The Press.
London, England, 1853-07-09 00:00:00

4:1 1,9n6 11,041

47 1,141 I 6 Ar4s

Observe, at Plymouth in March, 1852, seven
shil►s of 100 guns 9114 1,730 men; in January.
1553, tea ships of 622 guns and 3,102 men. At
Portsmouth, instead of nine ships of 272 glllllll
and 2,909 men, the Duke left twentyone ships

218

with 912 guns and 7,625 men; and the total
increase in all the home ports was 855 guns
and 4,000 men. And yet this is an Adminis-
tration which a lawyer, wanting to bring him-
self into notice, asks the House of Commons
to declare by resolution to have been an
Administration " calculated to impair the
"efficiency of the service"! No wonder the
House of Commons wghed down the forensic
CLEON, and that, to ale-indignation of the Times
newspaper, written under the inspiration of
the miserable malignity of Admiral BERKELEY,
independent men, like the members for the
North Riding, Manchester, and other great
Iseats of industry, would not lend their sanc-
tion to this wretched cabal.

Let us briefly enumerate the other important
measures which distinguished the administra
tiou of the Duke of Noarnum NKR LAN D. Mindful
of the rapid advances in the application of
screw-propellers to large ships, he provided
for the equipment of a sufficient force of screw
line-of-battle ships, so that, what with the con
struction Of new vessels, mid the addition of a
screw to some already built, a considerable
force of this character is now available. But
for these decisive measures of the late Admi-
ralty, how would the present Board have been
able, on the first rumour of war, to have
despatched such noble ships as the Agamemnon,
the i.lanstpareil, and the Mike qf Wellington, to
the stations at which they were most needed,
mud to have taken up the imposing attitude
which the combined fleets now assume at the
entrance of the Dardanelles"

...
Among other important proceedings the
Duke appointed a steam committee, which
vis►itced all our mercantile steamers, and re-
ported on their resources to the Admiralty.
It had been asserted in the House of Com-
mons that steam-packets and merchant steam-
ers could be used for war, and that, in the
event of hostilities, the Channel would swarm
with this force. Out of ?1N) merchant steamers
examined by this committee, three only were
reported as capable of being used for warfare,
and then only by tut altenition of great expense.
But the most important measures of the bite
Board of Admiralty, and which originated with
the noble Duke himself, were the steps which
he took for improving the maiming of the navy.
Hitherto it had been the practice to enter
seamen for three years only, and the ineonve
nienee resulting therefrom, with the frequent
changes, was universally felt mid acknowledged,
yet no Board of Admiralty had attempted a
remedy. The late First Lord, himself a sailor,
and fully conscious front his own experienee
of the great importance of the subject, at once
grappled with the question, and appointed a
committee of distinguished officers to conduct
an inquiry into► the whole case. The instruc-
tions to the committee, written by the Duke
himself, were fully considered and carefully
drawn up : they comprised, among many other
topics, mum inquiry into► the first entry and
training of seamen, ►and the periods of service
for which they were engaged ; the necessity
and practicability of permanently retaining
their services so as to form a standing navy,
and ensure the MOMS of rapidly manning our
ships when required for service.
These sultjects, and mean)• recommendat.
all calculated to improve the condition of the
sailor, and to endeavour to bring back to the
country and the navy some of our hest-trained
men at present serving under a foreign flag,
having been well considered, and much
evidence taken, the result, in an elaborate and
valuable report, has been presented to Parlia-
ment, by the command of her MAJESTY, and is
the foundation of two bills which Sir JAMES
GRAHAM has brought into the House of
COHIIIIOII4.

It is unneeemsruy for us to notice what is
'vernally anbnitted, that the naval patronage
Admiralty was 111`VCr exercised by any
I.ord in a manner so free from the in-
• of party polities. The mos`, merito-
tlieer was always promoted, and sonic of
est ships in the service were given,
his administration. to Whigs. It
howevvr, he rentviuberell that, amichit