The Sun.
London, England, 1862-06-12 00:00:00

GOVERNMENT DOCKS.

On the motion for going into committee of supply,
Mr. CORRY called the attention of the house to the
necessity of increased acc •mmodation for decking her
Majesty's ships, at home and abroad; and asked the Secre-
tary to the Admiralty what were the intentions of the
Government on the subject ?
Lord C. PAGET said that the house had been threatened
for the last two months with a motion of the right hon.
gentleman opposite (Mr. terry) of a very extensive cha-
racter, for it proposed to ifiVoint a commission to inquire
into the subject of dock accommodation, and whether addi-
tional docks should not be constructed. The right hon. gen-
tleman' he was happy to say, had reduced his motion to the
present limits. Although our dock accommodation might
not be as extensive as might be desired by some hon. mem-
bers, still he thought he would be able to show that
there was no cause for any alarm as to the efficiency of our
fleets in time of peace or war from the want of proper dock
accommodation. With regard to the extent of that accomo-
dation, as compared with that in France' he was quite
ready to admit that the French had gone to great expense
with reference to their dockyards. They might, however,
have other reasons than merely providing for the efficiency
of their navy, and they might feel anxious to keep in em-
ployment a large body of men. Besides the French were
fond of constructing very large buildings with a view to
the possibilityof their being required hereafter, while as he
(Lord C. Paget) thought, we acted more wisely hi this
country when we carried on these works only to that extent
whichour present wants required. It must also be remem-
bered that this country was furnished with natural basins,
such as Portsmouth and other ports, while Sherbourn,
Brest, nor other great ports in France possessed this na-
tural advantage. With regard to improvements, the Ad-
miralty had under consideration a proposal of a distin-
guished officer for improving the dock accommodation at
Portsmouth by a floating apparatus similar to that
which was adopted at Liverpool. There was at present
17 docks fitted for the reception of the 25 iron-cased ships
built or now building. The noble lord referred to Chatham
and other docks in support of his argument, and next
adverted to the dock accommodation in France. He con-
tended that with the exception of one dock at Brest :the
French had no dock accommodation for heavy ;ships
except at spring tides. He had been at pains to
investigate this subject, and he found that there was only
one harbour being prepared for the accommodation of large
vessels. He did not deny that if this country increased
their large ships that it would be necessary to enlarge our
dock accomodation, but he contended that ships building
and dock accommodation were going on pare passu. He
admitted that the subject was one of great importance,
and it was receiving the consideration of her Majesty's Go •
Lie? nment.
Mr. LAIRD contended that the dock accommodation in
this country was inadequate; and he said that there were
only two private docks in this country which could accom-
modate vessels of such magnitude as the Warrior.
He contended that if the work were properly
gone about, the expense of providing the necessary accom-
modation would not be so great as the noble lord con-
templated. He cited the cases of some alterations
that had been made in some private docks t in
proof of what he had asserted. He contended also thethwoud
alteration of our navy from wooden to weaselsirondoo
datnecessarilyjouo requirethoughtan
it would increased amount s
to f
p,okiaticocoimf
this
andsubject t
hus werethe approached
present
titime
nt
wasoo
tnhaer rboews t anspirit
it to a future
improvement in our docks instead of deferring
period. d of
for
economy,
making
of the committee who
Sir J. ELPHINSTONE,
sat on the subject,
with the state-
me," tz et the noble lord the Secretary
[ the Admiralty.
LEFT STEAKING.
was naost osnaetisfifeodr