The Sun. — London, England, 1856-02-12 00:00:00

... , _ , - - THE SUN, _LONDON TUESDAY EVENING FEBRUARY l 2) 185 6, . . h 3 - - .......—____-....--, ....--....----- - n ~....—,-----...--.-,-.... Thera was indeed a small diminution, The clerks we re p a id d ua l s t o w h om h e a ll u d e d. It would therefore be needless years' service. With regard to medical officers, in 1855 Th e y had been told that the Russian fleet was reviewed or fiv e times aelay, so that during the last five years the Stirling joined Captain Elliot with a flag-ship and a large Country Markets. . accor di ng to seniority, an d if a sen i or r e tired anti his place I delicacy on my part to withhold the names of those two inspectors and deputy - inspectors hadan advantage in point ' during the summer before the war under the eye of theEm- Surveyor of the Navy had positively lived in a cab- frigate on th e 7th o f j une . Th a t should have rendered , —......... h ....___ was s uppli e d by a j un i or, th ere was a s m a ll diminution. officers, while I give the reason for our bestowing these of time granted towards retirement; staff-surgeons received peror himself, and that such was its efficietihy that in only (laughter)-perhaps not slept in it, but he was always I our squadron overwhel m i ng . • They remained together Mr. WILLIAMS-Has not the expense of postage been. rew ar d s u p on d i em. The first of them i 3 Captain Keppel, higher pay in certain temporary situations ; assistant-sur- one instance was the line into which it had been formed , riding backwards and forwards from one establishment to from the 7th of June till the 27th-20 days-and during CHELMSFORD-FEB. 8. the diner transferred ? w h o h as se en wore active service than almost any other goons had an additional is. a-day, were placed in the ward- broken. The Emperor was so much gratified at the spec- ' the other. One house had been taken from a juni or lord, the greater porti o n o f th e ti me th e y were lying off De Cas- A liberal supply of wheet to-day, but from ee- • . nese of the weather most of the samples offered were i n n,l, si r (se WOOD-Th e Ad m i ra lty wer e not responsibl e for officer of his rank ; and if my hon. friend behind me were room mess. and had cabins when possible. Theie has been a tacle that he nominated the officer who performed the ex- but it took five years to effect that change, and how snuck tris Bay. On the 27th o f J une th e y received orders to sail a d t i ff a er i e .e n d t u c c o t i n o d n i t o i o f n :3s w t h o i c 4 h s i p .e e n r d e q r r e . d t ß h e e s m t u s a n m s al ea b 1 e n , ''',„, that; it was the act of the Treasury, who thought it advis. to p o ll the elates° navy, he would find its unanimous opin- great change made in the condition of secretaries and pay- ploit a rear-admiral on the spot. Notwithstanding the , longer it would take to get possession of the other house for the south, never having attempted to search for the p l ea muse e‘" able that all the p os t ag should appear i n one vo t e , Th e i„ t o b e th a t there is not a bettn e r more gallant, or more masters. They used to be paid by perceutaee, which led to statemeat of the gallantadiniral near him (Admiral Napier), for the public service it, was impossible to say. Some very Russian nivadron ; and they afterwards learnt from Ibis next vote is 20 , 0001 . f or N ava i C o a s t Volunte ers , I n th a t deserving officer in the service. (Hear.) Capt. Koppel has great abuses. They have been placed on a rate, with half-pay that the fleet with which he sailed was inefficient, he was i splendid buildings had recently been erected at Somerset- sian prisoners that on th a t d a y, l a t e as it th en was, only one- quoted 2s less money. Spiing corn Is to 2s cheaper. s• th ere i s a „ ns id era bl e re d uc ti on . Th e numb er o f men distinguished himself on every occasion in which his ger - of 10 s• Chlo and an addition of 2s. on retirement. For as- confident that it would have met the Russians in a way house, and if the money which had been spent there had half of their (the Russian s ') s hip s b a n got throu g h the pas- Wheat, white, old, p er s . s. 0. 8 w h o h ave en t ere d h as b een mu c h small er th an was e x- vices have been called into requisition, the most recent in- s istant - naYneasters and clerks there is a new scale, with worthy. of its ancient renown. (Cheers.) He regretted that been applied te extend the Admiralty the whole establish- sage, the vessels having nev er b een go m uc h as reconnoitred. gr. 56 76 Oats, per qr 22 2 eg 40 pacted. I think it is possible, how e v er , th a t thi s esta b lish . s t ance of this having occurred during hie comman d o f the half-pay if they are unfit or unemployed. It hes also been th e right imp. gentleman had thonght it necessarY to direct ment could have been removed to the latter place, and So it appears that up to that time Admiral Stirling had new.... 62 75 Peas, Partridge - a „, eut may b e t urne d t o more acco u nt w h en th e num b er of Naval Brigade before Sebastopol, and, if such a mark of determined that pensions shall be given to the widows of a personanend unworthy allusion against him. His accuse- room loft at the former for the Inland Revenue and other never reconnoitred the passa ge th roug h whi c h th e Russian red, old 58 72 White 40 e 50 sailors employed inthe navy is r e n uce d at t h e conciu ,i o , h ono ur is to be conferred at all, I deolare Ido not know an officers who die from disease while ore aervice. With regard tion against - the AdmiraltY was not for having Placed him depertuaents, He might b e told, as was sometimes said, ships effected their escape, and that, if he had done so, n0w....56 71 Boiling - g of peace ; an d l am the re f ore unwilli ng t o a d o pt th e course officer on the list to whom it could be more appropriately to the marines, non-commissioned officers have been ern upon the reserved list. If, either from age or other circum- that the foundations of the Admiralty were unsound, but e v e n then he would have found one-h a lf o f th em s till there. Barley 28 34 Dun 36 SI w hi c h some persons h ave sugge s t e d, an d t o p u t au end to given• (Hear.) The second officer to whom my hon. friend Pointed adjutants or quartermasters to the dock Yard bat- stances. it was thought he could no longer serve his coun- was it not possible to find an engineer who could drive in i should thank the First Lord of th e Admir a lty t o inf orm Chevalier ........... 30 37 Beans, Tiok 35 30 t h e system w hi c h was rsscom men d e d b y &comm itt ee of most referred is Lord Clarence Paget. It is true that Lord Cla- tedious; increased retirement allowances have been given to try with credit, it was right and just that he should be put a few piles and make a foundation ?He would take away th e committee whether he intend s t e l a y th e desp a t c h es on Grinding .. ........ 26 32 Harrow ticks 37 0 a w e ',fa cers d ur i ng th e tim e th a t th e D u k e o f Northumber• ranee Paget has not seen the 951110 211101111 t of service as colonels, lieutenant-colonels, and captains ; the fi.xed list of on 0110 side. But in the year 1823 he happened, through the houses of the first lord a,nd of the first sea lord and of th e t a bl e • an d, if so, when e Malt 70 74 Mazagan ....... 34 ,, 0 l an d was a t th e h es e o f th e Ad m i ra lt y , Th e next vote is Cant. Kennel; but it was considered that he and Captain general officers has been placed upon the same footing as the blessing of God, to perform a service that in the opi- the seccnd sea lord, and would, in addition, extend the si r c. WOOD said that there wer e one or t wo p o i n t s t o Chevalier 72 76 Ditto, new... 34 58,982/. for the scientific branch, I n th a t d e p ar t m ent there Henderson, both being most meritorious officers, who had that of the army ; the retired list has been revised ; gra- nion of his commander-in-chief was of a brilliant character, Admi ra lt y i n t o th e gar d ens b e hi n d , w hi c h would then which, before replying to the hen. member's question, he M.1.1.N...... has been an increase of expendit ure , t o w hi c h I think the done good service in the, war, and in consequence of that tnities and peasiens for good service have been extended and for which he recommended him for a Companionnhip afford suffi c i en t room f or th e w h o l e establishment. The desired to allude in the order in which they had occurred COLCHESTER- FEB. 9. country w ill w illi ng ly, assent. Th e h rsh it em i s for aniucrease service had unfortunately been incapacitated by ill-health to this force ; and in the course of the last year two RAH- of the Bath. Owing to the employment in which he was right hon. member for Carlisle once proposed a reformation during the debate. lt had been more than hinted that he A fai r „pply o f w h ea t ; pr i ces 1, to 2, Der hr . lotra g r' o f th e ea t er y o f th e - A s t ronom „ R o y a l. It is now 20 Years for the discharge of further duty, were fullY eligible to re- lery companies were added to it, the officers and men of engaged, his health was so much reduced that his life was of the Admiralty, which the right hon. baronet (Sir C. h a d got some f r iend to write him a letter, gi v i ng a nourish. anti a good businees done. - Barle hea v ;ale at ls P . since eh, Ai rey was anne i nted to t h a t p o sition at a smaller calve this pension. Lord Clarence Paget served in the these companies receiving increased Pay. But the care of despaired of. But in 12 months afterwards his health was Wood) said was opposed by Sir G. Cockburn, That was ing account of the state of the navy ; but for this suspicion eg c hea per , B eans an d pea s 2, c Y h c t . v- - ' ' d Pric o es - t to-dayw_ere as fellow :-Wle:t r , white, 7as . te,t e ; 0 „t au th an hi sere d e 4h l ; r h a d en j o y e d. While he has filled Black Sea, and was also employed en shore in various ways the Admiralty has not been confined to officers only. In restored, and he addressed the Admiralty for employruent. true, and Sir G. Clerk also opposed it, becalm they fore- the re was n o t th e slighteet foundation in truth. Th e l e tt er th a t ° fa ce h e h as ' di s ti ngu i s h e d hi ms elf by various imProve- by Sir E. Lyons until his eyesight comPletely failed him. 1853 the pay of all warrant officere was increased from 20 From the year 1823 to 1852 he continued to offer himself saw what had really taken pnice, that there would be no to whi c h h e h a d referred Wa3 one written 25 y eare ago b y ments in the constituti on o f the Observatory and its appa- I beli eve th a t h e h ne i r r e coverably lost the use of one eye, to 2 5 Per cento and it Wag PrnVided that special pensions for any description of employment, to serve on any station, responsibility upon any one. According to the act of Par- the gallant admiral opposite to the right hon. baronet the re ,7 s o 769 ; barley, his to 40s ; oats, 248 to 281 , h od , ra t us , H e h as s h run k f rom no labour, and hats constantly un- and is in imminent danger ofalso losing the une of the ether ; should lie awarded to them in case they were rendered in- and to accept of any command. He so offered himself hun- liament, he believed there were only two persons who could memb er f or C a rli s l e , a t that time First Lord of th e Ad m i. Mazagan, 38s to 40s ; midtlle and small, 40s to 465; r''" - d er t e k en wor k no t connec t e d with the Observatory'. The cud being, moreover, tie excellent an officer as there is in capable of service bY ill-health or other causes. In 1819 dreds of times altogether, as the records of the Admiralty legally sign at the Admiralty. But both the secretaries ralty. Th e reason w hy h e (Sir C. Wood) b a d r e f erre d t o white, 50 . s to 56s ; grey, 38s to 425. • c h arac t er o f t h a t es t a bli s h m ent now stands as high as, or the navy, we thought a good - service pension would not be the petty officers had new ratings in all ships,land in 1854 wouldshow. Having done all that man could do to obtain signed letters, two lords signed letters, although the act of it was s i m pl y th a t h e d es i re d t o claim the be ne fit o f a d oe . ceiT ej hi g h er t h an th at o f any other establishment in Europe. ill bestowed if it were awarded to him. (Hear.) The sa me they wore divided into three classes, with higher pay, gm- employment. and having failed, he said it was discreditable Parliament Prohibited it. He had received letters signed t r i ne se t f or th i n it_n ame gy, th a t th e stat e o f th e navy Official Statement of the Quantities of Corn, See n re ~..„e ; The cataloeue of stars which the Astronomer Royal h as remar k a ppli es t o the case of Capt. Henderson, who car- tuities , and Pensi°m• Wi , t h resPeet to the seanlen, a new to the Board of Ad m i ra lty t o ro b hi m o f the f a i r hon ours by the secretaries- by two lord s , an d f rom a e i sr k earned might be taken as a fair test of the efficiency of the Admi- in the port of London, from the following ports, ti prepared h a s g e „ a ppealed to without hesitation as th e tainly does not belong to an aristocratic family, an d th ere . rating has been introduced for leading seamen ; additional he had wen in 1823, and to place him on the reserved list Prosy - (a laugh)-froin Mr. Grant, the head of the Vic- ralty. I n r e ply t o th e compl a i n t th a t boys were not t a k en the 4th to the 9th Feb., both inclusive. '1 t and perfect One which exists. (Hear.) He IOTO cannot be said to have received his pension for the Pay h a s been given At the rate of 2d. a-day te men above undecorated and unemployed. The Admiralty said that tualling Department ; from Mr. Dundas, the head of the in sufficient numbers int o the navy, it would suffice to say ------- ---ee • ----.-------.._.,-----e- -- : most comp e e • h a , ame li e d ph o t o graphy to the tekieg of observations, and reason to which Lord Clarence Paget's has be en unj us tly the rating of A. 8.; corporal Punishment has been abolished all the captains could not be employed ; but if the Admi- Stores Department ; and he thought from others ; all of that upw ar d s o f 2,000 b a d b een a dmitt e d i n th e cour se o f C H olches i ter h a , h e r e ihi a t muc h trouble in connexion with the measu r e s ascribed. Capt. Henderson is an office r of v er y f a i r ser . except by sentence of court - martial or for mutiny ; good- ratty kept a few captains year after year with ship after which was contrary to the act of Parliament and ought to th e l as t y ear . A s f or th e i ns i nua ti on o f th e h on . an d g a l- li p a s 5 / I I 4 which have recently been adopted for communicating the vice, although not longer than that ofLord Clarence Paget ; conduct badges have been adopted, and a higher rate of ship, how could he or an y o th er man ge t em pl o y men t ?H e b e p rev „t e d . Th ere Were at present s i, l or d s of the lent admiral opposite, that the Lords of the Admiralty ee has been given the men who have served continuously wanted no pay; he only w a i s t e d the honour and credit of Admiralty. The first lord had the ge nera l surveil- held in private very different opinions with respect to the ::- 4 * i—• correct time to the mercantile marina. He has also taken he was selected by my predecessor in office for the command Pay part in enanY scientifie inquiries ; and it is only right that in the West Indies, tvhere he acquitted himself with ad- f or a long period. Areangements have also been Wade for serving his country. If it were on record that he had b i een hue° of all departments. The senior naval lord took condition of the navy from- tho se which th e y avowed in ' ---)---- —— -; enabling seamen to allot their pay to persons who are not recommended by his com man d er -i n - c h ie f t or th e Coin. charge of the ships and the surveyor's department. One public, he begged to say that, as far as he was himself - ' 57 4 201 the country should in some manner express the sense mirable judgment, discretion, and skill. He was oompelled Y ; concerned, this was not so. He always said what he g:• 15 "" 39e - 491 - - 1 w hich it entertains of the value of his service s . Th e other to return home from ill health, and it wa s myd u ty t o a n ew members of their families-in fact, to whomsoever they panionship of the Bath, and if his late Majesty had written lord had charge of tho victualling &pea l:nea t nominal' 1 i e. prin • cipal item of the increase in this department is a sum him to leave without being previously relieved, in order to Please. When a ship is brought into harbour to be fitted to say he was deserving of the honour, then he said that to another hail charge of the sto res and th e medical depart- thought. (Hear.) With regard to the question of slops, s t o d e a p c a a r r t t m a i e n n t d . e - g r S e i e r r a G a p . o C n s o i c b k l b e u f r o n r h s i a s i d d 0 t p h a a r t t m e s a n e t h , b b e e s e t n w a s i k t h e o d u t t o r c e h fs o r e s s n e c t e h t e o HI Mardon - 60 301 till 6 i) - 824)602? 83 52 353) 5 6 o f 4,2001., required for proouring a n d e rec ti ng a t th e Royal save his life. Under these eircunasta nces I d eeme d hi en leave of absence i 8 now given to the men for a month or six place him on the reserved list was unworthy of the Adini- I ?nent ; while the civil lord had charge of the Accountaet- he could only sey that a numb er o f o ffi cers an d seamen h a d m c o a s t t o: i s a n l d w t h h i a c t h w t h h e i c y h c o t n h s s i y d e h r e a d d _..---g Observatory a more perfect astronomical instrument called not undeserving of a good-service pension. After thes6 ex- weeks, during which time they receive full pay, and they ralty, and conduct that his country would, ha believed, KIRKCALDY-FEB. 9. an equatorial. The equatorial now i n th e Observatory is Planatiens, 1 hardly think that the committ ee , or even th e thus have the opportunity of visiting their families and treat with reprobation. 