The Sun.
London, England, 1852-05-04 00:00:00

TUESDAY

a passport, and.,his attaché hal to hunt Talleyrand through.
,_
out the provinces of France before he could get one; and
it was not till the following May- that -the two countries
came into .collision.-(Heare beater) :Franca could view it
as no light matter to be brought into collision with a people
so brave, so energetic, and. possessed of such great resources
as the people of England.-(Hear, hear.) But then it is
said that the present ruler of France is not to be
trusted-that he is a man who wreild disregard all inter-
national considerations of policy and justice. • Now, silte
ever may be said of the present ruler of France, if merit is
to be' taken as a test of success-and I am afraid we are all
too Much disposed to regard it in that-.light--Louis :,Nape-
.leon had shown no want of talent. Whatever maybe though
of his moral sentiments, he has shown that he was no block!,
head. - ("Hear, hear," and laughter.) He had reached the
Highest: post• in the state, 'the people Seatried to acquiesce
in his role and he obtained a larger civil list than thequeen
of Feeland - (Bear, bear.) It Was all coileur dz rose_with
him, and yet we' are told that this man istoiag tnderrart '
teem all recognised principles of international action, and
that bta•Th going- to invade our sbore-.- (Hoar. ) I have a
friend in Frantekehoin name, if I-quoted it, would be ra-
teived with respect not reify in this House, but everyweere.
in Europe. I wrote to him on this- subject, to aetertain it.
Le cou'd eive any infarmationto confront the most silly eanfc
[hot ever,wae knw ou in this country. Here is his answer,.
e-reerieeti in two lines.:--•• Louis N.apoleor, it .:,-lel iintile'Yart,'
:lute. e.O it ti:-owls: one of. his gerieraea lf that general,
No eueee„,a„: se woalcl celipee him;, if he wee no: be would
ruin hi et. "- (II eer, ilea-.) But underttand that I am not
here asking se u to teat the geed fai or
.h • torbeatanee of
allot:oda' (Hear) -but. f 'say that Leuie N'epol.a)h is not
,
eo . taolish as . re contemplate - anytilim; :.-,0 erneidal M -a-
bueCaneeringeatack on our .borer:wouldbe.--(llearahear.):.
When we hear that leeis diep A' chiteg
the riorth and to the south, anti =that he 'ls everywhere
carryings,uk negotiation4.4.o-ettaeli persons, tot hie interest •
- •
and eaus was at to_ beeetipteoeea that at thieeverY time
lie Was going to run hi 3 head into- war with England,
andahat he was. going ..to ~iaiveele us with some. 15,000 or,
astute diplontatiets te
20,000 men ?-:(Hear, leear.) ' I • have
,heard it said by, the .
Noble Lotd, the Member tot Tiverten, that it' was possible
for the''preeerit 'ruler of `Frauds to invade this country by
. sending 50,000 or 60,000 men from Cherbourg in the night.
When I hear such statements as that, it accounts sufficiently
for all the old-statesmen sitting on this siee of the House ont
of office..-(Liter, hear, and laughter.) And I do not wonder
that Lord Derby should hope to .find new "diggine and
new veins, and that he . ebould discard the old'
"placers."-(Much laughter and cheering.)., Surely it
is little less than an insult to the good sense of the country
to make
thaatpt6egi:octoirieum
eat:
etubnaita_b(Hear, hear.)' Will
any y man say 6
brought to Che
11 bourg, and landed in this country r-
suchwithout our having a
[- month's noticeof it?-(Near..) I wish we had a Committee
sitting -on- the national defences, and I should be glad to in-
quire of the Adjutant-General the necessary equipment to send.
