The Sun.
London, England, 1853-05-17 00:00:00

MANNING THE ROYAL NAVY.

(From the Times.)
The Order in Council of the Ist of April, 1853, with
reference to the manning of the Royal Navy, deserves to
be considered as the charter of the British fleet. We
have already described in general terms its leading pro-
visions ; but, as the document itself has just been pre-
sented to Parliament, together with the report of a com-
mittee of naval officers and the correspondence of the
Admiralty on this subject, we propose to state with more
detail the precise advantages which the new system
holds out to seamen entering the Queen's service. It is
extremely desirable that the utmost publicity should be
given to these arrangements, which are highly favour-
able to the interests of the seafaring population ; and it
is impossible to overrate the importance of the subject
to our national interests. The principal object of the
committee of naval officers and of the Admiralty has
been to substitute a fixed engagement of ten years for the
present mode of entering seamen. From time immemo-
rial the practice of the navy has been to enter men for
particular ships selected by themselves, nominally
for five years, but practically for only three years,
unless the ship be detained longer on a foreign station ;
and then, after much expense, time, and labour bestowed
in training them, they are disbanded, and often lost to
the service. Some carry the fruits of their training to
foreign flags ; the larger number return at periods dic-
tated by their own convenience, and not by the wants
of the service. Hence it is uncertain when ships can be
got ready for sea. Several instances have recently oc-
curred of first-class vessels detained for months for their
complement of men ; and the 5,000 additional seamen
voted last December have not yet been entirely raised.
The evil, therefore, becomes one of serious magnitude
when the rapid equipment of a fleet is required by the
public interests or public safety. The object of the mea-
sure now put into execution is, "to give the Royal Navy
a permanent constitution, in order that it may be brought
to a higher point of organisation, efficiency, and discip-
line, and thus be enabled to fulfil the expectations of the
country." These are the terms in which the Secretary
of the Admiralty describes the scheme, which has since
received the approval of the Crown.
The first step is therefore to render the condition of
boys and seamen who shall engage for a continuous
period of service in the navy of ten years from the age of
18 considerably better than that of seamen entered on
the former system. For this purpose all seamen enter-
ing hereafter on these terms, including in the time of
their engagement their present period of service, will
have an increase of pay to second-class ordinary seamen
of a penny a-day, to ordinary seamen of twopence a-day,
to petty officers and able seamen of threepence a-day.
A class of leading seamen is established with twopence
a-day in addition to any other pay to which they may
be entitled. Men and boys are permitted to purchase
their discharge on a principle similar to that in force in

