The Express.
London, England, 1853-10-15 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, SATURDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 15, 1853.

and continued cheers.) it ie • simple question of &rah-
'attic ; and some day or other when a future generation ;
wiser then we look back on our labour, and the difficult,
we had in convincing the stetesmen cf our day
that three had the acme reference to three that six
lice to six, will they net he astoni,h,l at the stolidity of
this generation, and it they bad any of tlieir grievances to
redress or reforms to effect, surely I think they may take
courage in the midst of difficulty wl:en they find how much
difficulty we had to accomplish so telt ial an object as that.
(Cneers.) Now, I ant glad, on this account, that we have •
Reliant gentleman with us—if he will allow me I will call
him my gallant friend—for we have walked pretty gene-
rally, though not always, into the same lobby in the House
of Commons together. We have a gallant officer here who,
if you are to have • fight instead of arbitration, will do
your business as well as anybody you can get. (Load
cheers.) This gallant admiral has come from Loudon
war-a from the City of London Tavern—(loud cheers)
—bringing with him • spirit impatient for more decisive
proceedings on this troubled Einem ques'ion. (Cheer-
ing.) The gallant gentleman has declared his
disapproval of the course which we have taken. And I
have no doubt that he has come here to night to state the
grounds upon which that disapprobation is founded.
(Cheers.) I should only be anticipating the duty which your
right hunourable chairman can perform as well as any man
in England in offering him, in your name, the Wilt cour-
teous reception and the mos: patient attention—(cliet rs)—
in all that he may have to address to this meeting.
And now, whilst explaining to the public, it is a manifest
re flection that we arc at the tame time explaining to a gal.
lent and worthy opponent like bim what are our real prin-
ciples and objects.

Admiral Sir Cu.eaLus Narton—How do you know I am
your opponent?
Mr. COM/EN—My reliant friend mays, " How do you
know that I am your opponent ?" I have no doubt that
before we are done with hint we will make an ally of my
gallant friend. (Loud cheers.) That will be our business
to-night. lie is worth converting, I assure you. (Laughter
and corers.) Now, let him first of all understand that
what he has heard people say, or what be may have read
in some of the public prints, in the Reform Club in
London, shout the objects of this Peace Confer
ence, are pure fiction.. (Hear, hear.) Now, we will tell
him what we really want. We say we don't think this
mode of continually increasing our ships of war, Iwo
mute illy menacing each other, conduces to the preserva-
tion of peace between nations, sod particularly between
France and England. In the first place we say that it is
a very expensive mode, and if our policy, the policy which
we recommend, can be adopted, there will be at once a great
saving to the taxpayers of this country, so that those who
pay the taxes, if not those who receive them, will be very
much obliged to us. Now, I say it is not only an expensive
mode, but it seems to me to be an expense without a limit,
because every improvement that's made in the science of ship-
building; every discovery that can be made by the chemist in
the art of propelling missiles against each otber by ships of
war or by armies; every step we make in the path of science
is constant: y made the argument for increasing the expensive-
ness of our warlike establishments; because every tresh dis-
covery you make and apply to the ertof war, the country on
the other side of the Channel must instantly follow your ex-
ample, and so the two countries go on rivalling each other in
these invt !aims for warlike purposes, and in the im-
provements in that lovely art of human destruction.
(Cheers.) Why this increase of expenditure—this rivalry
in the game of beggar my neighbour" must constantly
go on so long as human reason is progressive in its nature
and purpose. I will give you an illustration which any man
will understand in a moment. Formerly we were content
with,sailing vessels for the purposes of war. Then came
the disc-.very of Fulton—the application of the steam-
engine to the propulsion of ships, and gradually but very
slowly steam-ships came to be =opted by the owners of
mercantile shipping. But it was lung after it became a
common thing to apply the steam-engine to the propulsion
of ships before government thought of establishing a steam
war marine. But gradually England and then France
adopted the system of building steam vessels of
war. First of all paddle ships were built. We
made great blunders in the construction of our paddle
ships, but after our manifold blunders, and enormous ex-
penditure and hideous waste of money, as our gallant visitor
here knows right well, we thought • perfect system of
paddle steam vessels had been established. Very well, I
heard the Secretary for the Navy myself congratulate the
country that all that expenditure was at an end, that this
great outlay of capital for steam vessels was concluded, and
that now all he had to do was done, beyond what was re-
quired to maintain this establishment in an effective °audi-
tion. Weil, but shortly afterwards an ingenious men,
looking at a fish as it glided through the water, be-
thought him that he could place the movement of
the fish's tail to the stern of the ship, and then
came the invention of the screw propeller. Well, after the
screw propeller had been found to convey ships across the
Atlantic, and, in fact, round the world, then came the dis-
cussion with the Admiralty whether it should be applied to
the purposes of war. At first, as is always the case,there was
a great resistance on the part of the naval authorities, the
official men, to the new invention. I heard naval men say,
in a committee of the House of Commons on which I sat,
that if a shot went through the fan of the screw tha ship
would become unmanageable ; but, as is always the case in
these matters, private enterprise took the invention up, set
at nought and laughed to scorn and confusion the dogmas
of official men. (Cheers.) The screw went into mercantile