60,000 men into a country, and more especially into a country
that had a hostile fleet which ruled the seas; and was ready
to intercept and cut off all retreat.--( Hear, hear.) I should
like to ask what cavalry would beerequired, for I presume
that when this army lands here, t hey do not mean to run
about and catch borses.-(Hear, hear, and laughter.) I
Should like to know what amount' of artillery and cemmis-
sariat stores would be requisite,-(Hear.) Such a statement
as the one to' Which I have referred is a mockery of the good
sense of, the people of England ; and the people of England,
ley.the !public meetings_ which they held on this subject,
and the' petitions which they presented to ,this House,
showed that they did not believe in the possibility of such
'a sudden invasion.-.(Hear, hear.) , But this argument is
used, that the application of steam to the purpose of naviga- ,
tion'expOses us to invasion. I believe I am to be followed by,
a gentleman who has, more experience and technical' infer-..
:nation 'in these matters thee I have, and he will tell you how
absurd it is to suppote that the appli,catton of steam to nevi-
- other
gatioa has given advantages to the nations of Europe
.over us. Why, coal and 'iron, the chief elements in steam
'navigation, we possess in greater abundance, and of finer
quality, than alt -the nations of Europe • -put together. In
cotton-spinning pr manufactures did.
esteem give greater ad-
vantages to other countries than to Itmaland?-(Hear.) .It
not why should steam give them greater advantages in its
application to navigation
?-(Hear.) But it is said steam-
boats would enable an enemy to ell* ports at any .
time to invade England. But. did not steam enable us
also to send. out our steamboats to the ports of France?
(Hear, -(Hear, hear) . wind ' that Formerly the , same blew the
• French vessels towards our ports, prevented us from meeting
- hear.) It was • then impossible to'
those vessels---( Ilea'',.a .
sail a line-of-battleship in the wino s_aye, but now, how_
.vessels to I3oulogue or
ever the, winds blows, we can send our.
:.
to Cherbourg; and, what is more, they can remain before
these ports like a rock, thus hermetically sealing up these
pints.-- (Haar' hear.) WrThen Lord Nelson wag eleckading
frequently driven avert fo
the port' of Boulogne ' he was Y r
three weeks together, but that , could
not occur now' with
The authorities of the steam-vosselse-(Hear, hear.) -
have failed
Post-
office can:tell you-bow often their steam-vessels
of reaching that port.. Now this gave 'us a greater advan-
tage than any other- country, i
because we had a far greater
steam force, and I have no doubt it ncreased• our, defensive
power ten times.-(hear, bear.) A erenhad
just been
laid or; the table of the House, from w • appears which, it ears that we
are' possessed of 1,300 steam-boats. This is
.a 'ergot
number of steam-vessels than is possessed; by
all the .
nations ' a , -Europe put togithea - (Hear, ' heat.)
'And we are now building . others, which :Would give
us double as- many as all the nations of the continent'of Eu-
ro. -I could not sav the same of
pe possessed.-([lsar, hear.) - ,a'
sailing vessels, because there are a large MUD er of sailing
vessels building .in , the Baltic ports, . but there are no
means of constructing ,steamers in these ports.--(Hear ,'hear.)
I will (mete to you the evidence of naval men on this tell).-
ject. Minkel Berkeley, „ thee 31st of March,lB4s,, before
this absutd discuMicm .arcese, mays-7" The Executive Go-.
vernmentOfEuglatid liaff it in their, power, at little or no
expense; to'hava a fleet Of steamers equal not only to 'ranee, -
but to thawliole world. Let them look at the ports of Lon-
don,-Liverpool, Glasgow, and all -our out ports, and they ,
would see what a vast number of steamships might in a very
short time 'be made available for the purposes of a steam
war." Admiral Dundan said, on the 26th of July, 1844,
that we possessed 1,000 merchant' steamers, 280 of which
were large enough to carry 32-peunders-a force which
is sufficient to overcome the comb:l:Led fleet of the rest of
the world. Tile Right Hon. Gentleman the Secretary
to the Navy ne der Sir R. Peel's Government (Mr. Corry)
.. said that in cae of a war we were able to command teatimes
the force of any country on the continent, and that three
months after a declaration of war not one of the merchant
vessels could be found at sea.--(Hear, hear ) Do you sup-
pose that:the -French Government-do you 'Suppose that
Louis Napoleon;.sylko-resided in this country-are ignorant
of chase facts? -(-ilea:,i
'll'lo Why, France ;does not pos-
sess a single ocean steamer, acrd,in
v Hon: Friend the Mne e- •
ber for Orkney -says that we have in our mercantile marine
20-horse power. in steam for every one-horse pewer possessed ,
by France, and I believe he haa not exaggerated in thaleast.