1 4j o r e d a a w l. a a l s ' Vel inferior to those possessed hy any s i m il ar establishment of hon. gentleman behind me, will rega r d th ese pen s i ons as friends without the less of pay or of time, and they are Sir C. WOOD explaided that he had only said that on a hut it halePene'l often that a commander-ire-chief received c h osen h a d b een a d o pt e d. , t w h o e u r l i d g h a t n h s o w n s . r Moderate supplies of all kinds of grain to-day.- , 0 auy reputation iu Europe, and even to one which has been having been improperly or unfairly bestowed. In the next not exposed, as was formerly the case to the risk of being former occasion the hon. and gallant admiral had coniplained. letters of a contrary natu re , If th e nava l department was Mr. BENTINCK deprecated the practice of appointing market opened slowly for everything, at a reduction.i s • t m h e s n e t o s n la t o r u o l i t i l e r b o e f r s e t s o p r o e n s s , i t b h l s e A f e o c r o a h s i t s s n d t e .. p u a s r t n m e r e a l! a , n u d s Fi h r i st r . L B O r A d l o L f I t s 11 1 E s A h o d p m e i d r a t l h t a y t ga th at e le g in ue a erected by a gentleman i n th e coun t y o f nli go . There vote, for pensions, there is a slight increa se , i n conseq uence caught uP bY crimPs. A uniform sys;em of minor pimish- of the institution of the reserved list on which he wasplaced. to he nroherlY constituted, the Controller of the Victualling a civili.,n to the post, of Fi rs t L or d o f th e Ad m i„l ty. to 53 per qr. on wheat, and ls on barley, oats bri s t about last week's prices -latterly sales were quieken is at Present an opportunity o f obtaining a very per- of the extension of the boon to the widows of offi cers dyin g ments has been established throughout the navy, and a ' That list was not his doing, and it was a matter of fact a n t t i o h n e a alight improvement in prices. feet one with an object-glas s 13 i nc h es in diameter, and from ill health contracted in the service ; but th e main in- "defaulters' book "is kept in each ship. Some hon. gen- that the lion. and gallant admiral had complained. s p h e o p ti a l r d t the Astronomer Royal has proposed to me to take a vote crease in this branch of the expenditure is owing to a change tleman referred the other day to the clothing of the sea- Mr. CAYLEY wish e d t o k no w what alterations the right others, for their re s p ec ti ve d ep „ r t m „ ts , Th a t wou ld enable which he bad put to him. 'MAO Wheat. Barley. f Oats. I - tet . for its purchase and for the erection of the necessary ma- that has been made in the mode of paying seamen their men ; and I may therefore inform the committee that the ho n . gentlema n propo se d t o make with respect to masters. the countrY toidiaPense with three Lords of the Adrairalten Sir C. WOOD said that it wann o t conveni en t t o answ e r First 7ss Od 3firs Od 0 291 ed iSe 0 4 chinery. To that vote lam convinced the house will most out-pensions. The seamen will be placed this year on the Prices of clothing have been revised and reduced, and hon. Sir - C. WOOD-The alteration made is raising the p a y and if a first lo r d an d t wo o th ers were left t o attend to the questions of that description in committee, but he would Second 7os Od 375 Od I 28s Od e l Oe 0 ,1 , willinglyassent. Th e next vote i s 153,795/. for her Majesty's same footing as the army with regard to these pensions, members will find in vete No. lof this estimate no incon- of tw o classe s o f ma s t ers , discipline of the fleet they would have the public ser vice answer it on a future day. Third 503 Od 30s Od I 24s Otl lOs establishments at home. The greater part of the increase in which will be paid to them in advance instead of at the siderable sum proposed as an annual charge upon the pub- Mr. BAILLIE hoped that the first opportunity would be much better conducted. The First Lord of the Admiralty The vote was then agreed to, . __ en -_________ _ thie vote has been rendered necessary by the pressureof work end of the quarter. The next vote is for civil pensions and lic, in order that our sail ors may be furnished with good taken of increasiug the qualification of naval instructors. said on a former night, that nine-tenths of the matter re- A vote of 1,434,730/. for provision for seamen and _ COAL MARKET.- . --FEB. 11. in the dockyards ; but it also includes an item which, as it allowances, and amounts to 147,685/. Thie item so en- clothes at a lower price than their actual cost. The provi- It was very desirable that they should be able to give in- forred to by the hon. member for Bath had nothing to do marines, a vote of 2,0057. lls. 7d. for scientific perposes, may provoke some opposition, I think it right to explain. tirely depends on the health and mortality of the service, sions issued to the seamen have also been improved both struction in the French language. with the navy, and instanced beef and pork, as if the navy and a vote of 20,000/. for the Naval @oast Vol t un eers, Prim,. of Coal per ton at the close of the market. We find that there are in the navy a considerable and the rules which regulate its distribution are so fixed in amount and quality. A great ineproyement has been Sir H. WILLOITGHBY hoped thatsome means would be was not fed upon beef and pork. Some lords of the Admi- were agreed to. s. d. Wallsend, kn. ~ numb er of Ro man Catholic officers and soldiers, and we and unchengeahle that there is verY little variation in its made with regard to the admission of seamen into Greon- devised of placing the power of exceeding the estimates raltY, when first appointed, did not know a brig from a fri- On the vote of 153,795/. for the salaries of officers and s. P thought it was but fair that theY should, when in Port, amount one Year as compared with another. Th e nex t vo t e, wich Flospital. Formerly, owing to careleesness on the under some control. It appeared that in thisyear's expen- gate, and the naval lords were occupied in teaching these contingent expanses of the naval establishment at home, Bate's West Hartley 16 0 0 h ave th e oppor t un it y o f a tt en di n e a t th e perf or m a n ce which is for the trans Port service, is very large ; and, al- part of the admitting officers, a great many men obtained diture no less a sum than 654,000/. had been spent without their duties ; thus it became necessary for heads of depart- Mr. MAGUIRE sa id it was hi s i n t en ti on t o h ave b roug ht Huddle W. Hartley lB 0 Heaton ........... 16 of divine worship according to tEe rites of their own though I propose to take a smaller sum than that which admission into that institution who, I believe, were not en- the sanction of the house. One item of this excess, the ments to sign papers, or the whole machine would stop. forward at a future period what be should now complain Holywell l7 0 H.edley . .............. ......• 0 church. We have, therefore, at e ac h of th e ports, caused appears on tha estimates- viz., 6,971,537/. inclusive of the titled to ita benefits ; but it is !love. provided that none shall expenditure of 435,000 h upon the vote No. 10, he had be- But the Board of Admiralty always told tho house ever Y• of. It was his duty to call the attention of the committee North Percy Hartley _l6 0 Lambton lB 0 16 to be prepared in a ship i n or di nary , accommo d a ti on charge for prisoners of war-yet, even if it s ' hotild so happen be admitted but those disabled bywounds, unless theyhave fore brought under the notice of tho house. thing went on in beautiful order, and then one lord got uP to the unfair distribution of the lel' d't pu lc expen 1 ure as ap- weigni r Primr s Welke o e .........14 6 Russell's Hetton ......... , 9 precisely similar to th a t w hi c h i s p rov id e d f or the that peace is shortly concluded, and the whole of our troops the recommendation of at least 10 years'-gooel servitude. Mr. BENTINCK thought there was a practical absur. and praised himself, and then another praised himself, and plied to England and Ireland. The great national re- "J l5 0 South Hetton ,11 9 16 0 service of our own c h urc h, an d i n th ese s hip s Rom a n can be brought home from the ahores of the Black Sea, it Another change has been made, which ma,y seem of little dity in the system of which the hon. and gallant member every one of them declared that everythieg was carried on sources of the harbour of Cork were neglected, though it Heugh Hall Catholic priests have p er f or m e d service hitherto with- must aevertheless be obvious that there can be little or no importance, but which has proved a great benefit to the for Christchurch (Admiral Walcott) had complained. An in the most perfect manner. But, if they took the trouble was admirably adapted for the building and repairing of Wallsend, etc. Kelloe 17 0 13 out remuneration. I propose to the house that we reduction in-this vote. (Hear.) The freights of most of il T l ' senor. .......e exaniinatious for pensions are now conducted officer was not employed for a Certain number of years, to inquire of any of those who had been at Sonserset-house, ships. He did not, as a beggar, ask that Ireland should HarveY WYlant 16 0 Tees should at each port pay a Roman C • atholic chaplain for the vessels have fallen, and on that account a smaller sum at the outports. Formerly all persons entitled to pensions and at the end of that time ho was told that, because he had but had now left it, and were therefore able to speak out enjoy a portion of thepublic expenditure, but he demanded Ships at market... 103 I Sold the performance of service to the seamen of the fleet. An will be chargeable than was required last year ; but, on were compell e d t o c ome t o Lo n d on for examination, and not been employed, his services should no longer be avail- boldly, they would 'cern that nothing could be more un- it as a right. Of the 3,636,000/. which the house was asked impression having existed that there are in the fleet no the other hand, the sum taken for coals has turned out to hail to find there way here as well as they could. - Under able. Every efficient mania the service might be placed on satisfactory than the state of confusion which at present to vote for Admiralty purposes, only 4,500/. was to be ex- e great number of seamen of the Roman Catholic Persuasion, be inadequate to meet the demands of the service ; and in that system great hardships and expense were entailed the reserved list of the system wore carried out. existed, and that, if a board of the cleverest men in the pended in Ireland. - SEABORNE MAILS. I desired a return to be prepared, showine the number of the ease of many of the other items, such as those for the upon them from which they will now be relieved. An hon. Capt. SCOBELL said, the right hon. gentleman had world were ehosen, it would be impossible forthem to goto Sir C. WOOD said that the hon. gentleman seemed to -----......--_ e nh officers and men who attended the celeaation of divine fitting of the transports, bedding for the troops, forage, ite., member the other night impressed upon us the importance spoken at considerable length, and had alluded to some workefficiently. He sawhon. gentlemen opposite takingnotes think that the public expenditure should be equally dis- (IT signifies that the mails are sent from the General Poste worship according to the ritual of that church, at the three the amounts also proved insufficient. Therefore, lookine to of introducing boys into the service, and seemed to coin- points to which no reference seemed necessary after the and preparing to attack him, but let them go where they tributed over all parts of the country. He (Sir C. Wood) lin the night-and Mby the morning-tiespatch.) great por t s . I find. that yesterday there attended the the larger force that we now have in th e Bl ac k' s ea tt an plain that the eubject had not received sufficient attention ample discussion they had received some nights ago. Pleased, inquire of those comPetent and able to speak, li ve d i n th e no r th o f En g l an d, a n d th e peopl e th ere did no t _ o ne' _____ Roman Catholic service at Sheerness 2 officers and 59 men, we had before, we propose to take a still larger sum than from the Government. If, however, hon. gentlemen will He did not assert that more ships than were necessary had and they would learn that what he had stated was true. consider themselves exceedittgly ill-treated because there Day when naade up prom what V il l and at Portsmouth 120 officers and men. The average num- emperience showed to be requisite for tlie last year. In like look to the estimates, they will find th a t - th e number of hitherto been employed, but when the right hon. gentle- Sir George Cockburn's was a better plan than the one now was no:dockyard in the Humber or Mersey. He thought COUNTRIES. in General Post- Port Wale Ler of those who have attended that service at Plym o uth manner there will be a slight increase in the vote for tho boYs introduced iuto the navy had been increased from man talked of 350 pennants in tho Baltic and 100 in the followed. That ,gallant officer recommended-and he (Sir that dockyards ahould only be formed and maintained at Mice, Loudon.* Dispatched. 1411(1 has been 26 officers and 197 men. It is exceedingly undo- maintenance of prisoners of war, because we h ave more 2,000 to 10,000, B u t I may o b serve th a t it i s no t desirable Black Sea, where there was not now a single cockboat C. Napier) had also often recommended- that the Rear- those places which were most convenient for the public -------" --________ _____. ' D l i terabi t , that the men should be required to land 112 port, as prisoners to keep now than we had last ye ar ; an a we h ave to increase too rapidly that branch of our naval force. The of the Russian fleet, he thought it was rather overdone. Admiral of Great Britain, who held at present a sinecure service, and he did not think that it would be for the con- imerica(byßrit.pitek)N Every Friday .. •• Liverpool ... Fe • such landing eenerally leads rather to attendance at public- to bear the expense not only of those who are in this coon- system of novices entered for the service is also working Let them send out as many small ships as they pleased- appointment, should be placed at Somerset-house at the venience of the public service that dockyards should be emerice. (by United Sts. ( b 11 houses than a a place of public worship; anti I believe it try, but of those who are at Constantinople. As long as extremely well, an d 1 aiii son nava l o ffi cers must observe they were at last doing right in that respect, but ships like head of the Victualling Department, that the whole cor- formed either at Cork or in Scotland, or in the Humber or 4 packet) ......... melee (by U. States •N et •• ••• •• • • Liverpool ... re ' I , n 9 will be very conducive to the discipline . of the service, as these persons remain prisoners of war they must be main- with surprise the skill an d di sc ipline to which youths have the Conqueror and the Marlborough wore too large to be of respondence of that depertment should pass through him, Mersey. He was fully aware of the merits and beauties of packet) ..........N •••.‘ •• • - SOuth,ampte ..e-• welt as to the moral character of the men, that they should tained ; the acceunt can be checked when it comes in, and been brought who were but lately at the ploughtail. Great use in the Baltic, for they could not get near the places and that he should be entirely responsible for its conduct. es n e e ...ore naruour. He must say that a more beau. Lustraita (via South • have the opportunity of attending this service. I, therefore, it would be unwise not to make au ample provision under improvem en t s h ave been effected in the condition of per- which wore to be bombarded. He was glad that a large At the head of the Store and Surveyor's Department should tif u i spot, o r a, better harbour, he had seld o n s see m ampton) ..........M ......... • • Southampton truet that the sum required for that service will be grant e d this head. The committee may, perhaps, like to kuow the sons in ell ranks of the service, from the admiral to the boy increase was to take place in the number of boys, for no be placed the Vice-Admiral of Great Britain, who also He was not aware that the Rosamond steam- Ditto (via Marseilles) N •• .......• • Dover .... • by the house. The next three votes are for the salaries amount of service which has been performed in the course who has just entered ; and I think the committee will do, one could become a good sailor who did not go to se a as a held a sinecure appointment, and who ought also to be sloop had arrived at Cork with a broken shaft. As Hi l t : t o o (via Cape of Goe i t i l .. Crhe°tel'i of officers and wages of seaman in the yards at home and of tho past year by the Transport Board ; and I shall, uot the present, but former boards of Admiralty the justice boy. With regard to the employment of coastguardsnaen, entirely responsible fot the management of those depart- soon as the vessels had returned from the Baltic, tifrieVwo7;Eo . as - t3..N 23d of til e ° monnt... Plymouth . .. Yeb' 6 abroad. Ido not think it is possible to reduce the sums therefore, read to it the number of the tioops who have been to admit th a t they have nct been negligent in the discharge no doubt they waro fine old sailors, and it was very pro- moots. These, he believed, weru substantially the sug- th e Admir a lty had directed that they should b e dispersed Alexandria..........N,S, 9. 24, &30 of m.,Dover .....