The Sun.
London, England, 1847-02-27 00:00:00

of seaman voted for the service of the year was only 17,000 ?
They did not do so, because their own common sense
.I.i 'l.ii•re shot il ii,,ii r,,r7 us, to :f. fou of
our justification. it shows that a country like this cannot fix
fts owh expenditure in matters connected with public expense,.
What may be ample provision only two yeirs after t e
termination of an expensive war, affecting every con-
tinental state, may not prove sufficient twenty years afterwarde,
I mean the power which is strictly necessary for the purposes
of defence, not for the purposes of aggrandisement. There is
not, I am sure, a person in the House who will not feel that is
necessary to keep up the power of the country. 1 do not
think that the Government is asking too much, when the dig-
nity and honour of the country is taken into consideration.
What is now the actual increase in the navy estimates, exclu-
sive of the packet stations? The expense of the packet ser-
v ce in the year 1830 was 27,000/., in 1831 it was 24,0001.,
and for the present year 820,083/. It will be found that after
deducting this charge of the packet stations, and other charges,
amounting to the sum of 1,564,945/, the total expense for the
maritime defence of the country is only 5,996,0001. It must
be borne in mind that in this country there are no fortified
towns as in France, neither is there any great
military organization upon which to fall back. The
French navy estimates for the present year, with her
immense army and her Paris fortifications amounted to
5,639,000/., the difference between the estimates of the two
countries amounted only to 327.0001. In the year 1846 an
extraordinary credit was taken by the French Government for
a sum of 93,000,000 of f ancs to be distributed over a period
of seven years. The French navy estimates for the present
year are 114,594,591 francs, and to this turn must be added
the seventh part of the 93,000,000 of francs of thc extra-
ordinary credit. It was also proposed by the French Govern-
ment to increase their present number of ships from 358 to
390. It is also to be borne in mind that the French Govern-
ment have expended and are still expending large sums in the
construction of steam basins, in order in some measure to
supply the deficiency of natural harbours, along
the coast at Dunkirk, Calais, Cherbourg, Brest,
Toulon. and numerous other places. At Cherbourg,
44,000,003 of francs had been expended. At Brest, a
lei ge naval establishment was set up, in one of their smitheries
there were 127 furnaces; at Portsmouth, the largest of our
naval stations, there is a smithery which has but 48 furnaces. '
These things, I am sure, ought to operate as a lesson to this
. country. It is perfectly necessary that some parallel should
be kept up between this country and France. The naval esta-
blishments of this country were in a most disgraceful state ;
there is not a single station where a large vessel cari put in
between Woolwich and Constantinople. Bermuda, Malta, and
Devonport were all in a very bad condition. Now all this has
arisen from the miserable parsimony which has recently ex-
isted in this House ; you have been always for cutting down
the estimates, and now in a year of great depression, and
when there is not a shilling but could he well employed
by the Chancellor of the Exrhequer, you are called
necessarily to devote a large sum to the purpose of improving
these naval establishments, which might have been distributed
over a period of several years. The works at Bermuda will be
oqliged to be suspended, in order to finish the works in progress
nearer to home. Now, with reference to the marines, it is
necessary to :dd 1,50 J men to that body, and also to re-orga-
ni,e the corps of naval engineers. Nothing can be more im-
portant than the adoption of such a step. A Committee was
appointed to inquire into the subject of the naval engineers;
they reported that in consetiuence of the low wages given in
her Majesty's navy to engineers, that service had become the
last resort of the ignorant and inexperienced. Tile pay of the
[ first class engineers at present in her Majesty's navy is 131. Is.