--(Hear, hear.) • We are told. that this seam navigation has
made a bridge over the Chaenel, and this parrot cry has been.
taken up, and repetted.tr9m e'ne
mouth to the other. But I
hope that in future we are done for ever with this foolish no-
tion. well, then, if stelae haS been of such use to:bur ene-
mies by sea-inmuch had advante which we share' - &tinily with
them-how. raailgway es
added to our sense ,_f security '
in aieereing us increased facilities for the transmission of
troops , from one part of the country to another ?•-(Hear.)
I have here a few lines :from
.the evidence of Sir W. Gor-
don, the Quartermaster-General, given before the Railway
Committeeein,lol,4l.Whicla. spe..4-:
-tame this very point,'
he stated that in two Yeara ftoin U ' - 'nu
-. oceruber 31 1841, to .
,_ember 30843, there were 130 17 ' - • 'men, - moved , 4 arsons-officers,
'Women, and children- by rallPrOad under his direc-
tionsin Eegland. Speaking of railway's generally, he said-
I. should say tint 'this mode of rail Way conveyance -has en- •
abled the army, comparatively to the
demands made' upon
it, a very small one, ecoado the work of a
ver large one.
You send a battalion of 1.000 men from London to Manches-
ter in nine hours; that same battalion marching would
cake seventeen days; and
they ~ arrive at the
eud of nine bours jnst as h
as when they started." 'Well, Beres , or nearly so,
that we; are enable- now,. by la .
we have the fact
means of railways, to ac-
complish within ehe space of nine hours what it took us
seVenteen days to effect in the time of turnpike gates. therwe are told that we can tranaPorashirge a body of
Fur-
troops " we could assemble iti Scotland from Edinburgh to
Deafer in - twelve hours ; wheraaa thi3 was formerly not '
to be done under twentv-foue days. Is ' not this
an enormous advantage? And does it not give us an
iannenee control over the array we
povess_
? I am featly
ashamed. to pursue this subj. :.
-e- ferther, und I cannot be-.
lieve that there is any man-eat least no men of sense and
intelligence-who places any confidence in all this talk we
have had lately about our, defenceless condition.-(" Hear,
hear," and" Oh, oh," from the.OPeosition benches.) I have
I
to you that thernis no reason for all this alarm ; but
I suppose ia the mindost_ of some . persons who still believe in
protection and such f haeir_ stiperstitions, there may be fouud
to exist tome fears'o . i'rench invasioe.-(Lauehter.) I
-really have to beg pardon of the French nation, and of the
,conetnon sense of this coountry for . even alluding to such
dangers, though I event d so but °h
aYpotheticelly. , I myeelf
have not . the grnalles idea that arty such exist more now
than there did two yeeirswalfcies and
you are as strong now as
you were then.' Ail
's Militia Bi.IY, is, that if you insist on
forcing fer Ward thi e „eet, all events, first bring
tant let th •
home yolir fiee,s, ,
hich brisq"Pte " ' the country ascer-
tain that the Money .a
and - let the already laid out has
been properly expended;' of- th e French nation see
that it is not- the people
Englande but 'the Ekoctie
tire- Government of 'the country that is bent• on re-
sisting
Gentlemen to imaginaconry dsider angforers.
one 1 would beg Honourable
- Inn
-ment the - great pro-
gress that i 3 being anade in these days ;
al W 1 h f
ea t , menu ac-
tures, and in all the works of ingenuity and art. I do. not
been h •
believe that all we have• -etrii9g in this House about-
the tendency towards Pnac is
laniardinlf more
than clap-trap
and delusion. When I have
theirwlourable Gentlemen
-on both iides of the [louse expressdu
ine
uel.igf in the won-
derfal adVance that had been Me
la the reat mostdi iFnliOrtant roves-.
