The Sun.
London, England, 1864-02-26 00:00:00

irksome indeed. The Admiralty, by a regulation which has

just come into operation, has determined to allow 700 or 800
servants to supply the place of 2,000 boys. This only ac-
counts for part of the reduction of the number of boys, We
propose, instead of giving ships second-class boys, there shall
be only one, and that a first-class, of boys on board a man-of-
war. We propose to keep up the training ships for second-
class boys, but, instead of entering them at fifteen years and a
half, they will pass through a course of nautical education in-
stead of being servants. We calculate that with 2,C,00 boys
less we shall not altogether supply the vacancy that will fol-
low in the number of men who have risen from the ranks of
the boys. We have found that the vast number of boys we
have had in the navy has led to this—that the navy is almost
shut out from the merchant service. This iP. not desirable.
(Hear.) In our fleet we have 25,000 seamen ; and it is curious
that when we eliminate artificers, stokers, and marines, it
leaves only that number of actual blue jackets. The waste
of these men is about 12 per cent. ; and out of 28,000 a vast
proportion are continuous service men. We are going to
take this year 7,000 boys instead of 9,000; and, from the
statistics we have been able to gather up since we have had
this establishment, we find that 7,000 boys will supply
about 2,000 seamen annually. I have said the waste of sea-
men is 3,000. That leaves 1,000 to be supplied from other
sources, and we think there should be an opening for at
least that number coming in from the merchant service. I
am not at all prepared to say we shall not come and ask for

more boys, but we believe 7,000 will keep up the navy to its
present number—yet, if we require more boys, I em sure
the house will grant our request. I will now state to the
committee the reason why we reduced 1,500 coastguard men.
We hare paid off within the last two years 13,305 men.
These men had, in the first place, six weeks' leave. They
had then the ch,gc-,3 of becoming continuous service men or

of leaving: the service. They might go fora year in the
coastguard ships, or a year in the harbour ships, in
order that they might have a year's relaxation after a long
voyage. Now see what a curious creature a tailor is. Out
of the 13M5 men we have paid off, only 1,078 have volun-
_ _

teered for harbour ships and about 1,000 for the coastguard
ships, and the remainder took six weeks' leave and went to
sea again. Therefore, so far as the wants of the country
are concerned, the coastguard ships may be reduced to a
certain extent, and that is the reason wP have reduced the
estimates that come under the same head as those 1,500
men. I should like to give the committee a proof of the
changes that have taken place within the last few years
with regard to the manning of ships ordcred for service. In
a remarkable, comprehensive, and admirable speech from
my right hon. friend the member for Droitwich when First
Lord of the Admiralty, in moving the naval estimates in

the year 1851, he spoke of the difficulty they had in man-
ning their ships. The Renown took 172 days after she had
been commissioned before the could get to sea, and the
Marlborough 129 ds.ys ; and it was generally six months
before ships were fit for sea after they wen commissioned.
The right hon. baronet said these words—" Now I ask the
house whether the ingenuity of man could devise anything
more humiliating or more calculated to impress foreign na-
tions with tin conviction of the decay of the naval power of
England than the fact of our ships of war remaining in port
four, five, or six months, altogether unable to obtain their
complement of seamen'?" These were the words of

the right hon, baronet in 1359. Let me show you how
things ace in 1863. Last year, on April 14, we commis-
sioned the Ariadne, a heavy frigate, and she was ready on
May 17, or little more than a month. On April 27 we
commissioned the Royal Oak, a heavy armour-plated ship,
and she was ready for sea on June 6. The Liverpool
was ready in about a fortnight after being commissioned.
The Conqueror, a 90-gun ship was ready for sea in just
three weeks ; the Gibraltar, commissioned on the 12th of
September, was at sea on the 28th of September ; the Aurora
was commissioned on the 18th November, and was at sea
on,the 11th December. On the 17th January in this year,
we commissioned the Duncan, and she was ready on the
21st February ; the Hector, armour frigate, was ready in a
month ; and the Prince Consort, heavy armour ship, com-
missioned on the 14th of January, was ready on the sth
Febrnary. So that scarcely a ship was more than a month
and that detention was not for want of men, but to give the
men an opportunity of getting their traps on board, and
making themselves comfortable before going to sea.
Admirable, however, as the organisation is now, I frankly
own that, with the engineers, who have just been put on
a better footing, we hope the new arrangements will
produce a better class of men for that service.
I admit the present is an exceptional time. There has
been a great demand for men all over the country ; trade is
flourishing, and every kind of skilled artisan is in demand,
and fetches high wages. There ore our complaint of want
of artisans may be only temporary. The fact is we have no
organisation, and we want a corps of artificers for the fleet
similar to that which they have in the army. It is a (rtes.
tion of pounds, shillings, and pence; but I am quite sure it

