The Sun.
London, England, 1854-02-28 00:00:00

1844,

of thisionclttiouipreviettilrear-rribittliesett.
25 or 30 pars' and lot king at the efficient navy which we
now possessed under the auspices of the right hon. gentle-
man, there was much food for congratulation as to the
small amount required to prepare such an efficient fleet as
contrast,3d with years when there was scarcely any fleet at
all for the defence of the country.
Mr. CORRY, acknowledging the admirable state of effi-
ciency into which the fleet had been brought, said there
was one arm in which he feared it was deficient ; he alluded
to ships fitted for carrying mortars. When he was at the
Admiralty a second class steam-sloop was fitted for that
purpose, and the experiment was looked upon as a success-
ful one. _ _

Admiral BERKELEY said, that all our large ships at
present threw shells-from their 68-pounders, almost in the
same way as mortars, and were capable of bursting their
Shells-it the same distance as mortars.
Mr. CORRY—But without the power of elevation.
Captain. SCOBELL hoped the improvementuf the small.
arms would not be lost sight of, Some of the marines,
he apprehended, were now practised in the use of the Minie
rifle. He wished to ask whether the Board of Admiralty
had finally made up. their minds as to the propriety of
employing iron as a material for ships of war ? He wished
also to put a question to the right hon. gentleman with
regard to the reward given to the inventor of a screw-pro-
peller. He understood there were parties who were said
to have a reasonable claim to be considered in the matter,
and who urged that the screw-propeller invented by them
was the very one which the Royal navy now used, and for
which the premium had been awarded.

Sir J. GRAHAM had great pleasure in inforining the
hon. and gallant member that the muskets supplied on
board her Majesty's ships were of the most improved de-
scription. With regard to the second question which had
been put to him, he had to state that the result of the
inquiries which had been made afforded proof that iron
was not a material well adapted for the construction of
ships of war. With regard to the item referred to by the
hon. and gallant gentleman, the circumstances of the case
were, that a sumof 10,0001. had been paid to persons claimed
to be the inventors of the screw-propeller in use in her Ma-
jesty's ships, but at the same time a bond of indemnity
had been required, in the event of any person hereafter
coming forward and proving himself to have been the ori-
ginal inventor, and if Captain Carpenter were, in fact,
the original inventor, he could institute a legal claim.
Sir F. BARING stated that he had paid, when he had
the honour of holding office, a sum of 10,0001. to persons
claiMing to be the inventors of the screw-propeller now
employed in the navy. The invention was not a simple
invention, but rather a combination of inventions, and, in
his opinion, the persons who had conducted the business
had shown a very liberal spirit, and, indeed, he was con-
vinced that if each invention had been paid for seperately,
the expense to the country would have been considerably
greater than it had actually been.
Mr. FRENCH felt bound to state that, in his opinion
the credit of the application of the screw-propeller to nau-
tical affairs was due to Captain Evans. That officer had
been sent to inspect the Archimedes, which, he believed,
was one of the first ships which was fitted with a screw-
propeller, and he had been present at the trial which took
place, and the inventor was at that time utterly ignorant
of the power which the screw gave over the helm, and every
one of the statements which Captain Evans made on that
occasion had since been justified by the result. When cre-
dit was claimed by different persons for the application of
the screw-propeller, he thought that some credit was due
to an officer who had so materially facilitated its adapta-
tion.

Captain SCOBELL said that all that Captain Carpenter
desired was, that justice should be done him. He believed
that the money which had been paid had come to a Mr.
Low, and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council had
refused Mr. Low an extension of his patent. He himself
felt convinced that the screw on board that celebrated ship
the Agamemnon, and many other first-class ships, was
more similar in principle to Captain Carpenter's invention
than it was to any other.
Sir F. BARING said that the fact of the Judicial Com-
mittee of the Privy Council having refused Mr. Low an
extension of his patent was no proof that he was not the
original inventor.
Mr. STAFFORD considered that the right hon. gentle-
man was quite justified in having paid the sum of 10,0001.
as he did ; such had been the opinion of the late Board .of
Admiralty and of that which preceded, and he thought
also of that which succeeded it.
The vote was then' agreed to.
A vote of 374,6421. for new works, improvements, and
repairs in the yards, &a., was agreed to.
A vote of 32,0001. for medicine and medical stores was
also agreed to.
On the vote of 54,6531. for miscellaneous services,
Mr. STAFFORD expressed his satisfaction that the
Board of Admiralty had continued the grant to the Sailors'
Home which had been proposed by the late board.
The vote was agreed to.
On the vote of 657,5751. for reserved pay and half-pay,
Admiral WALCOTT thought that, accustomed as we
had been to refer the high position which England held
among nations to the superiority of her naval power, he
could not do otherwise than concur in any measure which
should make a more adequate provision for manning the
navy. For, of what possible use or avail could it be to
boast of a splendid navy of ships, unless manned with the
sinews and nerves to render them efficient ? But it was
necessary plainly to tell the man-of-war's man to what he
might look forward—to satisfy him of the certainty of that
provision which was proposed for his welfare, present and
future. The officers should possess the perfect conviction
that no disposal of patronage, for ends private or political,
would mar their prospect of the reward due to merit. Then
this country would reap the full benefit of such a generous
and fostering care of a noble profession. He agreed wholly
in opinion with the hon. and gallant member for Bath that
nothing could be more uliwise than to encumber a ship
with any large proportion of landsmen. Very few, in-
deed, but ordinary seamen ought to be taken on board.
Lads from 14 to 18 years of age were the material from
which blue jackets must be made. In the navy yearly
from 3,000 to 4,000 such ought to be entered, in order to
supply regular men-of-war's men. He was gratified by the
testimony borne by the right hon. baronet the First Lord
of the Admiralty to the services of his predecessors at that
board. To the Duke of Northumberland the service was
indebted for the Committee on Manning the Navy, of
such vast importance iu its results. He be'ieved that no
man ever entered upon that office with more single-
minded purpose, or more earliest desire to conduce by
every possible exertion to its efficiency ; and, as regarded
its patronage, to make merit the sole criterion of advance-
ment. Allusion had been made to the crowded state of
the lists. It ought and must be remembered that during
the last war we had at one time no less than 1,000 pen-
dants flying, and to officer those ships was a matter of the
first necessity. The officers then employed served their
country with fidelity, and to its utmost advantage, and
they ought not to be dealt with in speeches of disparage-
ment. Many in peace-time earnestly and perseveringly
advanced their claims to continued service—many were
still most desirous of employment, and in a short time
hundreds of these men would no longer need the reward of