ofea
extraordinarypossess-why, Mene• of biter_
communication that we
events, have a say
I believe them
to .be.sincere.; but I, at all conviction.that.
improvements the tendency of, all these greata
Sir, because ,is towards
peace, and not towards evr•
and because e I believe an
danger:toexist to this, country,
further defence, en° - at
have.
beelegiven that we require
e,
0 at all events,
thrziat the pro-
gress of this Bill ; and I.h p.
-Ili'', to withdraw thathnlifil t4e
Government may not be wi
Ig
looking
am fo;. IT Ell , they
may not refuse the returns
to judge holy ', which, will
enable the people of this country
(Laad'dhders far
, these ad-
ditional defences are called for.-(Loud
an' amen.ej The lieh•
Gentleman concluded by movingu
on the Militia tint on the
motion for going•into Comnaitte 11, " That
to consider the .
to :enable, this I louse the betterh provisions. of
e effective force ,
the Militia Bill, a return of.,t of the
royal
1 t be laid on if
of arch, as . the table of the
liiiV, on the list day
the following particulars, .
tiOuse; such return to contain
number of crews • tie.
',First. The names, arinamenee, employed
in andacti,:3 Officers
'of all lid I‘lejesty's ship* then
employed, and and the service,
'the stations on which they were
employed on each Station of time each vessel has been tads from earn - n -
apectively, distinguishing steam-Ve ug-vessels,
elled by screws; from those e -
;and alba-steam-vessels prop
4,striting the nominal hors
epelled byepaddl.3-wheels, art
vessel. secondly. The e-
same
oi•,t4e-'eagi4eB of eachik• 3 With.,thS ports et aa ae
IPf all reserve oe. adyance A T' o,f the periods which.which
the .are;reow.plaped, and a statementto see in a. 6. .•,. ;
, w... . slat them . e -- .-• stn.a", :for
ould . be required to . .
siueration of the 13.11. '
.
l - . 0 %in
actual sfyy...ic! Am- .that theafter the production of such
COMmitteh be pOstpoued until,
.„
return." '.'
to second the amendninnt
lie': AND7.*RSON, in rising ~
from no factious feel-
iii'
. ' ifonse be did so 'from , .
begged to assure the .
h Hon. benttemen opposite
• ' ' tive. While t e . ~..
s or party nto -
.• . • g quite willing to support
h liehes lie Wa
Sat on 010T-ref:miry -e , bich they might propose
them hi any • good measures
..:_,flose all their obnoxious
white he. was equallypiepared
het ,t,i r
had opposed the second
proposition% :For this reason
'
reading of,this Bill, as .heshould
have done that ,of the late
Government, as well as the emendatent of the Noble Lord the.
over, had resolved to
Member for Tiverton. Tile House, nun', , ~_ .
.t, was 01 ,the utene,t
consider the Bill, and therefore 1
the largest • '
importance that they should have - ipossible
b e them to de-
amount of informatien before them, to
enable
that
cide on the reiptiretnents of the measure: r reason,
he believed, that tl 're t
ie urns moved
for' by his Hon. Friend
the Member for the West Riding were ' highly necessary for
the propea,conaideratien of the. Bill in .-Committee. He

could not help expressing his surprise at the whole tone of
the debate.—(Hear, hear.) It really seemed to him that
they would ignore England's being a maritime nation
at all.—(hear, hear.) It appeared to him as if
it was a Parliament in Poland, meditating in
what way an incursion from Russia was to he resisted.