ships, and when it was found available there, now they had
come to the conclusion that all our line-of-battle ships must
have screw propellers in them, so that the paddle-wheel
which we formerly considered the best contrivance for
marine warfare has bees at once superseded by the screw
propeller ; in order to apply it we must have new line-
of-battle ships. And now, after a few short years, our
former line-of-battle ships lie great unwieldy lifeless hulks
on the ocean, unless out government has power to pur-
chase and construct new engines. But now have you got
to the end of it ? I see by the papers great laudation
of these new screw vessels. For instance, there is the
Dula of Wellington bottle-ship. I have read the re-
ports of gentlemen's speeches at one very bellicose meeting
at Sheffield, and more particularly the speech of my bellicose
irked the hon. member for Sheffield, who talked of the
Megthethrements, and said that the Duke of Wellington
was the greatest and the beet peace society. And I have
mese statements made that this Duke of Wellington is the
set eseestoas war vessel in our whole fleet, and as such
the best security for perpetual peace—(cheers)—that the
Dohs of Wellington and the Agamemnon with their great
seerwprepallers are the greatest guarantees we could have
of permanent peace. (" Hear, hear," from Sir Charles
Napier.) My gallant friend here says "hear, hear," but I
have not done yet. (Cheers.) Now the Duke of Wellies-
ton is • ship about 360 feet in length, and I believe mea-
sures about 60 feet odds from the deck to the bottom of
the hold. It is an enormous structure. Well, but had
they stood still with their screw vessels of 2,000 or 3,000
tees it would not have been so bad. I see there is a vessel
mans from America which is from 6,000 to
T,OOO toes burthen. But that is not all. In
the great fire recently in the yard of Mr. Scott
Bussed there was destroyed the model of a veesel,the whole
Cl:4lre of which I had from himself two months
11as mosey was subscribed, the dimensions were all
settled ; and that vessel, what do you think were its dimen-
sions ? 12,000 tons, with an engine 2,000 horses power to
drive the paddle-wheels and the screw propeller, for it hap-
pened that an ingenious mechaais had taken another look
at the fish. He had seen that besides the tail it had fins—
(a laugh)—and he says we must have • vessel that is not
only a paddle but • screw also, and here is the plan for the
vessel: she was to be 12,000 toes, upwards of 600 feet in
l , with paddle wheels at the sides, and a screw pro-
pealat the stern, and bevies_ three engines with a wilted
here-power of 2,000. Now, I have seem it stated most
triumphantly in our papers, sad espied into the French
journals, that this Duke of Wellington, a Me more than
imam the eke of the vessel of whisk I have spokes, which,
as I hen tail pee, was laid down and will be contrasted,—
nth. thlerealmel Wellington had sash power with its screw
fa senesseenest its bulk, it could rue down into halves a
feigns by the mere propelsion of its seems, and without feel-
leg wank la thieslihiss. Well, if this steamer is carried
est sued built of materials equal to her tonnage, why that
vessel with its screw sad paddle-wheels, with an 4111.11101111
werlit
:mad site and length, may run down the Duke of
W just as she was able to rue down the frigate.
(Lend ) Well, the, what suppose the French go-
regnant, or any other government, themes to come and
buy teem Mr. Sent Russell, or order a vessel of them di-
-1111113101111, sad our saligat visitor tells es then that the Duke
of Wellington is the best gametes for universal and
per-
petual poste ? (Great cheering.) . Will the 3,600 tees be a
match fir the 12,000? No. And do you suppose the*
human balding sad insanity will dap there. I have
heard it earmised that they won't stop at 12,000 tone ; that
the principle of extension and progress found most pen-
kat in our manufactories and other gnat works will be
applied to ships, and there is no earthly reason to hinder
them constructing vessels of 20,000 tons en the principles
applied to the construction of the peat Mead tubular bridge,
so that we may soon see great ferry boats carrying the popu-
lation of a whole town acmes the Atlantic and leaving
them in Milford Haven, or landing their passengen ea
the first bold headland of the American coast, to led
their destinations by railway as beet they may. Well, sew
what—referring ferring this principle of maintaining •
peens by these large standing artaaments-1 ar5e...Z.4;..r.1;Z
that there is no present limit to the expenses you will be
put to if you go on in that way; that they are always aim-
ing at something larger In structure, and every new project
of this kind, every new invention, is open to both nations,
end they will always be rivalling each other in the adop-
tion of these means of defence. Will the gallant visitor ad-
dress himself to that principle ? (Cheers.) Let him mind
we deal with principles. Though he may tell us of our
number of guns, I ask him to deal with the principle I
have laid down, which will be attended with such an aug-
mentation of our taxes, and in time of peace, when we
have profeseions of friendship with other nations, and yet
are most constantly rivalling each other in savage de-
monstrations of perpetual -hostility. (Cheers.) Weil,
now, we lay down the principle of non-interventiess—
(cheers)—not to interfere with the domestic affairs of any
gauntry. There we enlist every part of every other gentry
to our favour. If we had only the principle of son-inter-
amnion adopted, the people of other countries would be
left to manage their own affairs. We say we must have a
reform alba esionial system. I think the most practical
motion Net sin be brought in next year to parliament
1141111 g ha a motion pledging the House of Commons to
andeigh ear military expenditure in the colonies. They
del netribute one shilling to the expenses of this go-
wnsman. We have no exclusive trade with them. They
may buy where they please ; we have given them an the
waste land ; we have no control of that land now.
They are freer than we are, and the economical condi-
tion of the population of our colonies is very favourable com-
pared with that of the great mass of the people of this
country, who can only ears 2a. or ls. 04. a day, while