• i paid for wages. Hon. gentlemen ar e aware th a t du r i ng th e conveyed by sea within that Period. The figures are a s or theirimportant elutiee. There is no class in her Majority's per to put theue on board men-of-war at first, but he gestions of Sir G. Cockblint, and ouo great advantage among the different ports of the country to raiee men. At Alexsaidrla........ _ m '4th 81.; 20th of mon.Sotithampton last year much building has been done by contract ; but follows :-To the Black Sea front Europe-British from navy whose condition has not been improved by the consi- thought they would now be able to get a aalE. would undoubtedly result if they were acted upon. Ever3' - Dublin there were now one ship of the line and two fri- Bahamas ...........millth of the monthiSouthamptorf ~ that is not a satisfactory mode of executing the work. We &elan/1,50,00) • military corps from ditto, 5,00 e; F oi e ie n derate attention of those who preside over the aeltninistra- cient number of seamen at less expense to the body knew how essential it was that the outports should gates ;at Waterford one large steam-thigate ; and at Gal- i n ie r igl i r - " "•• ";;71,is Ittlle o ' r . t . h . ,; • iv., • • ill: • Dover .... .. r e agir is , find that even the largest contractors seldom have an ex- Legion, ditto, 5, 1 000; French from south of France, 26,030 ; tion of that branch of the public service, aided by the country. Older sailor s dial not like to see men be frequently visited• At present, when the Admiralty env a frigate. He hoped that these vessels would be sue- titu az enosnyr ••. e . s:::: • :„„mleth of the mo G n a tin . ' B"thana P t " , 'b l b •ISouthamp ton ke t oe teusive gook of material on hand, and - consequently much Sarehlians from Genoa, 19,000. Total, 105,000. T o th e liber a lity w ith w hi c h thi s h ouse h a s n ae t th e demands that with much larger pay than themselves on board tho same paid such a visit, it was nothing more than & party of cessful in raising MOIL But he must add that the only Capeof Good liop • e ..NI Various port Ilecer uf the timber that is put into even th e sm a ll er vess e l s i s Mediterranean-Militia from England, 5,000. In tho have been made upon it. In 1847 all the regulations relate ship, although they did not say much about it ; anti he Pleasure, and the board ran through the dockyards as fast ••i h* h - h e would ac t up on i n th ese m a tt ers was t o Cape of Good Hope ..N princtp e w ic lb not sufficiently seasoned. More than that, very few c ou . Black Sea and the 31 editennnean-British from the Medi- jog to the dechyanda were revised, anti restrictions were thought it would lie bette r to expend th e amount of their as they possibly could, in a manner whieh Wa3 certainlY do that which was most conducive to the interests of the Cape de Verds .... ..ei 9tli of tha month kloutheanpWr,,Feb• tractors have kept time and delivered the vessels at the ' tarranean, 20,001 ; French hi the Black Sea, 5,000 ; Turks adopted with reeard to the admission and promotion of ar- extra ply in bounty. H e deni e d th a t it was wrong to not calculated to eticit accurate informati on as to what empire at large. (Hear.) * Ceylon (see India) l period at which they promi s ed them. Independeutly of in ditto 58,000 ; Turkish Contingent, 20,000 ; British on tificers• The enmiralty now require from the superinten- mention the subject of bounty-th e error was in not giving went on. Now,' if the- Rear-Admiral of Great Britain Colonel DUNNE said that Ireland had a right to these egit n e . 1 . 1);;s::: • . •• 7.1 f Mon ,Wed.,&Ftle. Sou h L • eel .Tbe the greatenpunctuality insured by such un arrangement, the Black Sea, 20,0e0 ; Kinburn, 3,500. Total, 138,000. dents of the various dockyards an accurate and faithful it. He wished to impress upon the right hon. gentleman were sent down to the outposts, he would be senior in naval establishments, and the time might come when the Chi11..................m ,2d tit . 17th of month Sou t th a sa m u Pw to n f ra I cannot hut think that, both as regards the soundness of Troop 3 moved elsewhere, invalids, Sec., 46,000. Total account of the manner in which that duty is discharged ; the necessity of keeping down the number of cadets. Old rank to all the admirals in conamand there, and would eh Government would see the expediency oftioing herjustice. China .... ;Once a month.... P Feb. I the material 3 u s ed and the superior character of the work- number of trooPs moved within the Year, 291,00 J. (He a rn and the same course is pursued in the caseof tho victualling admiral. and captain e could not be strangled • they must through the different offices, the victualling., the medical, Mr. JOHN M'GREGOR said that he had listened with Constantinople ~„ „N 9 ,13,18,23,&as ot +over ...... tuanship, The interests of the public will be best promoted And lam happy to saY that with the exception of th e yards, factories, and workshops. -These subjects have been be put up with while they were alive, and ca'dets ought, an i other departments, attending, perhaps., a week or ten great satisfaction to the speech of the right hon. gentleman Constantine/ea „„ „ jeth k 20th anion. Southampton , e ,goo by tieing the work as much as possible in our oven dock- burning of a single vessel, this vast amount of work h as carefully considered by a committee appointed by the therefore, to be kept out of the service. From 1812 to the daYs in each Place ; the eice-admiral would tio the same the First Lord of the Admiralty, and bo believed that no Cont. of Europe M& N i Twice daily .. .• .. Dover .. .. .. Tvelv yards, instead of giving it ont on contract, as was custo- been Performed without a disaster. (Hear.) It is only Board of Admiralty, and• during the last 10 years there is present time 2,000 cadets had been admitted, while in the thing ;it would not be necessary for them to drag down a Minister was more anxious to do that which he considered rgifcte(....., 1 no„, . N Twice da11y...• •• Dover ...... Teria ol mary in former times. The amount of repairs necessary to fair that I should hear testimony to the exempla r y cm . not a single branch of the naval service afloat or ashore, saute period not more than half that number of lieutenants whole board with them, with a secretary tacked on to righ t and just than the right hon. gentleman. (Hear, Gibraltar :. .. ...... han, 7, 17, 20, 27 efm. Southamptoe be executed on ships returning from the Black Sea, and the duct and care of the masters of the transport ship 3, whether abi oad or at home, which bag not been the object of revi- had been inede. An average of 15 cadets a year would be their tail; and these persons would send for the various hear.) He (Mr. John M'Gregor) would not go into the Greece (see India) 1 Baltic during the last two yeers was so large that building belonging to the RoYal Navy or to the nser c h an t serv i ce, sion anti improveme n t. In some instances additional ex- quite sufficient for the next 10 years. The right hon. °Moen, and would euten into a thorough examination of question of taxation, for he thought that no change Greytown ...... .. o w ind & 17th of mon. Southampton was to a certain extent diminished, but, as th e committ ee for it was mainly owing to their great skill and dilie ence panditure has undoubtedly been entailed by this process ; gentleman had accused him and other hon. members o f each department inspected by them. Such a visit would could be made in our administrative system until the re- Hemburgh ..........N :FU!NidaY 84 FridaYl . •oodoo ..... .. 1 6, will nu doubt be of opinio n with m e th a t it i s by no m eans that the service hail been so satisfactorily accomplis e hed ; hut the House of Commons have, in successive years, most making erroneous statements.; but, in spite of the right be productive of real benefit, and would lead to much turn of peace. Great injustice had been done in uot nsak- G o av la a t t i n d iah ..........si ituailityo.f.t.he month'tti v thanipton te ai o ily • desirable that in a couutry such as this the art and practice and it cm tainly afforded me much pleasure to hear the liberally met the demands which hav e been made upon hon. gentleman's judgment, expelience, and authority, he greater economy in this portion of the national expendi- ing use of Cork harbour for naval purposes. He would go l nduras • t ...:: •• ::::ti,l7ta t :tin; ....... Sout e lt r a . t . iiiZ 1615011 t of shipbuilding should be allowed to fall into disuse, I truat hon. member for Northamptonshir e (Mr. Stafford) speak them in order to effect these improvement% and I think an would repeat every statement that he had made on former ture. His had convereed frequently with people who had suggest that the eetablishment at Deptford should be re- India (viaSouthi;upt.)ll:4th & 20th of mon. Plymouth ...4 k 2 ° - that you will sauctien, for next year, the sense expeutli. so highly aa he did the other night of the admirable state amPle return is to be found in the present condition of our occasione. The right hon. eentleuian had alluded t o one been Lords of the Admiralty, and, though he ceuld not moVed to Cork. It would be remembered that awing the helia (via Marsoilies)ht 9th&2sth of monthiDover ......) . ture on account of the yard s as i s a t pres en t i n progre en of our transport service. (Hear ) The only other vote is navy. Ido not believe that at any period in the la story of the first naval officers an7l one of the best Lords of the allude to them by Lame, all seemed to agree that the board last war Cork harbour was the great rendezvous for our lonian ehe , (see hewn', 17, &27 of InenDover.... •• 1 gilli (Hear.) The only item in respect of which 1 can entertain one for the packet service, on which there is a small in- of this country our nav a l establi s h men t h a s been in a state Admiralty we ever had-Sir G. Cockburn. Was the as at present constituted was most inefficient. There were commercial fleets whilst waiting for convoy. Ireland ........M & N Twice (Jelly ...• . Hole head ~, Toil* 11117. 9 . 17, 4 27 of rn . .l3 o eta a mpk„ ,g e e, lb a well-fouuded h e p e th a t th ere w in b e a re d uc ti on bef ore crease in consequence of a contract ordered by the 'rites- of greater completeness and efficiency than at the present document left at his death, by an officer of so much expe- more complaints against this board than all tho other boards Mr. MAGUIRE said a more fallacious and flimsy answer I sPare t l i r . a .. ... •........ ...mi9th of the monthSouthanip - toe the close of the year is that which Defers to our establish. sures for Shetlaud aud Orkney. I have now gone through motneut. Look at the improvemeut and development of rience and talent, of no authority ? Why, the right hon. Put together. Look at the wa y i n w hi e h p r i va t e ship s and shiP than that of the right -hon. baronet (Sir C. Wood) bad never atadeira ...I . :. 7. 7. „ N rad of month .... Liverpool ... 'tants in Constantinople and the Black Sea. An burned"- the various items comprised in these estimates ; but I said steam pewe r as appli e d t o our fl ee t. Why, la s t year not gentleman (God giant he might live many yea r s !) mi g ht, ya o rc r ls are managed. Our grfat shipowners had servants who hcen given by any First Lord of the Admiralty. Cork har- Malta (see India) 1 th oughly understood their busines. and the whole system 20' 111 ate reduction is scarcely to be expected, for the committee that I should postpone further remark s up on - th em till 1 a single sailing-ship of war appeared in the Bat ; a i ll we o r f e . rerhaps, f favour b th hm with a little adve h i i n his i wilt- r n a hour was einieently calculated for a dockyard, and, by means r t al n ts iti ....... i ......N IC Is. &28 of mon. Dover .., .... 4 k of management was far better than t i liat of the Ad • It will not fail to bear in mind that, if peace should be con- ceuld present to the committee. in a, single view, the causes either ps . .ddlewheel or screw steamers. All b• b inwe:th- auh i le)-_-- or he . elieved many t a man hl t s rea :..pinio: ne t len .Y. of the electric telegraph, the Admiralty could. eonununicate 54ur r itl a us s (see ni11 . 4) ..N 14th of the - month i i The right hon. gentleman (Sir C. Wood) had quo ed the eluded, we shall have to withdraw the whole of our army of the additional expense in the shape of pa.y, retirement battle ships which are not scrhve steamers ?ere ee t n t i f whi ehe was In °tape. Wi h regard o pr i omo son, with Cork from - Whitehall in the space of one minute. Mexico ... • :.. •• : • .:..mi2nd of the month.. Sonth 10 from the Black Sea and for that reason the amount of allowances, and pensions, which appear., in the estim a t e ,, ; dra.wu from the Black Sea, with one exception- ha . o . a wished to know how it was that many subord nate officers other nieht fro! aI tt fh• bh h 1 9 11_ _eer o 14 pu is et ...6 years ago, Mr. SPOONER asked for somo explanation with regard Naples .........:„ „N sthlSth•4sthertuon. Dover asaPSea Feb. h S';J wer k th rown on thh establi s h men t a t Constantinople will and to do this 1 mast revert to a period that has lon g veieel left as a depot-ship ; and only three or four sailing who had served against the Russians before Sebastopol wen t ames Graham was at the head of th e Admiralty, 7 to the suns charged. for Roman Catholic chaplains for the New Granada .... .. re ell& 17thof monthlSoUth ..... in the first instance be necessarily very great. For this elapsed, because what we are doing now and what has line.of-battle ships are left afloat in our ports, except as had been passed over in favour of men who never saw the in which he said that the welfare of the navy depended so navy. ampter ,p New Zealand .......... ;By Private sIIP .. Various port undo reason, and fur no other, it may be necess a ry to increase been done in the couree of the last year, are merely the store-ships. Thie change has, of conree, been ettended trenches ? The rieht hou. gentleman had reed a letter, much upon the manner in which it was administered, tint Sir C. WOOD said he was prepared to justify that vote, Papal Btates ........2,lsthlsth2hthofmon. Dover ...... the expenditure on account of transports. The next vote sequel and consequences of a series of measures which have with considerabl e expense, but it has added enormoindy to although he did not name the writer, to prove that every. we had only to refer to the discipline of oar ships, and if which, he thoueht, •• Ist 1 • was lig ant pi oper. There were a p peaimla ..........milthl7thi7thofmon.Southatteston _ is for stoves, and it will be seen that upon this item there been in constant progress during the last eight or 1.0 years. tire efficiency ofour /sweet force. Look, too, at our officers. thing was going on as well as possible, but every' First they were found in a high state of efficioney-well built eru .• ............et et & 27th of mon.)Bouthamptest rtel° , °neat number of Roman Catholic sailors seri-hie in the fleet p tN t , Or S. ft...........N fly prelate ship... Various ports ChM is a reduction of about 500,0001., chiefly owi ng t o th e l arge Whatever Government may have been in power during Have they not deserved we:l of their country wherever they Lord cluld get a hundred such letters if he gave out that well fonnd, well officered, and well manned-it might be ' f hom e fee 1 1 ; ' s• ' and. Divine service wars per- Sicily , . Nl s thl s th2sthetutatt Dover ...... supply of some essential articles of storee, the means of that period, a continuous improvement in the condition of have been engaged inoperation s e Have they not maintained he wished for them. He had eome lettere in his possession, surmised that the navy was conducted by just and expo- f in or y erl ) ii7all - e c s a s i et e ' oc n e l rd• r u e to the rit sof the Church of Tailcani.::'''•'''::l„;lsthlsth2sthofinon: Dover .. . psis purchasing which the House of Commons placed last year every class in the navy-from the admiral to the cabin-boy and even increased tho ancient reputation of our navy ? and he should be glad to show them to the right hon. gen. rienced men. But the right hon. gentleman should have Enland, but Of cour;e Ro 1g ' • e • • •. • man Catholic sailors wei e not so- hencniel , ghhhhhhh nie 2d & 17tli oimonth SouthamPto . n . Ikb P at the command of the Admiralty, the main article being -has been steadily going forward from year to year. It The Russian Black Sea fleet, it has been truly said, has tleman, which would prove to him the existence of more quoted further. He went on to say that if, on the other • g 1 d ' I Van Diemen's Land (sei ' h 11 quire( to atten that service, t was most desirable tat a . ~ that most necessary commodity-hemp. It was but natural is much the fashion for hon. gentl emen t o t e n us n i g ht been swept from the sen It is true there may be 2or 3 discontent in the service than he could imagine. With hand, we SaW a geneial relaxation of diecipline, no enaula- Austraiia) ••••••••• •;h g 17 se crsons in tbe fleet should have en o iortunit of ettendine I &OP' W_ est Indies ..... ..m u th of rnonnenouthamaterel _ to expect that the war would interfere with the regular after night that the officers and men of the navy are nog- steamers at Nicholaieff or in the liver Don • but every reseect to the small vessels, he should congratulate the tion, no zeal, and the generality of ships in bad order, or in Divine . worshi Sunday in st;ch N either a:was e‘onsietee p t. and abundant supply of Balti c hemp, and, und er th h e lected and uncared for by the Admiralty ; and I dare Russian ship of war in the Black Sea has been burnt, sunk, Admiralty in finding them better names. Some of them Ino order at all, we might mononnee withees ene...;-.. P en - ' in• _ _ circumstances, an offer was made to the Admiralty of a say that those who make these assertions do so sincerely or destroyed by us or by tho Russians themselves_ We - larhe quantity of Italian hemp, which has been received. believio,, teen 4- 1..,....._ r_ . • • - or five times a-day, so that during the last five years the Surveyor of the Navy had positively lived in a cab— (laughter)—perhaps not slept in it, but he was always riding backwards and forwards from one establishment to the other. One house had been taken from a junior lord, but it took five years to effect that change, and how much longer it would take to get possession of the other house for the public service it.was impossible to say. Some very splendid buildings had recently been erected at Somerset house, and if the money which had been spent there had been applied to extend the Admiralty the whole establish. ment could have been removed to the latter place, and room loft at the former for the Inland Revenue and other departments. He might be told, as was sometimes said, that the foundations of the Admiralty were unsound, but was it not possible to 'find an engineer who could drive in a few piles and make a foundation ? He would take away the houses of the first lord and of the first sea lord and of the seccnd sea lord, and would, in addition, extend the Admiralty into the gardens behind, which would then afford sufficient room for the whole establishment. The right hon. member for Carli s l e once propose d a re f ormat i on of the Admiralty, which the right hon. baronet (Sir C. Wood) said was opposed by Sir G. Cockburn, That was true, and Sir G. Clerk also opposed it, because they fore saw what had really taken place, that there would be no responsibility upon any one. According to the act of Par , hamlet, he believed there were only two persons who could legally sign at the Admiralty. But both the secretaries signed letters, two lords signed letters, although the act of Parliament prohibited it. He had received letters signed by the secretaries- by two lords, and from a clerk named Prosy—(a laugh)—from Mr. Grant, the head of the Vic tualling Department; from Mr. Dundas, the head of the Stores Department ' • and he th oug ht f rom o th ers ; a ll o f which was contrary to the act of Parliament and ought to be prevented. There were at present six lords of the Admiralty. The first lord had the general surveil. lance of all departments. The senior naval lord took charge of the ships and the surveyor's department. One lord had charge of the victualling department nominally ; another had charge of the stores and the medical depart. ment ; while the civil lord had charge of the Accountant- General's department. Sir G. Cockburn said that each lord was to a certain degree responsible for his department, but it happenei often that a commander-in-chief received letters of a contrary nature. If the naval department was to be properly constituted, the Controller of the Victualling Department should be responsible for his department, as should the Controller of Stores, the Accountant-General, and others, for their respective departments. That would enable the countrytoldiepen se with three Lords of the Admiralty, and if a first lord and two others were left to attend to the discipline of the fleet they would have the public service much better conducted. The First Lord of the Admiralty said on a former night, that nine-tenths of the matter re ferred to by the hon. member for Bath had nothing to do with the navy, and instanced beef and pork, as if the navy was not fed upon beef and pork. Some lords of the Admi ralty, when first appointed, did not knew a brig from a fri gate, and the naval lords were occupied in teaching these their duties ; thus it became necessary for heads of depart ments to sign papers, or the whole machine would stop. But the Board of Admiralty always told the house every thing went on in beautiful order, and then one lord got up and praised himself, and then another praised himself, and every one of them declared that everything was carried on in the most perfect manner. But, if they took the trouble to inquire of any of those who had been at Somerset-house, but had now left it, and were therefore able to speak out boldly, they would learn that nothing could be more un satisfactory than the state of confusion which at present existed, aml that, if a board of the cleverest men in the world were chosen, it would be impossible forthem to goto work efficiently. Ho sawhon. gentlemen opposite taking notes and preparing to attack him, but let them go where they pleased, inquire of those competent and able to speak, and they would learn that what. be bad stated was true. Sir George Cockburn's was a better plan than the one now followed. That gallant officer recommended—and he (Sir C. Napier) had also often recommended— that the Rear- Admiral of Great Britain, who held at present a sinecure appointment, should be placed at Somerset-house at the head of the Victualling Department, that the whole cor respondence of that department should pass through bim, and that he should be entirely responsible for its conduct. At the head of the Store and Surveyor's Department should be placed the Vice-Admiral of Great Britain, who also held a sinecure appointment, and who ought also to be entirely responsible for the management of those depart. ments. These, he believed, weru substantially the sug gestions of Sir G. Cockbtirii, and ouo great advantage would undoubtedly result if they were acted upon. Every body knew how essential it was that the outports should be frequently visited. At present, when the Admiralty paid such a visit, it was nothing more than a party of pleasure, and the hoard ran through the dockyards as fast as they possibly could, in a manner which was certainly not calculated to ejicit accurate information as to what went on. Now, if the. Rear-Admiral of Great Britain were sent down to the outposts, he would be senior in rank to all the admirals in command there, and would g o through the differe n t o ffi ces, t h e v i ctualling, the medica, and other departments, spending, perhaps, a week or ten days in each place ; the eice-admiral would do the same thing; it would not be necessary for them to drag down a whole board with them, with a secretary tacked on to their tail; and these persons would send for the various officers, and would enter into a thorough examination of each department inspected by them. Such a visit would be productive of real benefit, and would lead to much. greater economy in this portion of the national expendi ture. He had conversed frequently with people who had been Lords of the Admiralty, and, though he could not allude to them by Lame, all seemed to agree that the board as at present constituted was most inefficient. There were more complaints against this board than all the other boards put together. Look at the way in which private ships and ship yards are managed. Our great shipowners had servants who thoroughly understood their busines. i and the whole s y s t em of management w as f ar b e tt er than that of the Admiralty. The right hon. gentleman (Sir C. Wood) had quoted the other night from a letter of his published 26 years ago, when Sir James Graham was at the head of the Admiralty, in which he said that the welfare of the navy depended so much upon the manner in which it was administered, that we had only to refer to the discipline of our ships, and if they were found in a high state of efficiency—well built, well found, well officered, and well manned—it might he surmised that the navy was conducted by just and expe rienced men. But the right hon. gentleman should have quoted further. He went on to say that if, on the other hand, we saw a general relaxation of discipline, no emula tion, no zeal, and the generality of ships in bad order, or in no order at all, we might pronounce without hesitation that the Admiralty were unjust and partial in their selec tions fur command, that promotions were conferred from political considerations, and that there was a total exclu sion of meritorious old offisters.' He did not mean to say that the navy was in thiS condition now, and he acknow ledged that the right bon. gentlerrian had done a great deal to improve it. Even now, however, its affairs were far from being administered as they ought to be, and there was not a Lord of the Admiralty who did not know this as well as he did. If he mistook not the senior naval lord, with whom he had often held conversation upon the subject, would agree with him upon this point. But he thought he had said enough about the Board of Admiralty. Not that he entertained the smallest hope that it would have any effect upon that house. (A laugh.) Members of the Board would doubtless get up and say, as had always been said when the naval administration was impugned, " The navy was never better conducted than at the present moment." Let the house, however, only order the subject to be examined into by a committee, and he should be infi nitely surprised if they came to the conclusion that the management of the navy was satisfactory. With regard to the construction of the Board of Admiralty, he would appoint a Commander-in-Chief of the fleet, and a Captain of the fleet, with the requisite number of secretaries ; their duties should be restricted entirely to matters concerning the discipline of the fleet, together with the necessary promotions; and the Vice and Rear-Admirals of Great Britain ought to be constantly with them, and to take their orders from them. That was the way in which he would construct the Board of Admiralty. But if Go vernment should continue obstinate arid refuse to adopt his plan upon the notion that all naval officers were unfit to take the first station at such a board, why, then, let them appoint the right hon. baronet at the head of it, and if they pleased let them take two other lords from the benches opposite, but let thbre be a certain number of naval lords who should sit by themselves for strictly naval pur poses. The right hon. baronet had given the committee a survey of all that he hail done for the navy. Many things had been done--some of them good and some bad. During Sir R. Peel's Government he (Sir C. Napier) submitted a plan on which the retiring list should be established. Many of his suggestions were carried out by that Govern ment, but not all of them; nor were those which were adopted effected in the manner he wished. Some time after Caine a new First Lord of the Admiralty, and he pro posed another list. Some'admirals in former days had been forced to retire without adequate pay. The Duke of Cla rence, when he became Lord High Admiral, saw the cruelty of this, and he placed aildho,ee who had retired against their will again on the list. Well, then came another First Lord of the Admiialty, and by him all those who had boon restored from .the retired list were again tak en off, and a ga i n p u t on th e re ti re d li st. If the Government had followed the system he recommended, no man would have gone off the list without his own consent. But there was another plan which-he had proposed, and which he thought,betterin at 'respects,- both for the individuals and for the service itself. There were a great many admirals or the list who were too old for service. Now, his plan would be to do away with all distinctions between vice-admirals and rear-admirals, and to call them, all alike, admiralli, and pay them 5001. a-year ; and when the Admiralty wished to employ an ad miral they could select whomsoever they please I, awl from whatever rank they pleased. This plan might be easily ac complished without costing the country any money what ever. With roepest to the. position of the masters in the navy, that had of late bean very much improved ; but still sufficient encouragement was not given to that very impor tant class of officers. If, as masters, they performed a gal lant action they were eligible to the post of lieutenant, but they only ranked according to the period at which they were appointed, and not according to seniority. Now, he was of opinion that a master who had served sufficiently long to entitle him to the rank of lieutenant, and who by his gallantry in fight etasedetrined worthy of promotion, should not.be obliged to take the rank of lieutenant, but should be at once promoted to the rank of commander. As to bounty, it was his opinion that it would be much better to give 30/. or 40/. to a tried seaman to induce him to enlist than to 'spend it in training a landsman to make him fit for sea. It they were well treated sailors preferred a man of-war to a merchant ship; and he did not doubt that if they gave a bounty they would obtain many more trained seamen than they did at present. It was said that if you gave a bounty the sailors would spend it iu drink. That objection applied with much greater force to the gratuities which were now given upon landing to sailors who had conducted themselves well.' Such gratuities were generally spent in drink, but a bounty would in most cases be ex pended upon necessary clothes and outfit.' The right hon. baronet (Sir C. Wood) had done a great deal of good, and be (Sir C. Napier) hoped that he would persevere. At the same time, he could not attach much importance to the fact that the right hon, baronet never promoted an offs ear without consulting his Board. It was not likely that the Board would refuse to sanction anything W hi c h was re commended by the First Lord. Sir F. BARING defended the system of compelling admirals who had not served a certain period afloat to go upon the reserved list. That rule WS= laid down by the Duke of Clarence when Loid High Admiral, and was afterwards forced upon the Governineut by a com mittee of the House of Commons. He denied tliat officers were employed from political influence. Mr. H. BAILLIE—As naval affairs again engage the attention of the house, I may be permitted to observe that on Friday a cloning I asked the First Lord of the Admiralty a question, to which I hay, Tv 't as vet r oeiived an answer, with reference to the operations of Admiral Stirling in the China seas. I asked whether the 'Feta hon. gentleman was prepared to ley upon the 'a'ele all the p pars and c respondence relating to these toanaaotions ; and that in quiry I now repeat, because a statement ha eon pub lished by Captain Whittineham, which renders explan - lion necealary. Captain•Whittingliam dates that; Admiral They had been told that the Russian fleet was reviewed during the summer before the war under tl eye of the E mperor himself, and that such was its efficienly that in only one instance was the line into which it had been formed. broken. The Emperor was so much gratified at the spec tacle that he nominated the officer who performed the ex ploit a rear-admiral on the spot. Notwithstanding the statement of the gallant admiral near him (Admiral Napier), that the fleet with which he sailed was inefficient, he was confident that it would have met the Russians in a way worthy. of its ancient renown. (Cheers.) He regretted that the right bap. gentleman had thought it necessary to direct a pereonartend unworthy allusion against him. His accusa tion against the Admiralty was not for having placed him upon the reserved list. If, either from age or other circum stances. it was thought be could no longer serve his coun try with credit, it was right and just that he should be put on one side. But in the year 1823 he happened, through the blessing of God, to perform a service that in the opi nion of his commander-in-chief was of a brilliant character, and for which he recommended him for a Companionship of the Bath. Owing to the employment in which he was engaged, his health was so much reduced that his life was despaired of. But in 12 months afterwards his health was restored, and he addressed the Admiralty for employment. From the year 1823 to 1852 he continued to offer himself for any description of employment, to servo on any station, and to accept of any command. He so offered himself hun dreds of times altogether, as the records of the Admiralty wouldshow. Having done all that man could do to obtain employment, and having failed, he said it was discreditable to the Board of Admiralty to rob him of the fair honours he had won in 1823, and to place him on the reserved list undecorated and unemployed. The Admiralty said that all the captains could not be employed ; but if tho Admi ralty kept a few captains year after year with ship after ship, how could he or any other man get employment ? He wanted no pay; he only wanted the honour and credit of serving his country. If it were on record that he had been recommended by his commander-in-chief for the Com panionship of the Bath, and if his late Majesty had written to say ho was deserving of the honour, then he said that to place him on the reserved list was unworthy of the Admi ralty, and conduct that his country would, he believed, treat with reprobation. Sir C. WOOD explaided that he had only said that on a former occasion the hon. and gallant admiral had complained of the institution of the reserved list on which he was placed. ' That list was not his doing, and it was a matter of fact that the hon. and gallant admiral had complained. Mr. CAYLEY wished to know what alterations the right hon. gentleman prop ose d t o ma k e w ith res p ec t t o masters. Sir C. WOOD—The alteration made is raising the pay of two classes of masters. Mr. BAILLIE hoped that the first opportunity would be taken of increasing the qualification of naval instructors. It was very desirable that they should be able to give in struction in the French language. Sir H. WILLOUGHBY hoped that some means would be devised of placing the power of exceeding the estimates under some control. It appeared that in this year's expen diture no less a sum than 634,000/. had been spent without the sanction of the house. One item of this excess, the expenditure of 435,0001. upon the vote No. 10, he had be fore brought under the notice of the house. Mr. BENTINCK thought there was a practical absur dity in the system of which the hon. and gallant member