quite forgetting that we bad a moat around us called the
British Channel.—( Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord the
Member for Tiverton had talked of 60,000 -men coming to
Cherbourg and walking from their barracks on beard ship,
and landing in England without anything been known about
•ite but the Noble Lord wholly omitted one important con-
sideration, that there was no railway to Cherbourg, nor was
it likely there would be. But still, admitting _these 60,000
men were at Cheebourg:, there was yet a want remaining
Matt necessary to facilitate their operations, and that was
ships to walk into.e--(Hear, hear.) He would try to throW
sCale light upon this meter. First, then, with regard to
those terrible steam bridges on which these men were to
cross the Channel ; he would beg to read to the House a
statement of the comparative strength of the English and
French steam navy, that respecting the English fleet
being taken from the navy estimates of 1818 ; that of
France from their official navy. list. In 1818 it appeared that
Great Britain had belonging to the royal navy 174 steam-
' vessels of all el ices, being an aggreg:te of . 41,480-
horse power; or, deduCting pickets, tenders, end yachts
there were 103 eteam-ye.ssels available fur. purpo,e.
of war';' namely, line-of-battle ship, 23 frig, tee, -18
sleoPs, and 28 grin •vrisselee of an agerea,re of 32,327 horse
power. • By the gent -Generale de la Marine, winch is
the official French- navy list, of the year Pelt), the steam
navy of France consisted of 78 vessels of all classes,
'of an aggregate of 17,740 horse-poiver. • Bet, de-
aluctiug 20 smell vessels called avisos, in like manner
as is done from the British steam navy, it will leave
for purposes of war a-French Steam navy of only 58 .vessels,
;lamely, 17 frigate:, 1 i corvettes or sloops, and.2o avisos or,
the first elass—enswering to what we class as gala-vessels--
beingein- all 15,740 hoese-power. Se that at these periods,
say about three years since, the British War steam navy
was nearly_ double thn• number of vessels, and something
more than double the steam power, of that of. Fiance:
He Would now make a comparison of the commercial steam
navies of..the two countries. In the year 1.84 a an estimate, '
furnished from. the Board of Trade gave the whole com-
=mercial steam shipping of France at 3,000 horse-power, and
about 10,000 tons, and 'he believed no great addition had
been since made to it. He (Mr. Anderson) stated recently,
when he brought forward the question of rendering a
part of our commercial steam navy available for the
national defence in case of need, that the United Kingdom
had about 1,300 steam-vessels. of all classes, in its commer-
cial navy, of an aggregate of 300,000 tons,- and upwards of
100,000 horee-power. lie stated that as an approximate
estimate. Since then, a • return which he,moved fur had
been printed. It showed that, on the Ist of January last, the
registered steam-vessels of the United Kingdom amounted
to 1,218 vessels; and as he was aware from private, but ac-
curate, sources of information, that there were at least 100
steam-vessels in advanced states of construction, or since
completed, at -the various ports of the kingdom, he con-
sidered his statement was fully borne out. 11e had made
an analysis of the return alluded to, that is of vessels of 200
tens and upwards, which would stand thus :
Yesselsof 200 to 500 tons 264.. tonnage 86,416 tons.
500 13000 , „ llB „ 73,461 „
1,000 2,000 „ 34 „ . 85,013
)9 , 2 000 3,000 a - „ 23,155 ~
'

425 vessels; 243,045 tons.
The vessels of four companies now employed in the .ocean
Mail Contract service, and which were under their con-
tracts available for warlike operations, were 70 vessels,
amounting, in the aggregate, to 93,421 tons, and 32,500
horse power, being more than double the power of the
whole French steam navy in 1849, and more efficient
both for speed and capability of armament. After this
statement, he trusted. the House would not be at all alarmed
at the idea of a bridge of French steamers being built
across the Channel. This country possessed such an over-
whelming steam power that not a single French soldier
would be able to leave port. There were steamers enough
to blockade all the French ports, and to prevent any vessels
from leaving them. He felt no hesitation in seconding the
amendment.

The question having been put,
Mr. STAFFORD said the Hon. Seconder of this motion
seemed to be animated by a somewhat different spirit from
that of the Hon. Gentleman who moved it. While the Hon.
