The Sun.
London, England, 1853-08-25 00:00:00

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some proportion at least to the degree in which our . - ,
vast and wide-spread interests, dependent on n•
protection, exceed those of other nations. v... 4 j -
their preservation our greatness and prosp N
are staked ; and, as is so often observed by memk" -'•
of the commission, the dispersion of forces tali"
defence will require must be a cause of weakii,
especially against an enemy who has nothing,' i.r,on it 4
,
defend abroad, who is secure frtm serious invasion
at home, and is at liberty to concentrate his force
on whatever object he may choose for attack. It
is not our policy to strike out new instruments of
war ; but whatever real improvements are adopted
by others we are bound to provide ourselves with
also.no nothing thiAs Admiral de la Susse well observes,
“
is improvised in naval affairs ;" and we
must organize oar resources and prepare our ships
during peace. The latter, the most costly branch
of naval preparation has never been neglected,
and perhaps occasionally has been carried to
excess.
As

regards the adoption of the screw propeller,
our condition is highly satisfactory. We have a
larger and more efficient fleet of screw ships—those
recently constructed being triumphs of naval archi-
tecture—while our means of adding to the number
are far beyond those of any other Power.
We must follow the course of France in discard-
ing our paddlewheel steam-frigates and in getting
rid of the small craft that now crowd the Navy
List. But, looking to the past for future guidance,
we may ask whether vast sums might ' not have
been saved had the measures for rendering mer-
chant vessels available for the naval service been
more effectually carried out t The heavier classes
of ships must be in the highest degree efficient and
must be devoted exclusively to the service of the
State, but, as regards the smaller classes of vessels
required for the coast defence, every object might
be fulfilled if the merchant steam-vessels were fitted
to receive an armament (as M. Daru suggests), and
were thus ready at any moment to be taken into
the public service. Until some system of this de-
scription is put into force, the enormous mass o
merchant steamers must be wholly incapable of aid-
ing in the public defence if occasion should arise.
It would be too late to fit them when the hour of
need arrived.
Considerable advantage would also be gained if
the Revenue cruisers and the Coastguard service
in general were made an effective part of the navy,
instead of being, as at present, a totally distinct
force. The men, it is true, have engaged to serve
in the navy if required ; but this is a civil contract,
such as exists between master and servant, which
cannot be enforced, and the breach of it can only
be punished by an appeal to the magistrate.
Some other recommendations of the commission,
having reference to the arsenals and the materiel of
the fleet, require notice.
Besides the erection of great steam factories at
Toulon, Brest, and Cherbourg, the commission re-
commends that the State shall provide the means
of repairing steam-vessels at Algiers and at Mers-
el-Kebir, if no such establishment should be formed
by private enterprise.
The only port that can be conveniently supplied
with French coal is Toulon. The commission, there-
fore, resolves that a supply equal to at least one
year's consumption should always be maintained at
the Ocean Ports.

The commission recommends that henceforward
ships of the line shall be built only at Toulon,
Brest, and Cherbourg ; the ports of L'Orient and.
Rochefort being deficient in space, and best suited
for dispatching the squadrons destined for distant
expeditions, which may slip out thence unobserved,
are hereafter only to build frigates and smaller
vessels.

The commission adopts the opinion of the sub-
commission, urging that the shipwrights and other
artificers in the maritime districts shall be raised
for seven years, and formed into companies under
a regular military organization ; that they shall be
compelled to serve afloat when required (from
which they were before exempt) ; that this mea-
sure shall be at once put in force, and that "no
more free workmen shall be admitted into the ar-
senals from the day on which the military organi-
sation commences." This is a curious recommen-
dation emanating from a Republican Assembly,
chosen by universal suffrage and vote by ballot.
The progress of the gigantic works at Cherbourg
have been checked by the financial consequences of
the revolution.
" The breakwater," says the report,
"Is, we may say, finished. This work, the finest and
without dispute, the boldest ever executed by man, is
un fait accompli.
" The anchorage is secured, but the arsenal and de-
fences are far from being finished. We must not dis-
guise the fact that, if war broke out now, immense sums
might be lost ; a few steam vessels might speedily ruin
what we have constructed with so much labour and at
such heavy sacrifices.
" The Assembly has just voted the credits necessary
to complete the sea defences ; it remains to complete as
quickly as possible all that relates to the service of the

fleet."
The report states that there is only one dry dock
finished, and that one not large enough to admit a
three-decked ship. Two large basins are already
completed, but the third, which is on a far larger
scale, with several dry docks and building slips
opening into it, would, at the present rate of pro-
gress, occupy CO yearsin its construction.
After urgently pressing the completion of Cher-
bourg, the report goes on to say :
" To complete ,the means of defence and aggression
which will shortly place France in an advantageous po-
sition for a struggle, it is indispensable that Dunkirk
should be prepared to rezeive a steam flotilla.
The opinions of the commission with regard to
the measures and policy to be adopted in case of
war and as to the means of rendering the navy of
France more efficient cannot fail to interest us. It
is necessary, however, to remember, with respect
to the opinions expressed with reference to Eng..
land, that the commission emanated from the
Assembly, at a time when it was hostile to Louis
Napoleon, and there is no reason to suppose tkat
such sentiments find any place in the mind of the
Emperor. Still, among the 15 members of the
commission, there appears to have been little diffe-
rence of opinion, and upon no single occasion was
a voice raised deprecating the aspirations of aggran-
dizement at our expense, which form so marked a
feature in the inquiry. Neither is it to be for-
gotten that changes may possibly occur, which
would place them in power who have most pro-
minently betrayed their malevolence.
[To be continued.]