for Christchurch (Admiral Walcott) had complained. An officer was not employed for a certain number of years, and at the end of that time ho was told that, because he had not been employed, his services should no longer be avail able. Every efficient man in the service might be placed on the reserved list of the system wore carried out. Capt. SCOBELL said, the right hon. gentleman had spoken at considerable length, and had alluded to some points to which no reference seemed necessary after the ample discussion they had received some nights ago. Ho did not assert that more ships than were necessary had hitherto been employed, but when the right hon. gentle man talked of 350 pennants in tho Baltic and 100 in the Black Sea, where there was not now a single cockboat of the Russian fleet, he thought it was rather overdone. Lot them send out as many small ships as they pleased— they were at last doing right in that respect, but ships like the Conqueror and the Marlborough wore too large to be of use in the Baltic, for they could not get near the places which wore to be bombarded. He was glad that a large increase was to take place in the number of boys, for no one could become a good sailor who did not go to sea as a boy. With regard to the employment of coastguardsmen, no doubt they were fine old sailors, and it was very pro per to put them on board men-of-war at first, but he thought they would now be able to get a suffi cient number of seamen at less expense to the country. Older sailors dial not like to see men with much larger pay than themselves on board the same ship, although they did not say much about it ; and he thought it would be better to expend the amount of their extra ply in bounty. He denied that it was wrong to mention the subject of bounty—the error was in not giving it. He wished to impress upon the right hon. gentleman the necessity of keeping down the number of cadets. Old admiral, and captains could not be strangled • they must be put up w ith w hil e th ey were a li ve, anti cadets ought, therefore, to be kept out of the service. From 1812 to the present time 2,000 cadets had been admitted, while in the same period not more than half that number of lieutenants had been made. An average of 15 cadets a year would be quite sufficient for the next 10 years. The right hon. gentleman had accused him and other hon. members of making erroneous statements; but, in spite of the right hon. gentleman's judgment, expelience, and authority, he would repeat every statement that he had made on former occasions. The right hon. gentleman had alluded t o one of the fir s t n ava l officers and one of the best Lords of the Admiralty we ever had—Sir G. Cockburn. Was the document left at his death, by an officer of so much expe rience and talent, of no authority ? Why, the right hon. gentleman (God giant he might live many years !) might, perhaps, favour them with a little advice in his will—(a laugh)—for he believed many a man hid his real opinion while he was in office. With regard to promotion, he wished to know how it was that many subordinate officers who had served against the Russians before Sebastopol had been passed over in favour of men who never saw the trenches? The right hon. 'gentleman had read a letter, although he did not name the writer, to prove that every thing was going on as well as possible, but every First Lord ceuld get a hundred such letters if he gave out that he wished for them. Ho had some letters in his possession, and he should be glad to show them to the right hon. gen tleman, which would prove to him the existence of more discontent in the service than he could imagine. With reseect to the small vessels, he should congratulate the Admiralty in finding them better names. Some of them were most wretched, such as the Clinker and Cracker. There was something in a name, for sailors did not like to be put on board the Flincher or Pincher. Surely there were enough gods and goddesses to pick names from. The subject of transports was rather a terrific ono. In the be ginning of the war they were sent out at random, and heaps of money were thrown away. There must be 103 or 150 transports somewhere in the Black Sea and Baltic. The price of them he was told was now somewhat lowered—from 50s. to 40s. per ton per month. Thus, a vessel of 2,000 tons would cost 4,0n01. per month, or 4i,000/. a year, in addi tion to which the Government found coals for the trans port. Why could not men-of-war have been used for the purpose, esnecially since the sinking of the Russian fleet at Sebastopol ? The French carried almost all their troops in men-of-war, and thus saved a great deal of money. With respect to the dockyards, nothing had worked bettor than the system of rewarding merit which had been established for two years, and he only wished such a system existed in the naval and military services. Our ships, ho admitted, were noble machines, but he thought it extraordinary to push on the completion of large vessels when small were wanted. He congratuleted tbe services on the establishment of an order of merit, which would incite officers and men in the performance of their duty more than any other device that could be hit on. It would be more valued than the Order of the Bath or any medal, for the Cross of the Order of Merit would not be given indi.criminately to a whole army or navy, bat only to such individuals as deserved it. The right honourable baronet said that to remove the coasteuard men would create inefficiency in the fleet, and that ob(ervation proved that the Government were obliged to resort to that method of getting men to mix with the landsmen. With respect to the changes to be made in the commanders list, he thought the right hon ourable baronet's motive very good iudeel, hut he (Cap tain Scobell) made some remarks the other night on two classes of retired captains, which the right honourable bait. had misunderstood. Ono class was made of men, many of whom bad been nearly 40 years commanders, and they were pet on the retired captains' list, and got the highest pay of commander. When they were made post-captains they g 103. 6(1. pay and ranked with lieutenant-colonels, and in three years' time afterwards ranked with colonels, but get no higher pay. But the great hardship ou the class was this, that there was another on which younger com manders were put, according to choice, before them. He would not object to any grant necessary for the efficiency of the service, or to any encouragement being given, whether by bounty or pay, for the purpose of obtaining good men. Admiral BERKELEY said that many gallant officers had talked very much on the impropriety of Government re fraining from offering bounty, but he did not believe that if 51. bounty had been offered at the beginning of the war, one able seaman would have been got more that at present for men of war. Those seamen were not to be picked up in the street, and if the Government had c Tired Si. bounty the merchant seryieer would have offered 10/. Ho had been very much surprised to hear an officer like the hon. and gallant member for Bath (Capt. Scobell) advocate the conveyance of troops by men-of-war. The house had been told that the fleets were badly manned and deficient in discipline. Copt. SCOBELL corrected the hon. and gallant mem ber. He had stated that the Black Sea fleet was very well manned, but that the Baltic fleet was the reverse. Admiral BERKELEY thought that an extraordinary statement, seeing that the ships from the Baltic fleet con stituted the best part of the Black Sea fleet. However that might be, it was well known that nothing disarranged the affairs of a ship or interfered with the discipline of a man-of war so much as when a raw ship's company was mixed up with a body of troops. Besides, in order to make room for troops on board a man-of-war she must discharge half her crew, and so, he supposed, it was intended that ships should corns home, land half thei r com p an i es , a nd then retui n to fetch the troops. He was quite sure that the freer men-of war were kept from strangers the better it would be both for the discipline and the comfort of the crews. tiir C. NAPIER, before making any remarks, wished to know whether the right hon. baronet had been correct in saying that the number of seamen and marines to be voted this year was greater than that voted the year before last, as he (Sir C. Napier) imagined there was a decrease? Sir C. WOOD replied that the number of seamen, ma rines, and boys voted in the year alluded to was 70,000, while the vote for the present year was 76,000, an increase consequently of 6,000. Sir C. NAPIER proceeded to congratulate the Govern ment on the statement which he had heard from the right hon. baronet, that there WAS to be a sufficient fleet of gun boats and mortar vessels for the Baltic this year, and he gave the Government the highest credit for making such preparations at last. Having said that, he wished to make a few observations respecting the Admiralty, although ho knew very well it was quite useless for any naval officer in that house or out of it to criticise the conduct of the Admiralty or the construction of the board. The moment such criticism was attempted, up started in defence—first, the First Lord, then the first naval lord, then the secre tary, and soon through all the members of the board in that home. However he would say that it was impossible for the duties of the Admiralty to be well performed while one half of the establishment was at Somerset-house and the other half at Whitehall. When the right hon. 1 aro net the member for Carlisle (Sir J. Graham) reformed the Admiralty, it was, no doubt, his intention that the whole establishment should be at Somerset -house, but he (Sir C. Napier) heard that it was the ladies of the department who objected to the transfer, as they considered White hall more fashionable than the Strand. Every ono con nected with the department, whether First Lord or clerk, must know how impossible it was to carry ou naval duties iu separate buildings, and yet there was no rea son why the inconvenience had not been remedied, only that the Admiralty did not choose to do it. The Surveyor of the Navy was an officer of great importance, and he had to be telegraphed for from Whitehall to Somerset-housefour Thera was indeed a small diminution. The clerks were paid according to seniority, and if a senior retired anti his place was supplied by a junior, there was a small diminution. Mr. WILLIAMS—Has not the expense of postage been. transferred ? Sir C. WOOD—The Admiralty were not responsible for that; it was the act of the Treasury, who thought it advis able that all the postag should appear in one vote. The next vote is 20,0001. for Naval Coast Volunteers. In that there is a considerable reduction. The number of men who have entered has been much smaller than was ex pected. I think it is possible, however, that this establish ment may be turned to more account when the number of sailors employed inthe navy is reduced at the conclusion of peace ; and I am therefore unwilling to adopt the course which some parsons have suggested, and to put au end to the system which was recommended by a committee of most able officers during the time that the Duke of Northumber land was at the head of the Admiralty. The next vote is 58,9821. for the scientific branch. In that department there has been an increase of expenditure, to which I think the country will willingly assent. The first item is for an increase of the salary of the Astronomer Royal. It is now 20 years since Mr. Airey was appointed to that position at a smaller salary than hispredeceasor had enjoyed. While he has filled that office he has distinguished himself by various improve ments in the constitution of the Observatory and its appa ratus. He has shrunk from no labour, and hats constantly un dertaken work not connected with the Observatory. The character of that establishment now stands as high as, or higher than that of any other establishment in Europe. The catalogue of stars which the Astronomer Royal has prepared has been appealed to without hesitation as the most complete and perfect one which exists. (Hear.) He has applied photography to the taking of observations, and has heed at much trouble in connexion with the measures which have recently been adopted for communicating the correct time to the mercantile marina. He has also taken part in many scientific inquiries ; and it is only right that the country should in some manner express the sense which it entertains of the value of his services. The other principal item of the increase in this department is a sum of 4,2001., required for procuring and erecting at the Royal Observatory a more perfect astronomical instrument called uu equatorial. The eq ua t or i a l now in the Observatory is inferior to those possessed by any similar establishment of any reputation iu Europe, and even to one which has been erected by a gentleman in the county of Sligo. There is at present an opportunity of obtaining a very per fect one with an object-glass 13 inches in diameter, and the Astronomer Royal has proposed to me to take a vote for its purchase, and for the erection o f the nec e ssary ma chinery. To that vote lam convinced the house will most willinglyassent. The next vote is 153,7951. for her Majesty's establishments at home. The greater part of the increase in this vote has been rendered necessary by the pressure of work in the dockyards ; but it also includes an item which, as it may provoke some opposition, I think it right to explain. We find that there are in the navy a considerable number of Roman Catholic officers and soldiers, and we thought it was but fair that they should, when in port, have the opportunity of attending at the performance of divine worship according to the rites of their own church. We have, therefore, at each of the ports, caused to be prepared in a ship in ordinary, accommodation precisely similar to that which is provided for the service of our own church, and in these ships Roman Catholic priests have performed service hitherto with out remuneration. I propose to the house that we should at each port pay a Roman Catholic chaplain for the performance of service to the seamen of the fleet. An impression having existed that there are in the fleet no great number of seamen of the Roman Catholio persuasion, I desired a return to be prepared, showing the number of officers and men who attended the celebration of divine worship according to the ritual of that church, at the throe great ports. I find that yesterday there attended the Roman Catholic service at Sheerness 2 officers and 59 men, and at Pertsruouth 120 officers and men. The average num her of those who have attended that service at Plymouth has been 2G officers and 197 men. It is exceedingly unde sirable that the men should be required to land in port, as such landing generally leads rather to a tt en d ance a t public houses than at a place of public worship; and I believe it will be very conducive to the discipline of the service, as well as to the moral character of the men; that they should have the opportunity of attending this service. I, therefore, trust that the sum required for that service will be granted by the house. The next three votes are for the salaries of officers and wages of seaman in the yards at home and abroad. Ido not think it is possible to reduce the sums paid for wages. Hon. gentlemen are aware that during the last year much building has been done by contract ; but that is not a satisfactory mode of executing the work. We find that even the largest contractors seldom have an ex tensive stock of material on hand, and consequently much of the timber that is put into even the smaller vessels is riot sufficiently seasoned. More than that, very few con tractors have kept time and delivered the vessels at the period at which they promised them. Independently of the greater.punctuelity insured by such an arrangement, I cannot hut think that, both as regards the soundness of the materials used and the superior character of the work manship, The interests of the public will be best promoted by doing the work as much as possible in our oven dock yards, instead of giving it out on contract, as was custo mary in former times. The amount of repairs necessary to be executed on ships returning from the Black Sea and the Baltic during the last two years was so large that building was to a certain extent diminished, but, as the committee will nu doubt be of opinion with me that it is by no means desirable that in a country such as this the art and practice of shipbuilding should be allowed to fall into disuse, I trust that you will sauctian, for next year, the same expeutlie ture on account of the yards as is at present in progress. (Hoar.) The only item in respect of which I can entertain a well-founded hope that there will be a reduction before the close of the year is that which refers to our establish meets in Constantinople and the Black Sea. An immedi ate reduction is scarcely to be expected, for the committee will not fail to bear in mind that, if peace should be con cluded, we shall have to withdraw the whole of our army from the Black Saa, and for that reas on th e amoun t o f work thrown o n th e establishment at Constantinople will in the first instance be necessarily very great. For this reason, and fur no other, it may be necessary to increase the expenditure on account of transports. The next vote is for atoms, and it will be seen that upon this item there is a reduction of about 500,0001., chiefly owing to the large supply of some essential articles of stores, the means of purchasing which the House of Commons placed last year at the command of the Admiralty, the main article being that most necessary commodity—hemp. It was but natural to expect that the war would interfere with the regular and