Member for the West Riding. expressed himself as dissatis-
fied with the amount of knowledge respecting the navy
which was then in possession of the House, the don. Member
fur the o:kneys, having got a return seemed to have got all
he wished-for, and, except in the last sentence of his speech,
made not _the slightest allusion to the motion before the
House.—(Laughter.) The House must, he thought, have
observed with astonishment the amount of nautical lore in
reference not only to the commercial marine, but to ships of
war, displayed by the lion. Member for the West Riding.
Where the Ilan. Member had studied the subject it was not
for him to say; but that a gentleman professing to be with-
out official information should be able to say that six ships
should be taken from one station, nine from another, one from
New Zealand, and'that a certain number of ships should be
left in the •Mediterranean, must certainly appear astonishing
to those'who were not aware how much time the Hon. Gen-
tleman had given to the•studer. Now, was this the only as-
pect of the case? After the Hon Member and his party bad
voted 44.000 men without a, single comment, he now brought
before the House a motion whose solo and specific object was
delay. lie was very much disappointed to find, 83 the lion.
Gentleman proceeded, that he had no explanation to offer in
reference to this change of tactics.--(llear, bear.) Now he
put it to the Hon. Gentleman, what effect these returns could
possibly have. Were they to suppose that the towns which
the ,Hon. Gentleman had named would be influenced by
these returns; or that the returns would tend to diminish
the amount of support which this measure had received,
not merely from places which enlightenment had reached
—(Hear, and laughter)—but from places as important and
as much deserving of respect as those to which he had on
that occasion, as formerly, narrowed his views? (Hear,
hear.) He (Mr. Stafford) must here protest against the
system of explaining away the majorities of that House.
These whom they (the Ministerial Members) represented
had as much right to have their opinions and the votes of
their representatives respected as the constituencies of the
district to which the Honourable Gentleman was in the
habit of referring.—( Hear, hear.) The Honourable Mem-
ber said that 6,500,0001. was spent in our naval defences.
It the Honourable Gentleman included the packet service
he ought also to include other items which had equally
little to do with defences. Did he mean to say that
all the scientific branches, which were as useful to the corn-
rnercial marine as to the navy, and the freight of troops,
were referable to naval defences? Such representations were
a fair sample of the fairness and accuracy which charae-
,terised the ii(M. Gentleman's statement. As regarded the
precise monber of vessels employed on any particular station,
the Hon. Gentleman might take an arbitrary figure, but no
Board of Admiralty could consider itself tied down to the
maintenante of a particular number of vessels in any one
month.--(Hear, hear.) It would be guided by the commie-
nications which it received; and that House would, he be-
lieved, never require confidential communications on mat-
'tors of the highest interest to be divulged. Take the case
of the West coast of Africa. If one vessel. or two vessels
more were fohud to bi necessary for the end in view, would
the Hon. Gentleman say that they should be withheld?
The: Commander-in-Chief on different stations often stated
that they required more ships.—(" Hear, hear," from Mr.
.Bright); and In spite of that cheer, he must say that, in bis
opipion, each persons, being on the spot, were far better
able to judge than the Honourable Gentleman. The lion.
Mernber for the West Riding quoted' the precedent
of 1793. The delay of the war at that period arose
from the want of preparation; but let that precedent count
for what it might before, the Hon. Gentleman himself de-
stroyed its weight when he said in a subsequent part of his
speech that steam had placed us in a new position, and that
our forefathers would not have thought of undertaking what
steam would enable us to accomplish with ease.-(Bear,
hear.) That was the real state of the case. When the Hon.
Gentleman spoke of the facilities with which our own troops
might be moved across this island, he appeared entirely to
forget that similar facilities existed in a neighbouring coun-
try, that not only soldiers but crews of vessels might be ra-
pidly conveyed from the south, to man the twenty•six vessels
in the northern ports. The lion. Gentleman himself could
not deny that it was owing to the increase of our fleets that
peace had, been preserved, and that our preparations had
compelled our enemies—if we had any—to respect us
(Hear, hear.) The motion submitted to the House was
one which had never been granted by any Administration.