the army and. marines. The ratings of petty officers in
line-of-battle ships are increased 3d. a-day, and a con-
siderable increase will be made in the number of petty
officers who are eligible for the good-conduct gratuities of
71. and Si. when ships are paid off. Pensions as at present
will be awarded to men for continuous and general service
after 20 years, instead of 21, reckoning from the age of
18, instead of from the age of 20. But the Admiralty
have now a discretionary power of granting short-
service pensions of 6d. or Bd. a-day to men who have
served 10 or 15 years respectively, on condition of such
men holding themselves in readiness to give further service,
in the event of an armament or of war. The number of
men in the receipt of such short-service pensions is not
to exceed 10,000 ; but the existence of this reserve of
seamen-pensioners would enable the Admiralty, in case
of emergency, to equip a squadron with well-trained
seamen, and with the utmost despatch. The pay of the
warrant officers of the fleet is increased by about one-
fourth ; and warrant officers who have distinguished
themselves by acts of gallantry and daring in the service
will be eligible to hold commissions in the fleet in such
rank and position as they may be deemed worthy and
competent to fill, and such warrant officers will receive,
on promotion, an outfit of 1001.
These changes have been framed and adopted with an
earnest desire to improve the condition of the seamen
and petty officers in the Royal Navy, and we hope they
will have the desired effect. At the same time they
imply, to some extent, a change in the habits of that
class of men to which they are always averse, since they
are to surrender their liberty of choice for a particular
ship, and the advantages offered them are more pros-
pective than immediate; But the permanence of the
service, the rank which may be acquired in it, and the
certainty of a pension for life, are advantages which the
merchant service cannot offer in the same degree as the
Royal Navy ; though, if a mere increase of pay were
proposed, the effect would probably be a general rise in
seamen's wages, leaving the proportion between the
two services the same as it is at present. It is
stated by the Registrar-General of Seamen, that the
actual number of persons employed in British
registered ships in 1851 was 175,000. The Committee
of Naval Officers have not thought fit to recommend
the adoption of the ballot, or any system of compulsory
enrolment, because, at the very moment it might be
most needed— on the sudden outbreak of hostilities—
the' best seamen would escape its operations by their
absence abroad. But the committee relies mainly on
the formation of naval reserves upon the voluntary prin-
ciple, and to this end the policy of the Admiralty is
now, as we have seen, directed. The difficulty is, that
as British seamen are scattered over every part of the
globe, it is computed that not more than 21,000 are to
be found at any one time in the United Kingdom ;
though, of course, the sudden check which would be
given to maritime trade by the commencement or near
approach of hostilities must render a far larger portion
of the seafaring population available for the defence of
the country.
The French navy, though vastly inferior to our own
in the number and force of its vessels and materials of
war, has this great advantage, that by the admirable or-
ganisation of the whole maritime population the entire
fleet of France could in a short space of time be manned
for sea. The maritime conscription is, relatively, and
in time of peace, less severe than the military conscrip-
tion, and the persons subject to it are free from all other
demands of the public service. With fewer vessels and
fewer seamen, the French naval forces might, at a given
moment, be more available than our own because they
are more immediately dependent on the will of the State.
To provide against that first emergency is, therefore,
the most essential point ' • for, that once past, we have
not the slightest doubt that the resources and the pa-
triotism of the country would do the rest. It now re-
mains to be seen how the proposal of continuous enlist-
ment for ten years is received by the seamen, when the
new conditions offered by the Government are fully un-
derstood by them ; and if, as we hope, it proves success-
ful, no further time should be lost in organising the re-
serve, which might be formed at once of old men-of-war's-
men who have already completed the requisite period of
service,

THE FRENCH EMPIRE,

Whitsunday was kept as a holiday at all the
offices of the Paris journals, and consequently not
one of them was published yesterday.
In its sitting yesterday, the Corps Legislatif
adopted the Civil Pensions Bill, as submittd by
the Government. The numbers were-for the bill,
154 ; against it, 76. A large number of private
bills were after wards passed without any discus-
sion. The debate on the Budget for 1854 has been
fixed for Wednesday.
A moderate amount of business only was trans-
acted yesterday at the Bourse, at a general decline
in prices compared with those of Saturday, all de-
scriptions of stock having fallen, except the Four-
aild.-a-Half per Cents., for cash, in which no change
occurred. The Three per Cents., for the account,
declined 50c., the Four-and-a-Half per Cents., 20c.;
and the Three per Cents., for money, 10c. Bank of
France Shares remained without variation. The
closing prices were-For cash : Three per Cents.,
81f. 70c.; Four-and-a-Half per Cents., 104 f. For
the end of the month : Three per Cents., 81f.
50c. ; Four-and-a-Half per Cents., 104 f. 10c. ;
Bank Stock, 2,725. The Mortgage Bank shares
declined 2f., closing at 88f. 50c. There was a fall
of Of. in those of the Sociige Mobiliere, which were
last quoted at 949 f. 75c. The favourable condition
of business reported as existing in the Railway
Share Market was not maintained to-day, shares
in most of the principal lines having experienced
but little demand, with a general decline in the
quotations. Paris and Strasbourg fell Of. ; Nor-
therns, 7f.; and the remainder from lf. to sf. each,
with the exception of Paris and Orleans, Lyons to
the Mediterranean, and Rouen and Havres, which
remained unchanged. Final quotations :-Nor-
therns, 928 f. ; Paris and Orleans, 1120 f. ; Paris
Strasbourg, 944 f. '7sc. ; Paris and Lyons, 967 f.
50c. ; Paris and Rouen, 1165 f. ; Lyons to the
Mediterranean, 857 f. 50c. ;. Western of France,
790 f. 50c ; Rouen and Havre, 550 f. ; Bordeaux
and Cette, 672 f. 75c. ; Caen and Cherbourg, 645 f.
50c.; Dijon and Besan9on, 578 f.; Dieppe and Fe-
camp, 363 f. 75c.