Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-08-02 00:00:00

armaments which they required for maintaining

the honour and safety of the country." France

has no 'demand for the defence lOf distant and

numerous colonies, as we have

she could only

require a large fleet,—such as she is represented at

the present moment to possess,—for her defence, o

for purposes of aggression, in case of war. It can

be for _no other_ use, since she has no distant posses

sions, to protect. Upon the hypothesis that the

EMPEROR of the. French proposed virus a' mutual dis-

armament—suppose each nation paid off twenty line-
of-battle-ships—what would be our position then ?

It would take months, aye, even years, perhaps, to

man them again, when required ; whereas, NAPOLEON
could:assemble his menin 'forty-eight hours. Such

is the construction and organization of the French

navy, that whether the men are afloat or .on shore,

at Brest, Toulon, or Cherbourg, they are equally
available, in a few hours from their discharge. What
is the converse of the case ? With regard to our men,

when once a ship is paid off, it is impossible to re-col-
lect them. We must bear in mind what a reduction

in the French Navy means : The men are sent to the

marine barracks, and to depots at the ports we have
already named, there to be ready for Service; when

required. At Brest, now, there are 3,00& ready at a
moment's notice. On the other hand, let us ask
what has become of that fine body of men, which

served in our fleet during the Crimean war, in the
Black Sea ? When a reduction took place at the

termination of the war, these men were paid off, and
scattered to ' the four quarters of the globe : there

was no occupation for them in the Navy ; they must,
consequently, seek their bread by going on board

other ships—to America, Australia, or to South Sea
Whaling: It is impossible, therefore, to re-assemble
them again for service. It has been asserted that it

takes many months to turn a recruit into a soldier ;
but it takes a longer time to make a land's-man a
sailor, and a sailor a man-of-war's-man. We hope,
therefore, that the Navy will be kept up in its most

efficient state ; and that, as our very existence
depends upon this branch of the servieeTit-will be

supported with no niggard, parsimonious, or grudg-
ing economy, of " penny-wise and pound foolish."—
When we have men trained and disciplined into an
efficient state, and a crew which• work well together,
we ought to devise some system by which the men
should be kept associated, when a ship is paid off. In
this particular we might take a lesson from our

neighbour and ally. Their naval and military
organisation appears to be in much more complete,
and better working order than ours.

A conversation is said to have taken place between
NAPOLEON 111. and an officer of distinction, at the
Cherbourg fete, in which the latter suggested the
reduction of the Emperor's army and navy, when
he replied, with a smile, that he was himself the
best judge of what force was necessary to maintain
the honour and uphold the prestige of France ; and
that,' with regard to her navy;.. in his opinion she
ought to have, not such craft as was then lying in
that 'harbour, but 50 first-rate screw-steamer line-
of-battle ships, and that England ought to have 100.
Whether such a 'conversation did or did not take
place, and of which Lord PALMERSTON says he had
never heard, the EMPEROR has at least acted up to
the spirit of it: Mr. COBDEN thinkS we ought to
exceed the naval force of any Power in the world by
one-third ; and NAPOLEON, if the narrative we have
related be true, says it shOuld be just double. • •

What would have been the condition of our navy,
had it not been for the active and able administration
of Sir ionN PAKINGTON and the late Government ?
Mr. lionsmAN, in this regard, paid a just tribute to

LOrd DERBY'S Administration. "He could not say
" how much he honoured," was his remark, "the gen-
tlemen opposite, because they had, difring their shoit
"tenure of office, endeavoured to-pat the navy into a
"state that it ought, to, be put ,in ; and he thought
" that no Government deserved one day's forbearance

"if it did not strain every nerve to restore our navy

f'to that_ position which it. ought to hold

—that of

"being the first in the world." It is not yet in that

position, when compared with the maritiine poWers

of other countries. , France has in commission 20

Screw line-of-battle ships, 12 in reserve, which could
_ .

be manned and put to'sea in a few days, having 3,000
sailors in the Marine Barracks at Brest, and she is

" greatly"

superior to us in frigates, Lord,C. PAGET

stated

We have in commission 26 screw line-of-
battle ships, not including the block-ships, which,
though not line-ofbattle ships, were capable of doing
good service. - Without wishing to be alarmists, the
country ought to know the truth. The ltussian navy
is a very respectable force : 8 screw line-of-battle ships,
6 screw 'frigates, 9 paddie frigates, 4eorveties,'46Witn-
boats and 8 small steamers. Mr. COBDEN, having
included our 160 gunboats in his calculation of the
relative naval forces ''of the different . Maritime
Nations, had produced an erroneous impression,
as they are, craft of such small power, yet
^,oses of coast defeice. Mr.