It.had been repeatedly brought forward, but it had always
been held that to grant such a return would be highly
detrimental to the service. The statement which he ( Mr.
Stafford) made in reply to the motion of the lion. Mem-
-1:12r 'for the Orkneys, showed that the Government
did not wish to conceal any information which they
considered it right to give; but this motion could
not be granted unless the House resolved to constitute
itself the Board of Admiralty. In matters of this nature
it was necessary to repose confidence in the responsible ad-
visers of the Crown. Some of the particulars included in
the motion had already been laid on the table; but the at-
tempt to obtain a return of " the names, armaments, number
of crews and officers of all her Majesty's ships employed
on active service," &c ,-muitsbe met by the Government
with a positive denial. Its immediate effect would be to
give more information than the Government ever yet
granted ; and as to the animus with which the Honourable
Gentleman brought it forward, the motion went to overturn
and reverse the whole system of naval management—a step
which he trusted the House was not prepared to take.
—( Hear, hear.) There might be defects in the Admiralty,
and he hoped they would be rectified ; but as it had
been managed, and he hoped would continue to be ma-
naged, it' had protected the commerce of the country and
preserved our shores inviolate • and be asked the House not
to declare to the Commanders-in-Chief abroad that this
country bad no confidence in them, or to show that it was
determined to take the executive into its own hinds, by
demanding information which the responsible servants of her
' Majesty 'did not consider it consistent with their duty to
grant.--(Cheers.)
Mr. CORRY concurred with the Hon. Member for the
West Riding that, in discussing the question of our national
defences, it was not possible to separate , the military
_fieonal
the naval services;_ but he also concurred with .the I.le_oer:
Gentlemen the Secretary for the Admiralty, that then
illation asked for by the Hon. Member for the WO4 dinge
ought not to, be given by the Admiralty. If thay
tion were given, it would throw bat very little light "wiser
subject, and the country would not be at all toe
„a font.
he
thiongh it, unless it were accompanied did he thinkthat
'naval force that might be opposed to it. Nor
he
production
the consideration ought to be proffered for -A. a
returns of the
'of any information pa the subject of ours t informa-
cause the official Navy List contained ullt
d the stations of
tion of the names, the armaments, an, naval forces, be.
lee had taken the
the ships in commission.—(Hear, fish Navy Lists,
trouble to compare the French and the .bng.
ct with which
and lie thought he should be able to put tne House in pos-
• •
session of sufficient information
e prentieeship to the
he` was necessarily familiar fronl
linfoPrined that the naval
Admiralty. The liouse need not be
on the au Je
bi greeter than those
forces of this 'country were incomparably
Our nay). was
of ,Franca--( Hear, hear)---but al !s uhS"
gave great advan-
-09 Viliica
greater, there were circtunstenc
circumstances were the
asges to the /french navy.
France, by
gesgraphkai
position
of Franic'el:°esee distribution of the fleets
of the two countriee eted t whole of their reserved
which they obtained men lord there were considerable
ship of war, while in Eng
toaninan the ships for service.—
. difficulties in finding
men
first of these advantages, that
(Heir.) With respect to the
known that both countries
of geographical position, it was
home, while for the En
in
the Mediterranean, but
retained their largest squadrons
'that sea was for the Frenehna vv .n
the event of the Frencgh-
lish it was a fotaign statinoo
being required for immediate
squadron in the Medite7asan
dispatch from tooulon would
4 service, a telegraphic
it would stake days to send
not require so many hoursta.
a If the French Government
orders from London to M
sent a telegraphic message to Toulon, there was no reason
hOtlld not steam to Brest in a fort-
why the French fleet snight. It was true the
most
French had aimportant com-
-
ation'to maintain in the Mediterranean, but the steam
munic
navy of d'erra
France in the e h
at nean was four times as
hat of England, sott a considerable portion
great as t
• ht be spared. -ju another respect, Toulon might contri-
.

MAY 4,