is absolutely necessary that our fleet, particularly in these
days of armour-plated ships, should be supplied with first-
rate artificers, of which, I am sorry to say, we have great
lack at present.—[Sir J. PAKINGTON—You mean sea-going
artificers?)—Yes. We have in the ports and in ships fitting
out 2,510. We consider that to be rather below our figure.
The fact is a great many ships are on their way house, and
we shall bring that number no doubt up to about 3,000,
, which is what we generally have ready to put on board
. ship. I must take great pride in stating that the conduct
of our seamen is annually improving. A kind of education
is now given, and that, with better pay, and more torah rt
and convenience, hag given them a higher social position.
In 1853 one-fifth of the seamen wore good conduct badges;
in the following year one-fourth ; and in every year there is
a larger number wearing these badges. One half of our
seamen make allotments to their families, and that is a
test of their respectability. There is one point upon which
I wish to address a few words to the committee with regard
to the condition of the seamen. As regards mortality
and general health, I do not think that there are any pub-
lic servants in the worl I can show better than the English
navy. But there is a class ot disease, especially about our
home ports—(hear, hear)—which is so frightful, and the
loss we sustain is so great—(hear, hear)—that I do hope
the Government will be able to propose some measure
on the subject. (Hear, hear.) We subscribe largely to
female lock hospitals, and, when appealed to, we increase
our subscriptions. The naval votes show this; but, Sir,
more is wanted. I honeStly maintain, if you keep a mass
of young men together in these ports, you are bound to
protect them. I can say no more now. My hon, friend
the member for Bedford undertook some time ago to pre •
side over a committee, upon which several able gentlemen
were appointed. They made a report, but that is a re-
port I dare not lay on the table of the house. If any
hon. gentleman would like to see that report, I shall be
glad to show it. I can say no more on that painful subject,
but I thought it my duty to lay it before the committee.
Referring then to the Royal Naval Reserve, the noble
lord said that they were clearly to be taken into account
as an important portion of the defences of the country,
more particularly when we see that in a prospect of emer-
gency the men are ready to serve under the flag. 1 hold
in my hand a report on the seamen of the Royal Naval
Reserve, from Capt. Gardner, inspector of the Royal Naval
Reserve, dated Feb. 13, who said—" I consider it right, in
addition, to send in a report of the inspection of the Royal
Naval Reserve on board her Majesty's ship President, and
to call your attention to the following statement made to me
by Commander Mold, which is of so satisfactory a nature
with respect to the conduct of men who have been under
drill since July, 1862. During that time 4,258 men have
been drilled, out of that number only 53 have been punished
by fines, principally for being absent from drill and for get
ting drunk, and only two for insubordination." I think
that speaks for itself, as showing what an orderly and re-
spectable body of seamen have entered the reserve. The
comptroller-general of the Coastguard, in his last minute to
the Admiralty, states that he had inspected them himself,
and that nothing could possibly be better than their gun
drill. That shows what a valuable body of men the reserve
is, and surely they must be taken into consideration when
forming the estimates. With regard to the officers, lam
glad to say that an order in council will, I trust, be issued
in a few days containing duo regulations for officers of the
Naval Reserve, giving them, under certain circumstances,
when they become perfect in drill, a reduction in the num-
ber of days of drill. I believe that one of the few complaints
made is against the constant return of drill. Passing now
from the vote for the Admiralty, No. 3, I will address my-
self to the scientific vote, No. 5. The right hon. gentleman
opposite will be glad to hear that the Government are going
to carry out a system which I hope will provide an efficient
school of naval architects. The difficulty we had was as
to the whereabouts of this school. If it were put into a
Government building, we thought it would look too much
like a Government school, and that it would be consi
dered by the public as too much under the power of the
Admiralty. What we felt was, that, if we could ensure
proper instruction for our own students, we should gladly
see all the private trade, and the public generally, take
up this school as a good national institution. The way we
set about it was this: Lord Granville, who is at the heal
of the Science and Art Department at South Kensington,
immediately took great interest in it, He desired Mr. Cole
to communicate with the Admiralty, and immediately set
at our disposal proper apartments, combining model and
class rooms, and, in short, everything we desired to have.
In consultation with Mr, Woolley, the Government inspec-
tor of schools, and Mr. Cole, it was determined that there
should be constructors and lecturers on chemistry and
physical science and the properties of all the materials used
in shipbuilding—such as wood, iron, copper; that during
the winter months they should be located at South Ken-
sington, where they could undergo all this theoretical edu-
cation ; and that, during the summer, they should attend
the dockyards uncles such instructors as might be deter-
mined upon, and that Government students should be upon
the same terms and footing as pupils of private establish-
ments. All that we required was a guarantee that our own
pupils shall be instructed in such matters as we thought
judicious for her Majesty's service, and that private pupils
should undergo such a course as the officers of Science and
Art may determine. I propose now to pass over to the greatest
votes of all. 'Votes 8,9, and 10 are our great shipbuilding
votes. Perhaps I may say generally that in the vote for the
storekeeper's department there is a reduction of £169,951,
which is due to our being now in a satisfactory position as
regards all our principal naval stores. Then again in the
second section, the comptroller's vote, there is a reduction
of £195,137. That reduction is owing to the fact that we
are making very great progress in the iron I,T mour-plated