per month. The pay to the first class engineers in the East
India Company's service, with 50/. for outfit, is 15/. per month
for the first three years, 191. 4s. 6d. for the next four years, and
211. 4s. 6d. for the next four years. The pay in
the merchant service is 251. per month for India and China,
16/. per month for the Mediterranean, arid 21/. per month for
the West Indies. In her Majesty's service the engineer is
compelled to rank with the carpenter ; they were not treated
as gentlemen ; they did not feel themselves to be such. The
Committee proposed to divide the engineers into first, second,
and third classes. The chief inspectors of machinery afloat, of
the first class, to rank with, but after masters of the fleet ; the
chief engineer to rank with, but after the master; _ the assis-
tant-engineer with, but after the second master. We propose
to give to the inspectors of machinery afloat 21/. per month ;
the chief engineer, 161 per month ; engineers, 141. per month;
assistants in the first class, 121. per month ; in the second class,
9/. ; in the third, 81. per month. The inspector of machinery
afloat is to have the power of reporting upon all matters con-
nected with the machinery. Now when it is considered that
these alterations will not exceed 8,0001., I feel assured that the
Committee will not refuse its assent to the proposition of the
Government. The total amount of the value of the machinery
with which these officers will be intrusted, will be at least
1,400,000/., and the proposed additional expense will not be
more than a half per cent. on the value of the machinery. It is
proposed that a vote of 500 men for 12 months, and 1,000 men
for six months should 1 e taken fir the marines. It is also
proposed to take a grant of 20,000'. for the organisation of
the dockyard corps, this carps will be a very useful body of
men, and can be turned to very valuable account in case of
invasion. The greatest readiness had been evinced by h e
artisans employed in the dockyards to enlist in the corps. The
numbers had been—
At Deptford 9OO
Sheerness . ..... 868
Chatham
Portsmouth ... 1664
Plymouth
Pi mbroke

It would be most essential to the discipline of this body of men
that they should be instructed, and have as much as possible
their condition improved, measures will be proposed for that
object. It is proposed to extend to the marines in
sornt modified form, the benefit of the Bill for re..
during the period of enlistment. Of course, the
peculiarities of the nature of the service in which the marines
were engaged, should be taken into due consideration. It is
intended to bring forward some measures for the improvement
,f the condition of the marines, and for placing them substan-
tially upon the same footing as the army. With respect co the
punishment in the navy, I do not wish to go again into that
question. The order recently issued by the Board of Admiralty,
has, it appears, been received by some Hon. Members favour-
ably ;by ethers not so. It is. however, proposed to introduce a
measure for the infliction of secondary punishments, white the
vessel is in harbour. Tne Government also propose to introduces
Bill to legalise the apprenticeship of boys in her Majesty's service.
These two Irtil,s we wish to bring in, and we intend that the
system which at present exists, when a ship enters the dock-
yard, shall be in a great degree done away with. We pro-
pose that if any man of good character desire's to remain
upon the ship's books he may do so, and six weeks' leave of
absence shall be given, to enable him to have a " run " on
shore, while his clothes, kit, See. can be kept in the dockyard.
Now, Sir, there is another subject to which I wish to direct
the attention of the House, and which I ask it to provide for
under two separate heads. I ask a total vote for salaries and
wages of 810,664/., and you will observe that this is less
more present
thatatl vote
a t
h of
menik nearly
noffl eachs
money, 0,0 0
nO/
than the vote which has been taken for many years past.
The vote for 1843 and 1844 was 779,396/., for 1845 and
1846 931,808'. and there is consequently a ;reduction; in the
numbers
no
uue
msn e
nb con-
sidersetsto
r;
o re
thepNeeakwi
speaking in
, when
hn the
steamf et
roundo;i
and that the charges for new works amounts to 526,000!., I
think that, with these facts before us, you will agree with me
that thl question involving, as it does, an expenditure of three
millions, is worthy the attention of Parliament. The House,
I trust, will see the impolicy and inconvenience of leaving all
the affeirs of the steam factories to be conducted as now, in
one place, and that at the least accessible point. Look' at
France, she has factories at Cherbourg, Brest, Toulon, Ro-
chelle, and other ports; while England has only Woolwich.
—( Hear, hear.) It is, therefore, this imperative ne-
cessity that induced the late Ministry to commence at
Portsmouth, Devonport, and Sheerness, magnificent
steam factories with all their concomitants. The House must
be aware that in these establishments the utmost vigilance and
carefulness is requisite to prevent any misapplication of the
Government stores, and to insure a necessary and wise eco-
nomy. But as economy and vigilance are virtues not easily
commanded in Government establishments, it is our intention
to make the individuals employed in these feel that their own
interests as' private members are dependent on a proper and
fitting attention to the interests of the country. You cannot
have that watchfulness in her Majesty's dockyards that charac-
terise the establishments of private companies ; you must,
therefore, trust some, and as they have to deal with a large
amount of money, it is better that you should appeal to their prin-
ciples than vainly endeavour to coerce them into a rigid system of
morality —( Har, hear.) You must show them that their
chances of promotion depend upon their merits, and you must
prove to them that these merits shall have fair play.—
( Cheers.) You must show them that they have a higher au-
thority than that of their own officers to appeal to. Ido not
hesitate to say, that promotion for merit has hitherto been
worse than a de id letter, nay, it has been often said, that a 10/.
freehold was better than any testimony from a superior officer.