good and gallant service. But he would remind the house
that the first evidence and sign of a declining nation were
ingratitude displayed towards those who had,stoad by their
country, giving her strength and life in that hour in which
she most needed them. The country was entering upon
another war ; and she would require able heads and youth-
ful spirit and vigour, and they ought to be cheered on-
wards by the bright hope that the country would not be
disregardful of their claims upon her consideration. Their
ardour should not be damped by indifference shown to
those who preceded them in a career no less noble or
momentous to the interests of their country.
Capt. SCOBELL hoped that the Admiralty would go upon
the principle of giving promotion according to merit.
The Admiralty had the power of checking any man's pro-
motion they pleased, and the few that were employed were
not selected solely on account of public merit. It was a
hard case that half the lieutenants never got beyond
that rank. Owing to their numbers they could not be pro-
moted, but the Admiralty could pick and choose where
they pleased.
Mr. W. WILLIAMS said, that as the hon. and gallan
admiral opposite had observed, that officers of merit in the
sea service had been neglected he could not help contrast-
ing the manner in which naval officers were treated with
the conduct pursued towards officers in the army, in refer-
ence to good service pensions. He perceived by the esti-
mates that one of the persons receiving 'a good service
pension in the navy was Commodore Michael Seymour.
This gentleman entered the service on the sth of Novem-
ber, 1813, and doubtless must then have been very young.
In March, 1814, only four months afterwards, he was pre-
sent, while serving in the Hannibal, at the capture of the
French frigate La Sultane, and that was the only service
he had rendered for this good service pension. It was
true that he had held the appointment of Commodore-
Superintendent of Devonport Dockyard since September,
1851, and had been actively employed afloat as a com-
missioned officer about 18 years ; but he had been very
fortunate in obtaining these two employments, and many
an officer would have been glad to have the appoint-
ments. The grant of a good service pension for the single
service he had mentioned, exhibited a liberality of which
the gallant admiral had no, right to complain, especially
when many men in the army who had served in the
Peninsula and Waterloo were not so well rewarded ; but
he thought that there was ground for complaint on the
part of the country that in this case so much had been
bestowed.
Sir J. GRAHAM said, the hon. gentleman was rather
unfortunate inthe instance he had adduced of ill-bestowed
reward. Commodore Seymout's service were set forth in
the paper before the house, and as he had had an interview
that very day with the gallant commodore, he would tell the
house what the nacure of thatinterview was. Itbecame the
duty of the Admiralty to select a captain of the fleet for
the force to be commande 1 by Sir C. Napier, and he ac-
cordingly consulted Sir C. Napier as to the offic toe
the whole, would be most efficient for that post.er w ho, nr
Af
conferring together and looking at the list of officers, they
both came to the conclusion that, if Commodore Seymour
could be induced to accept the appointrur tcrhheetwould be
gallant
the most efficient person, (Hear, hear.)
officer was at the moment Superinteetilidnetrutefof the Devon-
personal and
port Dockyard, and was also?t9neuaccreg
t rod to the character
professional services—not h
one of the most
of his his gallant father,
tinguished officers iwnhothe vv had been
in the receipt of a good
service pension. The moment it was mentioned to the
gallant officer that for the good of the service he should
leave the dockyard and go. on board the Wellington as
of the fleet, he replied that he was ready to start
sctapn
48ta'hours notice, and that he would resign his dockyard
appointment and throw his pension to the winds if he
could be of any service to the profession to which his heart
was attached. (Hear, hear.) He (Sir J. Graham) did not
think it right to take the gallant officer strictly at his
word; but, telling him that it was important that he
should go on board the Wellington on the special service
desired, added that he would make arrangements, in con-
sideration of the gallant officer's generous offer to resign
his appointment, to keep it open for him until the special
service was performed. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. W. WILLIAMS had meant to cast no reflection on
the gallant officer but he thought that many a lieutenant
who had fought and had been wounded in some of the
great battles of Nelson, and had nothing bat their miserable
half-pay to depend on, might consider themselves hardly
treated when they compared the reward of their services
with that given to a gentleman whose good ,service was
confined to the first four months after his joinin; the

navy.
The vote was then agreed to, as were also the following
votes :-476,6591. for military pensions and. allowances,
and 148,798/. for civil pensions and allowances.
On the vote of 225,050/. (the last of the navy estimates),
for army and ordnance departments (conveyance of
troops),
Mr. W. WILLIAMS complained that in the conveyance
of some troops to Dublin a small mercantile steamer had
been employed with great inconvenience to the men, when
two men-of-war steamers, at the time lying idle, might
have been put in requisition for the purpose.
Sir J. GRAHAM was sorry to say that he should have
to call the attention of the house again to a vote of this
kind at a later period of the session. Within the last fort-
night measures had been taken for the conveyance of
10,000 troops to the Mediterranean, and in the course of