abundant supply of Baltic hemp, and, under thee circumstances, an offer was made to the Admiralty of a large quantity of Italian hemp, which has been received, and which has proved of excellent quality. Five hundred tons of Hungarian hemp were also offered to the Admi ralty, and we thought it advisable to accept them, not only that we might insure an ample stock of so essential an article, but because it is desirable to extend the area of supply, and so sec urn the double advantage of a larger market and a cheaper price. In 1854 Baltic hemp was sold at 66'. per ton. 6,600 tons of the Italian article have been purchased sinue then, and the result has been that Baltic hemp has fallen to 441. the ton. In other words, a reduc tion of more than 201. per ton has been effected in the price of the Baltic hemp by the act of the Admiralty in buying the Italian commodity, which turns out to be of a very good quality. We have now doubled the stock we had on hand at the beginning of last year, and are therefore inde pendent of any unfavourable contingency that may here after arise. Having two years' supply in our stores, we should not suffer inconvenience, even though the sources heretofore open to us were now to be closed. Copper is another important commodity, of which, that it might be at hand in any required quantity fur' the purposes of the dockyards, we last year laid in so large a stock that we can of to make a considerable reduction in the supply now demanded. The item which relates to the purchas ing and repairing of steam machinery for the construction of steam-ships is necessarily a, very heavy one, for, inde pendently of works that may be hereafter projected, wo shall have to pay a large sum for vessels already ordered. (Hear, hear.) It is to be understood, therefore, that this vote does wit refer merely to immediate objects, but that a large portion of the expenditure is due on account of work which will not be completed till within the course of next year. (Hoar, hear.) The large increase in the number of steamships frequenting the Baltic rendered it unavoidable that there should be a proportionate augmen tation of the expenditure on account of coal. However, I mean to ask for something less than appears on the face of the estimates. (Hear.) lam not in a position to make a sweeping reduction, but I propose that, instead of 3,500,0001., as originally intended, we shall take under this head a vote fur 3,000,000/. (Hear, hoar.) I need scarcely observe that the introduction of steam is causing a com plete revolution in the mechanism of the navy. Fully one-third of the expense of a new ship is now due to the ntachiuery, and I think I should be justified in computing that a screw ship of 90 guns will cost three to two com pared with a sailing vessel. (Hear.) It is obvious that I such a system of naval architecture demands extraordinary weans and appliances, and renders it necessary that there shall be factories, anti new machinery of a costly and com plicated character, iu all your dockyards, Nevertheless, we have heretofore had regard to economy, and I am sure that naval men, who have a practical knowledge of such subjects,. will concur with we hi thinking that we have rather When short of thee exceeded the demands of the service in this respect. The increased size of vessels ren ders it necessary to enlarge the proportions of the docks ; and in foar of the yards we are at the present moment in curring coueiderable expense fur the purpose of extending the docks in such a manner as to enable them to accom modate the longer vessels which the invention of steam has ntroduc e d. Fur some years baek it has bee n th e p rac ti ce of all the Admiralties to promote as much as possible the introdu c ti on of mach ineryinto the dockyards. This de wable an objeet will b e materially promoted by the vote me to it this y ear, an d I era particularly anxious that the committee should that r in mind that of h a large item is d ue on account vote for ma chinery, which will i mprove the work dene in the yards, and, by economising labour, eventually diminish the cost of production. Another item in this t otei s for the build ing of marine barracks at the head -quarters %ars of the various divisions of marines. (Hear. an expenditure which I doubt net the committee will h ho n rialetrovaeo, a fo l r o t o h r e marines have d one goo d serv i ce t o the co dially concu r i u th e h ope expressed by the ri m ' tloman who pr ece d e d me in office, that no Government -g w e n - 1 take so injudiciou s a step as to reduce the numerical strength of that valuable branch of the service. They h ave at all timeebeen most useful as far as, The discipline of war ships is concerned, and en many occasions, recently as fo r . merly, they have proved that they are not inferior to sailors afloat or to soldiers on shore. The sanitary arrange ments of these barracks will necessarily involve some slight additional expenditure, but this consideration will not, I am sure, ava il a gainst impro vements which modern en lightenment renders indispensable. The next vote is for the medical supplies of the navy, and under that head I pro posed the same votes as last year-55,0001. On the miscel laneous votes I do not know that it will be possible to make any considerable reduction. They are pretty muc h the same as last year, the only material increase of a assbei s n ta g t t e ha o t f occasioned by leg a l proceedings arising out blockade. I now come to the vote for half-pay. Here there is an increase which was inevitable under the circum stances, and which will, I trust, be a sufficient answer to thy hon. and gallant friend near me (Captain Scobell), and setisfy him that we have not been niggardly tioue we have made in consequence of the war. The m in the promo creased expenditure under this head is simply attributable t o the fact that a number of officers have been promoted or gallant services since the commencement of hostilitioa. Ou this account alone 100 lieutenants were last year pro moted to the rank of commanders, and, although there may be in conseqeence4 greater number of commanders on the list than can at the present moment be employed, there is no one, I am p ure, who will deny the justice and expo diency ef giving to these officers the advancement to which, by their merits, they are manifestly entitled: On these sad some other , items I shall make so further observa tions byte and bye; but I Nave them for ra the present and pass on the other. „votes. I come, then, to the good service penejolm Tlie pe h n o s n i; nesenutpleemn oanoiffimotdr officers °J o t e p t a l r u t i p o o o n . the bestowal of these lar, and, although he did not mention their names, nobody to identify the indivi referring to thteestimates could fail duals to whom he alluded. It would therefore be needless delicacy on nay part to withhold the names of those two officers, while I give the reason for our bestowing these rewards upon them. The first of them is Captain Keppel, who has seen more active service than almost any other officer of his rank ; and if my hon. friend behind me were to poll the entiee navy, he would find its unanimous opin ion to be that there is not a better, more gallant, or more deserving officer in the service. (Hear.) Capt. Koppel has distinguished himself on every occasion in which his ser vices have been called into requisition, the most recent in stance of this having occurred during his command of the Naval Brigade before Sebastopol, and, if such a mark of honour is to be conferred at all, I declare I do not know au officer on the list to whom it could be snore appropriately given. (Hear.) The second officer to whom my hon. friend referred is Lord Clarence Paget. It is true that Lord Cla rence Paget has not seen the same amount of service as Capt. Keppel; but it was considered that he and Captain Henderson, both being most meritorious officers, who had done good service in the, war, and in consequence of that service had unfortunately been incapacitated by ill-health for the discharge of further duty, were fully eligible to re ceive this pension. Lord Clarence Paget served in the Black Sea, and was also employed en shore in various ways by Sir E. Lyons until his eyesight completely failed him. I believe that he has irrecoverably lost the use of one eye, and is in imminent danger ofalso losing the use of the ether; and being, moreover, as excellent an officer as there is in the navy, we thought a good-service pension would not be ill bestowed if it were awarded to him. (Hear.) The same remark applies to the case of Capt. Henderson, who cer tainly does not belong to an aristocratic family, and there fore cannot be said to have received his pension for the reason to which Lord Clarence Paget's has been unjustly ascribed. Capt. Henderson is an officer of very fair ser vice, although not longer than that of Lord Clarence Paget ; he was selected by my predecessor in office for the command in the West Indies, where he acquitted himself with ad mirable judgment, discretion, and skill. He was compelled to return home from ill health, and it was my duty to allow him to leave without being previously relieved, in order to save his life. Under these circumstances I deemed him not undeserving of a good-service pension. After thes6 ex planations, I hardly think that the committee, or even the hon. gentleman behind me, will regard these pensions as having been improperly or unfairly bestowed. In the next vote, for pensions, there is a slight increase, in consequence of the extension of the boon to the widows of officers (lying from ill health contracted in the service ; but the main in crease in this branch of the expenditure is owing to a change that has been made in the mode of paying seamen their out-pensions. The seamen will be placed this year on the same footing as the army with regard to these pensions, which will be paid to them in advance instead of at the end of the quarter. The next vote is for civil pensions and allowances, and amounts to 147,6851. This item so en tirely depends on the health and mortality of the service, and the rules which regulate its distribution are so fixed and unchengeable that there is very little variation in its amount one year as compared with another. The next vote, which is for the transport service, is very large; and, al though I propose to take a smaller sum than that which appears on the estimates— viz., 6,971,537/. inclusive of th e charge for prisoners of war —y e t , even if it s hould so happen that peace is shortly concluded, and the whole of our troops can be brought home from the shores of the Black Sea, it must nevertheless be obvious that there can be little or no reduction in this vote. (Hear.) The freights of most of the vessels have fallen, and on that account a smaller gum will be chargeable than was required last year; but, on the other hand, the sum taken for coals has turned out to be inadequate to meet the demands of the service ; and in the case of many of the other items, such as those for the fitting of the transports, bedding for the troops, fera'e, &e., the amounts als o p rove d i nsuff i cient. Therefore, looking to the larger forc e th a t we now have in the Black' Sea than we had before, we propose to take a still larger sum than (experience showed to be requisite for the last year. In like manner there will be a slight increase in the vote for the maintenance of prisoners of war, because we have more prisoners to keep now than we had last year; and we have to bear the expense not only of those who are in this coun try, but of those who are at Constantinople. As long as these persons remain prisoners of war they must be main tained ; the account can be checked when it comes in, and it would be unwise not to make au ample provision under this head. The committee may, perhaps, like to know the amount of service which has been performed in the course of the past year by the Transport Board ; and I shall, therefore, read to it the number of the troops who have been conveyed by sea within that period. The figures aro as follows :—To the Black Sea from Europe—British from England, 50,00) 1 • military corps f rom di tto, 5 ,000; Foreign Legion, ditto, 5,000; French from south of France, 26,000 ; Sareitnans from Geno a , 19,000 . T otal, 105,000. To the Mediterranean—Militia from England, 5,000. In this Black Sea and the Mediterranean —British from the Medi terranean, 20,00 r ; French iu the Black Sea, 5,000 ; Turks in ditto, 58,000 ; Turkish C on ti ngen t, 20 , 000 ; B ritish on the Black Sea ' 20,000 ; Kinbur n , 3,500. T ota l , 133,000. Troops moved elsewhere, invalids, Ssc., 46,000. Total number of troops moved within the year, 291,00 J. ((sear.) And lam happy to say that with the exception of the burning of a single vessel, this vast amount of work has been performed without a disaster. (Hoar.) It is only fair that I should bear testimony to the exemplary c in duct and care of the masters of the transport ships, whether belonging to the Royal Navy or to the merchant service, for it was mainly owing to their great skill and diligence that the service has been so satisfactorily accomplished ; and it certainly afforded me much pleasure to hear the hon, member for Northamptonshir e (Mr. Stafford) speak so highly as he did the other night of the admirable state of our transport service. (Hear) The only other vote is one for the packet service, on which there is a small in crease in consequence of a contract ordered by the Trea sury for Shetland acrd Orkney. I have now gone through the various items comprised in these estimates • but I said. that I should p os tp one f urt h er remarks upon 'them till I cauld present to the committee. in a single view, the causes of the additional expense in the shape of pay, retirement allowances, and pensions, which appears in the estimates ; and to do this I mast revert to a period that has long elapsed, because, what we ar e d o i ng now and what has been done in the course of the last year, are merely the sequel and consequences of a series of measures which have been in constant progress during the last eight or 10 years. Whatever Government may have been in power (luring that period, a continuous improvement in the condition of every class in the navy—from the admiral to the cabin-boy —has been steadily going forward from year to year. It is much the fashion for hon. gentlemen to tell us night after night that the officers and men of the navy are neg lected and uncared for by the Admiralty; and I dare say that those who make these assertions do so sincerely believing them to be true, from not having taken the trou ble to inquire into the facts. I feel it, therefore, my duty, in justice, not so much to myself as to those boards which have preceded me, to go through the various improvements which have been made in the condition of every officer and every man in the navy. My hon. friend behind me refer red the ether evening to the number of admirals, but be mixed up with the active list the reserved list of admi rals, of which the vacancies will- smut be filled up. The number of admirals apon the" active list was fixed by order in Council, in 1351, at n 6, and at the same time 10 reserved service pensions of 150/. a year were assigned to such admirals as were willing to have their names taken off the list. With regard to the captains, by order in Couucil the number was fixed at 3:o—the reduction to that amount being gradual, as officers attained the head of the list. I know that my hen. and gallant friend oppo site complains that his name appears on the reserved list. [Admiral WALCOTT—" I did."] Bat unless that course were adopted, it would be impossible to bring the number of officers down to a number consistent with a state of peace. (Hear, hear.) To use, perhaps, a strong term, besides being deceitful, it disgusts the public to see a large number of admirals and captains on the active list, when it is perfectly well known that a very small number only eau be employed. %What was done was this—a re served list of admirals was made, consisting of captains who had not served their time, rising in rank, but with the pay only of -rear-admirals. In 1346 there were 200 retired admirals and - captains, 55 years of age, and 10 years' standing, on the captains' list s and that number has been kept fall up to the present time. There are two modes by which captains may go upon the reserved list. If they get sufficiently high in the list they may take the half-pay of 255. a-day as rear-admirals ; and if they choose they may retire, after 10 years' service, with pay rising from 18s- to IL a-day. In the course of the present year a change has been made in the mode of paying captains. Instead of being paid according to the rate of the ship its which they are employed, they are paid according to their standing on the capt a i ns ' li s t. It may b e d es i ra bl e, on account of the importance of the command, to employ a captain of high standing in a small ship, and I think it would be a great injustice to give the lower rate of pay. It is, therefore, now provided that captains shall bo paid according to their standing on the list, in whatever size ship they may serve, and, at the same time, we have raided the pay of the lower class of captains of all below the first 170, because we thought it not adequate to meet the expenditure which in these days they may be called upon to make. (Hear.) With regard to the next list, that of commanders, the number in 1851 was fixed at 450. A certain number were placed on the reserved list, and 50 were promoted to be reserved captains by selection, with the lowest grade of half-pay as captains. At the same time 50 additional retirements were given to commanders by seniority, making, with the 50 retirements in 1840, 100 retirements for commanders. They have boou receiving the lowest half-pay of captains, and Ido not think that adequate retirement. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) There should be large means of retirement for that class of officer, because it is a step most anxiously sought by lieutenants, and the natural tendency is to accumulate on the commanders' , liet fur more officers than can be employed. We therefore added 50 moi-e to the number, to be promoted by selection, to be'reserved cap taine, and 150 more to those rising to the rank of seniority. There aro thus 250 commanders who rise to the position of reserved captains by seniority, to be reduced ultimately to 200 ; and it is arranged that those appointed by selection shall not be appointed all at once, but at the rate of 15 per annum until the whole number is completed. With regard to lieutenants, the number was fix e d by or d er i n C ouncil in 1851 at 1,200, and the number is about that at present. Power was also given in 1851 to promote 50 by selection to be reserved commanders, with the lowest half-pay of com mander. That was felt to be a great boon, and I propose to double the number. This i s one o f the sources of in crease in the half-pay vote; but I think it only jest and fair to the officers, while it is equally fair and beneficial to the public. [" Hear," from Mr. Williams.] In 1846 half- Pay was given to mates after three years' service if they were unable to obtain or were unfit for service, but before that they were sent away without any half-pay at all. With regard to midshipmen, one great change was made 1 in 1850, rendering indispensable examination at the end of four years, and two years' sea service, subsequent to pass ing that ex amination before they becam e ma t es . I come next to the cla ss of masters. A more meritorious class of officers does not exist, and they have not been neglected by successive Boards of M in i raltey . In 1646 a regul a tio n was made that the time as master should count as lieutenants' time to qualify for promotion to the rank of commander. In 1855 it was arranged that masters should be paid by ser vice and not by rate, theirf u ll pay was raised their half-pay was raised, and ample means of retirement were given, if a ft er 20 years as ca pt a i n. In the present year it is they qua lified for first or second rat e . after 15 years as cons maniler,Proposed, and the proposal only waits the sanction of the Treasury, and an order in Council—to further increase the pay of two classes of masters. I should also mention that in 1852 half-pay was given to second masters if unfit for service or unemployed, in the same manner as to mates. The next class aro the engineers, They have been in a very anomalous positi on , i ncidental to the comparatively recent a pplication of steam to the navy, and they naturally desire to be placedeen a permanent footing. A measure is we p ir, ed and waiting only th e sanction of the Treasury, which places them substantially on the same footing as masters. They are divided into classes like masters ; the same pay; they will have they will be entitled to the same half-pay; they will have similar pensions granted to their widows and families, and will wear the same uniform. An order in Council was passed in the present year increasing to a cer tain extent the full pay of chaplains. An order has been also lately passed, increasing the half-pay of naval instruc tors, after 15 years' service, and giving retirement after 20 years' service. With regard to medical officers, in 18':5 inspectors and deputy-inspectors had an advantage in point of time granted towards retirement; staff-surgeons received higher pay in certain temporary situations; assistant-sur geons had an additional is. a-day, were placed in the ward room mess, and had cabins when possible. These has been a great change made in the condition of secretaries and pay masters. They used to be paid by percentage, which led to great abuses. Th e y h ave b een placed on a rate, with half-pay of 10s. Gd., and an addition of 2s. on retirement. For as sistant-paymasters and clerks there is a new scale, with half-pay if they are unfit or unemployed. It has also been determined that pensions shall be given to the widows of officers who die from disease while on service. With regard to the marines, non-commissioned officers have been ass pointed adjutants or quartermasters to the dockyard bat talions; increased retirement allowances have been given to colonels, lieutenant-colonels, and captains ; the fixed list of general officers has been placed upon the same looting as that of the army; the retired list has been revised; gra tuities and pensions for good service have been extended to this force ; and in the course of the last year two artil lery companies were added to it, the officers and men of these companies receiving increased pay. But the care of the Admiralty has not been confined to officers only. In 1853 the pay of all warrant officers was increased from 20 to 25 per cent., and it was provided that special pensions should be awarded to them in case they were rendered in capable of service by ill-health or other causes. In 1819 the petty officers had new ratings in all shipsjancl in 1854 they wore divided into three classes, with higher pay, gra tuities, and pensions. With respect to the seamen, a new rating has been introduced for leading seamen ; additional pay has been given at the rate of 2d. a-day to men above the rating of A. 8.; corporal punishment has been abolished except by sentence of court-martial or for mutiny; good conduct badges have been adopted, and a higher rate of pay has been given the men who have served continuously for a long period. Arrangements have also been made for enabling seamen to allot their pay to persons who are not members of their families—in fact, to whomsoever they I please. When a ship is brought into harbour to be fitted leave of absence is now given to the men for a month or six weeks, during which time they receive full pay, and they thus have the opportunity of visiting their families and friends without the less of pay or of time, and they are not exposed, as was formerly the case, to the risk of being caught up by crimps. A un if orm system of minor punish ments has been established throughout the navy, and a "defaulters' book" is kept in each ship. Some hon. gen tleman referred the other day to the clothing of the sea men ; and I may therefore inform the committee that the prices of clothing have been revised and reduced, and hon. members will find in vote No. 1 of this estimate no incon siderable sum proposed as an annual charge upon the pub lic, in order that our sailors may be furnished with good clothes at a lower price than their actual cost. The provi sions issued to the seamen have also been improved both in amount anti quality. A great improvement has been made with regard to the admission of seamen into Green wich Hospital. Formerly, owing to carelessness on the part of the admitting officers, a great many men obtained admission into that institution who, I believe, were not en titled to its benefits ; but it is now provided that none shall be admitted but those disabled by wounds, unless they have the recommendation of at least 10 years'.good servitude. Another change has been made, which may seem of little importance, but which has proved a great benefit to the sailor. The examinations for pensions are now conducted at the outposts. Formerly all persons entitled to pensions were compelled to come to London for examination, and bad to find there way here as well as they could. Under that system great hardships and expense were entailed upon them from which they will now be relieved. An hon. member the other night impressed upon us the importance of introducing boys into the service, and seemed to com plain that the subject had not received sufficient attention from the Government. If, however, hon. gentlemen will look to the estimates, they will find that the number of boys introduced into the navy had been increased from 2,000 to 10,000. But I may observe that it is not desirable to increase too rapidly that branch of our naval force. The system of novices entered for the service is also working extremely well, and lam sure naval officers must observe with surprise the skill and discipline to which youths have been brought who were but lately at the ploughtail. Great improvements have been effected in the condition of per sons in all ranks of the service, from the admiral to the boy who has just entered ; and I think the committee - will do, not the present, but former boards of Admiralty the justice to admit that they have nct been negligent in the discharge of theirimportant duties. There is no class in her Majesty's navy whose condition has not been improved by the consi derate attention of those who preside over the administra tion of that branch of the public service, aided by the liberality with which this house has met the demands that have been made upon it. In 1847 all the regulations relat ing to the dockyards were revised, and restrictions were adopted with regard to the admission and promotion of ar tificers. The Admiralty now require from the superinten dents of the various dockyards an accurate and faithful account of the manner in which that duty is discharged ; and the same course is pursued in the case of the victualling yards, factories, and workshops. These subjects have been carefully considered by a committee appointed by the Board of Admiralty, and during the last 10 years there is not a single branch of the naval service afloat or ashore, abi oad or at home, which has not been the object of revi sion and improvement. In some instances additional ex penditure has undoubtedly been entailed by this process; but the HOUS3 of Commons have, in successive years, most liberally met the demands which have been made upon them in order to effect these improvements, and I think an ample return is to be found in the present condition of our navy. Ido not believe that at any period in the k story of this country our naval establishment has been in a state of greater completeness and efficiency than at the present moment. Look at the improvement and development of steam power as applied to our fleet. Why, last year not a single sailing-ship of war appeared in the Baltic, all were either paddlewheel or screw steamers. All the line-of battle ships which are not screw steamers hare been with drawn from the Black Sea, with one exception—that of a vessel left as a depot-ship ; and only three or, four sailing line 'of-battle ships are left afloat in our ports, except as store-ships. This change has, of course, been ettended with considerabl e expense, b u t it h as added enormously to the efficiency of-our 732Y.11 force. Look, too, at our officers. Have they not deserved well of their country wherever they have been engaged inoperations? Have they not maintained and even increased the ancient reputation of our navy ? The Russian Black Sea fleet, it has been truly said, has been swept from the sea. It is true there may be 2or 3 steamers at Nicholaieff or in the river Don • but every &lesion ship o f war i n th e Bl ac k S ea has been burnt, sunk, or destroyed by us or by the Russians themselves. We have destroyed the vessels that were employed to convey Russian stores, an from Odessa to the Straits of Kertch, and throughout the Sea of Azoff, not a Russian ship of any size remains. Along the entire coast the destruction of stores by our fleet was enormous, and there were per formed in various instances exploits worthy of the proudest days of the British navy. At one point 200 sailors landed in the face of from 3,000 to 4,000 Russians, boat them off, and destroyed an immense amount of stores for miles along the shore. One consequenee of all this—aod that a most important one—was an exorbitant rise in the price of pro visions to the Russian Government. Only this morning I received a communication which shows how completely the means of communication had been interrupted. It is there stated that while wheat was selling at 15s. per quarter at Taganrog it was 30s. a quarter at .Rostoff, a circum stance which can only be accounted for by the impossibility of keeping up a communication between the two places. My hon. friend (Mr. Williams) says the Baltic fleet came home having done nothing. • I believe, on the contrary, everything was done that could have been reasonably ex pected. At Sweaborg, to which reference has been made, I believe everything that was inflammable was destroyed —nothing that could be burnt escaped destruction. For five days the bombardment was sustained, and everything combustible in the place was reduced to ashes. It is im possible to tell exactly how many of the enemy fell, but I believe that in one explcs'on not fewer than 1,000 men were destroyed. Indeed, nothing could exceed the gal lantry or the precision and skill with which the marine artillery conducted themselves on this occasion. As at all the other ports of the Baltic Sea, no Russian ships wore allowed to swim ; public buildings were everywhere burnt ; every vessel that made its appearance, and was an object of hostility, was either taken or destroyed, and yet all this was done with a proper regard to private pro perty. I confess Ido not think that these services deserve the censure which the hon. gentleman has conferred upon them. (Hear, bear.) I think they were most able, - skil ful, and effective services. (Hear, hear.) It is stid, why was not Cronstadt attacked ? On this point I may state that wo had not, with regard to small vessels, the support ou which we at first calculated. An agreement had been made between the French and English Governments ti send au equal number of floating batteries to the Baltic. After wards the French Government changed its views as to the best mode of carrying on the war, and they sent their floating batteries to the Black Sea; but, although we had the number intended, yet the whole number originally agreed upon was not sent. In every other respect, how ever, what we meant to execute was performed, and I may state that throughout the roost perfect cordiality existed between the navel commanders•in-chief of the two coun tries. (Hear, hear.) They rivalled each other only in their desire to discharge all the duties imposed upon them and in their zeal for their respective services. the only jealousy—the only difference—being which of them should be foremost in any undertaking which they had to accom plish. (Hear.) L ean assure the house that the Government WAS roost anxious to provide ample moans for carrying on the service much more vigorously and efficiently than pre viously, and, therefore, as soon as I received the report to which I have already alluded, I gave ordure in ac cordance with the vote of the House of Commons, to pro vide a larger number of vessels of small draught of water. (Hear, hear.) Gentlemen must see how great the advantage is to have such a force employed in shallow waters, and, therefore, I ordered a very large number of vessels with a light draught of water. In 1854 there were constructed on our wharfs 34 gun-boats. This year we have constructed in this country 152, besides others in the Mediterranean, so that if peace is not con cluded we shall have about 200 gun-boats of one kind er another ready for service. The construction of these gun boats has answered remarkably well, and in the Black Sea they performed most effective service. A naval officer told me that he could conaparethemovernents of these gun-boats to nothing so welt as to the graceful evolutions of a skilful skater on the ice. I had also taken measures to provide a sufficient number of mortar-vessels, having given orders for the construction of 100 of these, and likewise 8 floating batteries, so that, if it is necessary to undertake another campaign, the number of vessels which the Government will be able to send will be suchas I think will enable us to take measures forcarrying on the war even with our own resources in such a manner as will be perfectly adequate to cope with any enemy that may meet us. No one is more anxious than lam that peace should be established for the sake of Europe and ourselves, but if we are to carry on the war I thirds the committee will agree with me that measures have been taken for doing so with the greatest vigour and efficiency. If, unfortunately, peace should not be made, we shall be ready as soon as the sea shall allow us to com mence operations with 350 British pennants floating in the Baltic, and 100 is the Black Sea. (Cheers.) So far as hu man means can do so, we have taken measures to insure victory. We know well that victory is not always to the strong, and God forbid it should be so in an unrighteous cause ; but in a struggle undertaken from no selfish motive, in a war waged against the grasping power of Russia and for the protection of an ancient ally from the domineering ag gression of a powerful neighbour, I trust we may appeal to the Almighty Disposer of Events to look down with favour on those human means which it is our duty not to neglect, and I hope and believe that He will bless our arms with success. (Cheers.) The right hon. gentleman then moved a vote of 204,0221. to meat the excess of expenditure on the sum voted for the year ending the sth of April last. Admiral WALCOTT had listened to the statements of the right hon. gentleman with much interest. He had at all times been of opinion the Baltic fleet had acted with credit and honour to itself and the nation, and that it was composed of those who were over ready to emulate the deeds performed hi tho palmiest days of our naval history ; and he believed that the next fleet that sailed to the Baltic would conduct itself in a way that would redound to the honour of the service and the glory of the nation at large. Stirling joined Captain Elliot with a flag-ship and a large frigate on the 