The Sun.
London, England, 1849-06-19 00:00:00

TOM TELLTRUTH,

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It is well known that, in addition to our steamers of
war, we have a disposable force of not less than 150
merchant vessels, each of them, as their owners allege,
capable of carrying heavy guns at a very short notice;
and although the Committee specially appointed to report
upon this subject have left us in the dark, we have the
evidence of Admiral Sir Charles Napier that he recom •
mended a plan for making these steam-ships and their
crews available with the least possible delay; and al-
though a great portion of the evidence given by the gallant
and distinguished officer had been suppressed, enough
has remained to show that in more capable hands the
protection of our coasts and the employment of our
mercantile steam navy would be a work of simultaneous
advantage and policy. Without some such organisation
of our steam forts, both in materiel and personnel, it
would be useless for us to hope to offer any successful oppo-
sition to the landing of a reckless and determined in-
vader. The system and rapidity with which whole
regiments have been embarked at Toulon, and landed at
Civita Vecchia, should convince us that the same powers
might be brought into operation at a future period
against ourselves.—Chronicle.

Exaggerated reports cholera at Bou.
logne having appeared in some of the journals,
various official persons in that city have circulated notices
stating that the disease was never very pr• valent in the
place, and now no longer exists there. The only vic-
tims of the disease in that locality appear to have been
some of the poorer class of Frenchmen, none of the
English visitors having been attacked.
Lord Portman had an interview with the Chancellor
of the Exchequer yesterday, at his official residence in
Dow ning•street.

SHIELDS, JUNE 16.—The Jean Bart, of Marseilles,
and Bee, of Dover, in coming into harbour this evening,
grounded on the Middle Sand, and will have to remain
until the ri3e of the tide.

OFF DUNGENESS, tiIIIIE 12.—Louisa, Batavia, for
MuterAtm.

REPORT ON STEAM NAVY.
The Select Committee appointed " to inquire into the
practicability of providing, by means of the commercial
steam marine, a reserve steam navy available for the na-
tional defence when reqaired," have reported to the
House of Commons the following most profound conclu-
sions :—First. " That the mercantile steam ships, it
manned and armed, would be a most useful auxi-
liary force for national defence;" and, secondly, " that
a prompt development of the whole available maritime
resources of this country is most desirable in the event
of threatened hostilities." But when we turn with
anxiety to see the means recommended for the equip-
ment and organization of such an armament, we find
" that upon the steps necessary to render such mercer,-
tile steamers available for that purpose, the Committee
do not deem it necessary to offer an opinion."
Upon this Committee sat two of the Lords of the Ad-
miralty; but it is perhaps fortunate for us that public
opinion sometimes outstrips the slow calculations of
officials, and that we can supply the studied omission of
the board by informing them that there is an absolute
and immediate necessity, not only of arming and prepar-
ing our own ships of war, but of organizing the mer-
cantile steam navy, now offered to their hands, in a
manner which will prevent any further discussion on
this point. It is impossible not to see, and to view with
mingled disgust and indignation, the melancholy spec-
tacle exhibited in the steam-basin of Portsmouth, of
that crowd of abortions that are now floating in the
Barbour—wretched vessels undergoing temporary refits,
the best of which would be no match for their compe-
titors from Boulogne or Brest.
We must urge upon the Government the inadequate
armament and faulty construction of the greater part of
our Royal steam navy, the inefficiency of its power as
compared with that of France, the necessity of completing
and launching all our steam-ships at present upon the
stocks, and the propriety of forming a large steam re-
serve at each outport, with a sufficiency of seamen to
navigate the vessels, and of marine-artillerymen to work
the guns,

e must remind those in authority of the narrow
and hair-breadth escapes from war that this country
has experienced since 1840. Let us look at Rome,
and ask ourselves if there is more reason for
the bombardment of St. Peter's than of St. Paul's.
We must see, although we hardly dare
avow it, that our remonstrances are becoming
more and more powerless in proportion to the diminution
of our fleet, and that it is high time for us to concentrate
our views at home, and not to forget Cherbourg whilst
we are gazing at the Tiber.
We are no alarmists upon the subject of invasion.
But should that emergency arise, it is to be hoped that
we shall be in a better state of preparation than at
present. It is clear that we have no means of resisting an
enemy if it should land: we have no method by which
we can impede the movement of any large armed body—
no reasonable hope that we could check them. There
are no fortresses to be passed on the road, so that
there would be no occaston for a heavy siege train.
There are no rivers to be crossed, and a pontoon
train would be unnecessary. A firelock and a hun-
dred rounds of ammunition, would be all that was
required, and not all the peasantry of Kent and Sus-
sex combined would stop the invading forces one
hour. The only effectual resistance that could be
made would be in preventing the disembarkation, and
for that purpose we must look to our steamers, and t•
them only. Upon the rapidity or tardiness of their
equipment would ultimately depend the failure or suc-
cess of our enemies, and it is to that point that we wish
to draw attention.