We have seen that when a vacancy has occurred in the dockyard,
applications have reached the Board of Admiralty from every
quarter but the right one recommending s successor. The
printed regulations were no doubt excellent, but they
were a dead letter. There never had been any-
thing corresponding to them in the practice of the Admi-
ralty.—(Hear, hear.) I shall not say for how many years it
has been the rule that meritorious exertions should go unre-
warded. Now Ido not blame any particular Board for the
continuance of this system. I believe that all Boards have been
highly culpable, and if I want pooof of this, I wili find it in the
fact thst no Secretary of the Admiralty has dared to leave
behind him the correspondence which has taken place on this
subject of promotions.—( Laughter.) Sir, I say that that
system is a most baneful and demoralising system. There are
12 000 artisans belonging to, or hoping to belong to these
establishments, these men have no prospect beyond the dock-
yard, they look forward to becoming foremen, and from fore-
men to inspectors, and from inspectors, dock masters, until they
hope to reach a status which will give them perhaps 690/. per
annum with a free house to live in. Thus a proper emula-
tion will be created, because you show the artisan that his pro-
motion is certain, because based upon fair and intelligible
principles. By the system that prevailed, you had no hope
that good conduct would be noticed or bad
conduct checked,
unless such exceeded what was called the dock-yard license.
The result was, that a sort of apathy was engendered in the
dock-yards, which no authority could check, and which there
was no getting rid of. Now this was a system which the Noble
Lord the First Lord of the Admiralty felt peculiarly annoying,
and I saw a great deal more of its evils, because many things
are exhibited in the Secretary's department which reaches not
higher. I must say that I think all the defects of the system
are to be attributed to the mode of distributing the patronage of
the Admiralty. If the House will only consider the vast
amount of power, for gootl or evil, which the officers in these
establishments possess, if you consider that every one of the
180 inspectors expend on an average 10,000/. a year, they
must concede that an improved system of promotion—a system
which will connect the interests of the Government with their
own—will be a desirable one. I shall now state the principle
on which we intend to proceed. We wish to have, in the first
place, an improved educational test for all who desire to be
workmen. We wish to place schools on a superior footing to
what they are now, for we conceive that it is better to give
the boys access to the best system of education that can be
commanded, than to allow them, as by the present course, to
attain only an imperfect education from some of the officers
Of the dockyard. In every application to the
dockyard, we shall require from the apprenticesa school as well as other certificates, and if considered
qualified, they shall be admitted into the mould dock. Havingthe
conducted themselves in a *manner to give satisfaction,
be
in
will then be admitted as shipwrights, and they will then
some degree left to themselves. We wish also to introduce a
s • the master of a gang of
system of periodical returns, that I
twelve men, shall make a return, over a fortnight, to a fore-
man ; the foreman make another return once a month, to a
'(tester; and the master once a quarter to the Board of
Admiralty. Again, when a vacancy occurs, three names shall
be submitted to the master, who shall strike off the one least
qualified for the vacancy, and the Board of Admiralty shall
choose to supply it one of the two names remaining. We pro-
at once
pose that the salaries of the masters shall be raised
from 100/. per annum, as at present, to 1251. I have sub-
to the governors of the
nuked these regulations
different dockyards, sod they all express their ex-
treme satisfaction with the measure. I shall now
allude very shortly to the different points in the Bill. In vote
No. 1 there is an increase of 31.10 W., which is intended to
defray the expense of the addition to the marine force, and
the corps of steam engineers. Under vote No. 2 there is a
reduction of 4,220/. The Government have taken the cost of
provisions at present, and have calculated on the coming har-
vest, when every article shall have reverted to their former