The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-03-26 00:00:00

THE BRITISH NAVY.

THE statement made to the House of eon:mobs
by the Secrttary to the &Inanity, in explaie-
iug the Navy Ettituates, abundantly 13/10We1i
that there is not much room for change in the
adninistration of that important dehartment ii
the public service. Whatever political part
may he in office, it is agreed on all hands th,t
our navy must 1-e kept in a conditien of
irresistible strenp.th, that it must he contieually
adapted to the progress of science and the
needs of new tiraes, end that it should be Made
popular and attractive. The British navy
represents the power of this country to the out-
side world. Horne-staying Englishmen seo
little of it, but travelling Britons find it on
every shore an ebject of their it gitimate pride.
The vvel'a it has to do is infinitely varied.
Whilst ii is a politic.' engine at liesika Bay or
in the Dardanelles, it is the security en which a
British representative on the African Coast
relies. it is also employed in watching the
slave trade in ilia Indian Peas, or suppressing
piracy in the further hest, and many other ser-
vices are a%lotted to thee Navy as occasion may
require. Our commercial marine includes about
half the ships that sail the seas ord do the
world's trade, and the Navy must be strong
enough to protect them. Our colonies dot the
surface of the g;obe, and there are great ships
to guard their ports. Wherever British sub-
jects are, they feel a sense of safety when the:
British flag floats oat the nearest river or sea ;
and our navy does eervice for all the world in
exploring rivers, surveying coasts, marking
rocks, reefs, and sbeals, and acquiring fiener-:
knowier;ge of the ocean. For the safe;ty, thtt:--
leirc., of our widespreading connuercial inteteio.e
it is necessary that in regard to Efficacy tie.-
British Navy should he uusolutely uutivailtd.
For teeny of Ile tonitnuitiona duties m wbit
it is trapleyed, pe‘ce bats work more divcrsill.A
even than war. The policy of ii Goverunts
la tacrefore to keep it strong in men and ship.,
va,i,d in character, and equal to all the dernanda
may be made upon it from any qoarkr of
the world.

here ía infinite diversity of opinion as to the
weans ey which this ()eject is best attniued ; but
O n (Lie wine the present Goveroment carries
out the policy of its predecessors. There is ne
mom for political atrugzh a or putty recrimina-
tion when the question at issue is the strength
of the great bulwark of the national safety.
With respect to the abo:ition of flogging in the
tisis has long been seen to be ineviiehte,
and it will probably soon be perceived that it
can be done without. The discouragement to
be put on drinking, or, to speak more correctl),
the encouragement to be given to temperance,
:web no, con.e a day too early, nor can it be
said to go too far. On questions of construe.
UQU tbtre are always
.grtat differences of
opinion amongst naval crnics ; but there is out.
thing in which the policy now being pursue4i
:11 meet with universe; approval. We are to
go en building our ships eceording to actual
knowledge, and are not to wait for knowledge
yet to come. The transformation wrought in
the Navy within the recollection of middle-ageo
men 1 ai3 been vast and rapid ; but it has been
done by ezeiee and not by great leaps. The
wooden steamship became an iron one; the iron
~tip became first a screw and than eu ironclad ;
•ilict the iroucaft has chauAed again ad again in
shape and strueleire. The latest idea is a
ecw kind of %ear crueler, Swift and heavy, with
tee epted of the Leander and the guns of the
Devaltation. At tenglii, moreover, the system
of bre.ech-ktideeg is to be more generally adopted
on board our fleets, and we are promised guns
which can be used, not only with tremendous
effect, bat with greatly increased rapidity and
security. Ott Lilo Whoie the condition of thenevy
is regarded, irrespective of party, as eatisfectoi)
Its efficiency is improved and kept up to suit
the times. We have long been in a period of
naval transitien, and it is essential that every
step in maritime pregrees should find the Britio:
navy folly up to the gniost advanced level, hi.:
able to hold its own not only by size and numbere
Gut by scientific complatenees and the inclividua
efficiency of every part of a splendid and ceiqy
service upon which no expenditure is ever
grudged by the leritieh texpayer.