RICHARD GREEN. (L.S., H. C. itothery, Secretary. BIRTHS. DALRYMPLE.—On the 22d inst., at Piercy's Hotel, 31, Dover-street, the Viscountess Dal r y mp l e, of a d aug hter. FRANCIS.—On the 22d inst., at 38, Upper BeMprd-placei the wife of Horace Francis, Esq., of a son. HADLEY.—On the 22d inst., at 24, Blandford• square, the wife of H. G. Hadley, Esq., of a daughter. HARDING.—On the 22d inst., at Sandford House, High . bury, New-park, the wife of John Fosse Harding, Esql of a son. MARRIAGES POOLE—BARNES. —O n the 22d inst., at St.fPaurs, Isling' ten, Clement W. Poole, Esq., of Weybridge Surrey, t ° Maria, third surv i v i ng daughter of the late Mr. James Barnes, of Lombard-street. WESTROPP—CLAY.—On the 22d inst., at Twickenhan 3, Walter Monteford Westropp, lath Capt. 19th Regt., to Laura Felicia Susan, youngest daughter of Sir W. clop Bart., of Fulwell Lodge, Twickenham. DEATHS. BAKER.—On the 22d inst., at Chester-terrace, RegeotT park, Willi am B a k er , E sq ., one o f the Coroners for Miut dleses, aged 76. CALVERT.—On the 22d inst., at 30, Cavendish-square, th e Hon. Frances Calvert, in her 92d year. CURTEIFL—On the 21st inst., at Tunbridge-wells, Franc is T. Curteis, Esq., aged 62. HORNE.—On the 31st Dec. last, in Oude, Francis WoodDl Home, Major 7th Hussars, third son of Sir Wm. 1.19,i1 (formerly Attorney-General), of Epping House, Hu g ' and 49, Upper Harley-street, aged 45. He fell nobly" the head of his regiment, c h arg i ng t h e re b e l s on T 44 Raptee River. A lbe SMITIL—On the 23d inst., a t Woodhall-park, Herb? - Smith, Esq., aged 21. LONDON : Printed and Published by MURDO Yn - ri- - N G 2, of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sun Ofilee9 ll % l o f Strand, in the Precinct' of the Savoy, in g m) coal: 6 J Middlesex, Thursday, Februftry 24, 18159, 13 I Si Eag and Box Gall Izfi) Jams ChM Cahn pt Capt Ca r t Jame Sir ,1- MOT pl'r clay