7th of Juno. That should have rendered our squadron overwhelming. ' They remained together from the 7th of June till the 27th-20 days—and during the greater portion of the time they were lying off De Cas tris Bay. On the 27th of June they received orders to sail for the south, never having attempted to search for the Russian squadron ; and they afterwards learnt from Rus sian prisoners that on that day, late as it then was, only one half of their (the Russians') ships had got through the pas sage, the vessels having never been so much as reconnoitred. So it appears that up to that time Admiral Stirling had never reconnoitred the passage through which the Russian ships effected their escape, and that, if be had done so, even then he would have found one-half of them still there. I should thank the First Lord of the Admiralty to inform the committee whether he intends to lay the despatches on the table • and, if so, when ? Sir C. WOOD said that there were one or two points to which, before replying to the hen. member's question, desired to allude in the order in which they had occurred during the debate. It had been more than hinted that he had got some friend to write him a letter, giving a flourish ing account of the state of the navy; but for this suspicion there was not the slightest foundation in truth. The letter to which he had referred was one written 25 years ago by the gallant admiral opposite to the right hon. baronet the member for Carlisle, at that time First Lord of the Admi ralty. The reason why be (Sir C. Wood) had referred to it was simply that he desired to claim the benefit of a trine set forth in it—namely, that the state of the navy might be taken as a fair test of the efficiency of the Admi ralty. In reply to the complaint that boys were not taken in sufficient numbers into the navy, it would suffice to say that upwards of 2,000 had been admitted in the course of the last year. As for the insinuation of the hon. and gal -1 lint admiral opposite, that the Lords of the Admiralty held in private very different opinions with respect to the condition of the navy from . those which they avowed in public, he begged to say that, as far as he was himself concerned, this was not so. He always said what ho thought. (Hear.) With regard to the question of slops, he could only say that a number of officers and seamen had been asked to choose the material which they considered best without reference to cost, and that which they had chosen had been adopted. Mr. BENTINCK deprecated the practice of appointing a civilian to the post of First Lord of the Admiralty. Mr. BAILLIE hoped that the right hon. gentleman the First Lord of the Admiralty would answer the question which he bad put to him. Sir C. WOOD said that it was-not convenient to answer questions of that description in committee, but he would answer it on a future day. The vote was then agreed to. A vote of 1,434,7301. for provision for seamen and marines, a vote of 2,0051. lls. 7d. for scientific purposes, and a vote of 20,0001. for the Naval @oast Volunteers, were agreed to. On the vote of 153,7951. for the salaries of officers and contingent expanses of the naval establishment at home, Mr. MAGUIRE said it was his intention to have brought forward at a future period what he should now complain of. It was his duty to call the attention of the committee to the unfair distribution of the public expenditure as ap plied ,to England and Ireland. The great national re sources of the harbour of Cork were neglected, though it was admirably adapted for the building and repairing of ships. He did not, as a beggar, ask that Ireland should enjoy a portion of thepublic expenditure, but he demanded it as a right. Of the 3,636,000/. which the house was asked to vote for Admiralty purposes, only 4,5001. was to be - pended in Ireland. Sir C. WOOD said that the hon. gentleman seemed to think that the public expenditure should be equally dis tributed over all parts of the country. Ho (Sir C. Wood) lived in the north of England, and the people there did not consider themselves exceedingly ill-treated because there was no:dockyard in the Humber or Mersey. He thought that dockyards should only be formed and maintained at those places which were most convenient for the public service, and. he did not think that it would be for the con venience of the public service that dockyards should be formed either at Cork or in Scotland, or in the Humber or Mersey. lie was fully aware of the merits and beauties of Cork harbour. He must say that a more beau. tiful spot, or a better harbour, he had seldom seen. He was not aware that the Rosamond steam sloop had arrived at Cork with a broken shaft. As soon as the vessels had returned from the Baltic, the Admiralty had directed that they should be dispersed among the different ports of the country to raise men. At Dublin there were now one ship of the line and two fri gates ; at Waterford one large steam-frigate; and at Gal way a frigate. He hoped that these vessels would be suc cessful in raising men. But ho must add th a t th e on l y principle which he would act upon in these matters was to do that which was most conducive to the interests of the empire at large. (Hear.) Colonel DUNNE said that Ireland had a right to these naval establishments, and the time might come when the Government would see the expediency ofdoing her justice. Mr. JOHN M'GREGOR said that he had listened with great satisfaction to the speech of the right hon. gentleman the First Lord of the Admiralty, and bo believed that no Minister was more anxious to do that which he considered right and just than the right hon. gentleman. (Hear, hear.) He (Mr. John M'Gregor) would not go into the question of taxation, for he thought that no change could be made in our administrative system until the re turn of peace. Great injustice bad been done in not mak ing use of Cork harbour for naval purposes. He would suggest that the establishment at Deptford should be re moved to Cork. It would be remembered that during the last war Cork harbour was the great rendezvous for our commercial fleets whilst waiting for convoy. Mr. MAGUIRE said a more fallacious and flimsy answer than that of the right -hon. baronet (Sir C. Wood) had never been given by any First Lord of the Admiralty. Cork har bour was eminently calculated for a dockyard, and, by means of the electric telegraph, the Admiralty could communicate with Cork from Whitehall in the space of one minute. Mr. SPOONER asked for some explanation with regard to the sum charged. for Roman Catholic chaplains for the navy. Sir C. WOOD said he was prepared to justify that vote, which, he thought, was right and proper. There were a great number of Roman Catholic sailors serving in the fleet, many of whom came from Ireland, Divine service was per formed in all'vessels according to the rites of the Church of England, but of course Roman Catholic sailors were not re quired to attend that service. It was most desirable that all persons in the fleet should have an opportunity of attending Divine worship on Sunday-in such manner as was consistent with their faith and belief, but, on the other hand, it was not advisable that they should be landed and introduced to a town, in order to seek out some place of worship. Mr. SPOONER could not give his consent to any such vote, but would not trouble the committee to divide. After some observations from Mr. ,11PCann, Mr. R. Blake more, Mr. Kinnaird, Sir C. Wood, and Mr, Vance, The veto was agreed to, The next vote, 1,190,309/. for wages of artificers, was agreed to. A vote of 109,1131., for wages in her Majesty's establish meuts abroad, was agreed to. The next vote, f0r3,000,000/ for naval establishments, was agreed to. Tho next vote, for 864,334/. for the establishment at Key ham, was agreed to. Upon the vote of 655,4211. for half-pay, reserved half pay, and retirements to officers of the navy and royal ma rines, Sir C. NAPIER wished •to know why 3/. 3s. per day was voted for an admiral of the fleet, when there was no such offi cer appointed ? Sir C. WOOD said that it was intended to make that ap pointment only for distinguished services ; at the same time it was thought desirous to have the vote in case the office should at any time be filled up. The money voted remained in the exchequer. Captain SCOBELL saw no reason why an admiral of the fleet should not be appointed. It was a position on a par with that of field marshal, and it was only fair to the naval pro fession that the post should be filled up. Sir C. NAPIER thought that no distinction should be made between the different ranks of admiral. He would have them all placed on one list, and let the Board of Admiralty select whom they pleased for active service ; and when they with. drew from active service again, let them have the half-pay according to the rank which they held before. Mr. W. WILLIAMS said that he found an increase of rear admirals in the reserved list and the retiree! list which ho could not account for. In 1853 the number on the retired list was 113, now it was 133. Sir C. WOOD explained that the retired list was fixed at 200 odd, but with regard to the reserved half-pay there was no fixed number. Before a captain could receive the retiring pay of a rear-admiral, he must have served a certain number of years. When a vacancy,in the retired list took place, the first on the captains' list would be appointed, provided he had served the required number of years ; if he had not, he order, woilld who had placed served he be appointed ; so tha • by this means the number on the re served list would vary according to circumstances. Tho vote was then agreed to. upont the the requi red . ed list, number and of the years, nex t ono would u in The following votes were agreed to without discussion :- 494,363/. for pensions and allowances. 147,6851. for civil pensions and allowances. 600,000/. for salaries and expenses of transport service ; for victualling and carrying troops ; for expense of prisoners of war, &c. On the question that W 6,487/. be voted for eharge of packet service,. Sir E. PERRY said that the Government had denuded themselves of a great amount of dockyard patronage, and wastt whether it mi g ht no t b e e to pre ven t f u t ure Govern ments : l t bg t o i i s teed i n t yl a , s ea n t b o eog b p. ( c ieedi h . l o tno p e c fl z t g h ng i ce s i to be a perman en t ar ments from returning to the former objectionable system. Sir C. WOOD observed that when he was Secretary to the Admiralty 20 years ago, the appointments were so jobbed by the superintendents that thesAdmiralty took them from them. He believed, however, that the superintendents now exercised their trust faithfully and honourably, and as they were responsible to th 9 Admiralty, the board did not deem it advisable to take the patronage from them, Sir C. NAPIER complained that the right hon. baronet had not answered the question of the, hon, member behind him I (Sir E. Perry). ' Sir C. WOOD—I said that it was not advisable to carry out his suggestion. Sir C. NAPIER—I think it very advisable, (Laughter.) There ought to be an Order in Council to put an end to the system immediately. While I was absent at dinner the sala ries of the Lords of the Admiralty were voted, and I should like to know why three of the lords get 1,000/. a year and the fourth 1,200/, a year . Sir C. WOOD—It occurs In this way : one lord is allowed for a horse, Sir C. NAPIER—Then why should they net all have allow ances for houses? What is good for the goose is good for the gander. (Laughter.) Sir C. WOOD was about to explain further, but The CHAIRMAN said the discussion was quite irreg,utar, aab sent. the vote had b een agree d t o wh i le t h e ga ll an t-admi ra l was l i Southamptab 1 1&1 6 , 010 0 Whenany of those dates f a ll o. a Sunday, the ma l ls w i ll dr spatchod on the following day, with the exception of the Uri!! ' t o eouthampton), and the Malta. both of which will be deepatchou preceding day. The vote for the packet service was then agreed to, and the house resumed. COURT OF CHANCERY (IRELAND) BILL. Mr. J. D. FITZGERALD moved that the second reading of this bill be fixed for Friday next. The second reading was accordingly postponed till Friday. The House of Commons Officers Bill was read a third time and passed. The other orders of the day were then disposed of and the house adjourned at a q uarter past 11 o'clo c k . , ARMY AND NAVY MEnals.—Yeste7day was issued an estimate of the sum required to be voted in the year 1856, ending 31st March, 1857, to make good the deficiency o f the vote of last sess i on, for defraying the expenditure of the Mint for the various Medal Ser vices in the year ending 81st March, 1856. The sum referred to is 80,000/. The sum of 52,500/. was voted for this service last session, but it having been sub sequently decided to present the Crimean medal to the troops of the Allies, the provision made was inadequate, and the sum of ,80,0001. is required to carry on the work at the Mint to the 31st of March, 1856. The expense of army and navy medals will henceforward be provided for in the estimates for the two services. SHARE MARKETS. LIVERPOOL, FEB, 11. STOCK EXCIIANGE.—The t one of the market hag b og O, inactive to-day, and prices are hardly up to late rat 6 th Manchester, Sheffield,, and Li nen l n, 241 ex div.--S°ll Elstern, 184—L ancas hi ro and Yorkshire, 811—Midla n d, 691 London an d N ort h Westerns, 1001 4 East' Counties, 1 1 —North Etut ern , Berwick, IV—Dub li n ll' Belfast, d 31. MANCHESTER, FEB. 11. , dola STOGIE EXCIIIANGF.—The market to-d a y h as mien , a good business, and prices wero steady. Leeds, 81 I_, Eastern Counties, 10 —Dovers, 18 3-16—Midl an d s b 9 Manchester, Sh e ffi e ld , and Lincoln, 24 i—Ditto 6/.'ff4,, A p.—London sto c k, 1001— Sheffield 34 per Cents., On _. Ditto, 10/. Pref., 11. BIRMINGHAM, FEB. 11. , dull STOOK EXCEIANGE.—The tone o f the marm o t was - to-day, but prices generally were firm. Great Westel 55—London and N or th Westerns, 1001—Birmingham Stour Valleys, B—Midlands, 691—Eastern Coutitieo, 10. ILO ADVERTISEMENT.)—HoIIoway's Oi n t ment and ... P superior Remedies for the Cure of Sores and Wounat."; Letitia Philips, of La e g um , S out h W ales, injured 13,°' arm so severely, when out i n a boat dred g i ng f ir oyster " that she was unable to use it f or several months snot' wards, continually suffering the most excruciating pale' In the hopes of deriving some benefit, she tried surge oa f surgeon, all roun d t h e country, but neither ? them could heal the wounds; in fact, every available remedy was tried without any good effect. Hollow Ointment and Pills were then retorted to and these ir valuable m e di c i nes soon effected a perteot cure, and tu injured p ar t can scarcely be obserrid.—Sold by t! druggists, and at Professor liollowafs EstablishmelP" 244, Strand, London; and 80, Maiden.lane, New Yolk by A. Stampa, Constantinople ; A. er ui d i ey, &unlit ; and E. Muir, Malta. [ AD VERTIIMENT.]—MediCiIIe always aggravates chronic dig' eases, such as dyspepsia (indigestion), flatulency, habitual 0 2, stipation, nervous, bilious, and liver conrplaints, die., but V' Barry's delicious RevalentaArabica Food invariably cures thel in a very short time. We extract two out of many thou/JO expressions of gratitud e from' invalids : -L- From the D owag er Countess of Castlestuart; Cure 52 ,612.-:—Rosstrevor, County of Down, Ireland, December 9, 1854. The Dowager Gouute° of Castlestuart feels induced, in the interest of suffering h u. manity, to state that Du Barry's excellent Revalenta Arabic* Food has cured her, after all medicines bad failed, of indige li. tion, bile, great n ervousness an d i rr i ta b ility of many years ' standing. This food deserves the confidence of all sufferedj, and may be consid ere d a rea l bl ess i ng. Inquiries will cheerfully answered.—Trevagler, Gulval, near Penzance, Ve,„`" 20, 1851.—Ei g ht een y ears ' nervous d e b ility, violent paillit° tion of the heart, throbbing of the temples, violent p a ins 0 ' eauti,s.L;ould2olbus; F2o2rts.nuThm,e Mason the left side and back, shortness of breath, cough, numbnes s of the extremities, cramps, spasms, flatulency, retching, 0 ., such general weakness, thapi was consequently fearful of OW ing when on nay legs, all these symptoms have been removed 1 ) 1 Du Barry's excellent Royalenta Arabica Food. —MARY GELBSSI' In free, on receipt of poet-office order. Barry du Barry O' her 33a aMajesty;nd 451, Piccadilly;Strand; , als c o he a a t p 6 B l?ra t i g e: Co., a ca nd rils e 2 e e; Ournrehhiils Purveyors tj church-street B ishopsgate-street ; 55, Charing-cross ;u" canisters, Sibs. Upper Baker-street; 63 and 150, Oxford-street. BIRTHS. OF A SON. On the 10th inst. at Castle•hill, Viscountess Eb r i n gton. On the 10th i nst . , at Ikmen-coruer, the wife of Jolla Morgan, Esq. 01 ♦ DAUGHTER. On the 10th inst., in Dover-street,' the wife of the Ref• G. B. Moore. MARRIED. On the 9th inst., at Fu Church, James Walker,, Esq., of Kate's-hill, D u dl ey, to Harriet, eldest daughter of W. H. Holland, Esq., of Holly House, Fulham. DIED. On the Bth inst., in Grafton-street, Sir Henry }kooks, Bart., of Wingerworth, Derbyshire, aged 43. On the 9th inst., at 49, Sussex-gardens, Hyde-park, A• T. Sangster, Esq. On the 9th inst., at Blackheath, Mr. James Adam, d Pudding-1311e, Lower Thames-street, aged 59. On the 9th inst., at 17, Bartcham-terrace, Thos. Thomr son, Esq., formerly of Lad-lane, city, aged 81. On the 10th inst., Mr. Joseph Luckie o f 35, TYPP°, r Marylebone-street, and of 43, Glocester-street, Rigout 4. park, aged 53. LONDON: Printed and Published by WIRD° y 017 0 1; of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sun Office, No. 112, Strand, in tho Preci nc t o f th e Savoy, in O. colauti ° t ldiddleaei, Tuestlay, February 12,1354. __--_. 'm ai , ZIA R ti bg Tat 41 441 Uteri, 12g , , _ __,