The Sun.
London, England, 1870-03-01 00:00:00

be found that in the estimates that ha should
have the honour of submitting to the Homo
that the entire sum required forthepublic service wouldb&
£1,700,000 lee than that of 07-8, and - £57,000 -lees than
those of last year. (Hear, hear.) in laying those
ieureq before the House it would Le found oa
examinetiea of the caperalitine of the lasi
tha:c `ears', that the greatest Of:Or:C=7 had been pursued
daring the past year, and that not at the expense of the
efficiency of the service. In the vote for the met
it would La seen that the sum was £IOO,OOC
less than that of the former estimate, but the
number of men set down as requieite was . 2,000 less than
last year. No. 2 vote, for clothing, also would be found
to be nominally 233,000 leas, but in reality it was 178,000,
and the reason for that was that they had a large stock of
clothing in store, and, therefore, it 11-2.3 unnecessary to
continue adding to stock. In vote 6 there was also a con.
gibe-able' reduction, and in the sum taken foe
naval stone there was a diminution compared
with that voted last year. In the vote foe
building it would be found there was an increase
in the sums set apart for Chatham, Portsmouth, and
Haulboline, because it would be most unwise to restrict
the works that were at present going on in those
important places. In the sum to be Jted for
retired pay there was an increase of £189,000, £85,000 of
which was due to the new plan coming into operatiomi
The hon. gentleman then proceeded to explain the progress
of admininistration of the affairs of the royal navy, and
said that in all that they had dons during the present
they had been guided and governed by the opinions they,
had expressed either in or out of office. It was with tho
greatest regret they had been called upon to dis 4 .
charge either officers or men, and they did so solely a-i
a duty. (Hear, hear.) Nothing had been done at variance
with what they had over and over again stated, and in
reducing the establishments during the present year they
were acting in conformity with previously expressed
opinions. All the retirements of officers had been
voluntary. (Hear, hear.) And where it had been found
necessary to reduce the men, it had been endeavoured to
to do so as gradually as possible, so as to create as little
inconvenience as could be. It had unfortunately happened
that in carrying out that necessary, but painful duty
certain formalities had been overlooked, as in the case
mentioned the other evening by the hon. member fot
Devonport, but he was sorry on public grounds that such
a circumstance should have occurred, and he hoped her
would believe him when he assured him that in.
everything that was done it was sought to
the very utmost to have due regard to the
feelings and the actual convenience of those who felt
the blow. (Hear, hear.) They regretted much to have NO
discharge men who had conducted themselves so well and
ma long ; and, in carrying out the painful duty, they hal
selected those who had been the shortest time in thiA
public service, and in doing so they had been::
guided solely by the rule laid down in the last year.
Nothing could be more painful than the carrying out of
that, which was a necessary policy ; it was a subject of
grief and pain, and in all that had been done, and in every-
thing and towards every person, they had endeavoured to
a-et fairly and with a due regard to the duty they owed to
Parliament. Reverting to the accounts, there would, he said,
be a saving of £32,000 under the head of per-
manent salaried officers. The right hon. gentle-
man compared the strength of our navy with that of
France, Russia, the United States, and Turkey. We had
two broadsides of the first-class, six of the
s cend-class, nine of the third-class, eight
of the fourth class, four of the fifth class,
and 2 of the sixth class—in all 31. Then .there
were 2 turret ships of the first class, 5 of the second class,
and 2 of the third class; besides which there were
5 smaller broadsides, and 2 turret ships. The French had
33 seagoing and 2 turret ships, 11 floating batteries, and 5
small-armoured. The policy of shipbuilding for the navy
would be to the utmost to discourage the repair of old-
fashioned ships and of local -manufactures in dockyards.
(Hear, hear.) The determination had been come to to
build between 19,000 and 20,000 tons of shipping every
year, 12,000 being Rumoured, and 7,500 unarmoured;
4,000 by coro-rect, and the remainder in our dockyards.
The right hon. gentleman went at great length into each
minutiae of his reforms, and concluded a lengthened and
elaborate statement amid considerable cheering.
Mr. Comer pefende.d his 'policy while at the head of the
Admiralty under the late Government, and expressed his
opinion that Mr. Childers had acted more on hustings
pledges of wild reduction than on true ideas of economy,
which were always associated with efficiency.
Mr. SAMUDA and others of the. sLiebuihling 'alter st
criticised the details.

The vote was agreed to ; and some others Lav'ng beta
taken, the House resumed.
Ti o report on the Wat-offiee (Sabiries) Bill was b tug-%f.;
up and agreed to.

Several other measures were advanced a stago, and

louse adjourned.

LIST -FOR THE USE (1F VISITORS TO
271 E METROPOLIS.

IitiSEUMS.

Antiquarian— Somerset House. Admission by aporeation

to the secretary.
Botanic: —Royal 13utanie Society of London. Tlemont's-
park. Admission daily by orders from fellows. 'Royal
Gardens, Kew. Open daily, 1 till 6, free.
British—Great Russell-street. Open free on Mondays,
Wednesdays, and Fridays, 10 to 4; summer mouths 10
till 7. Closed Ist till 7th January, Ist till 7th May, and
Ist till 7th September; also on all thanksgiving days.
City—Guildhall. A collection of antiquities, &c. Daily
10 till 5.
Geological— Jermyn street. Open daily (except Fridays)
free.
India—lndia Office' Charles-street. Asiatic natural his-
tory, antiquities, &c. Open free on Mondays, Wednes-
days, and Fridays, and on Thursdays by orders.
King's College—Strand. Anatomy and curiosities. Daily
10 till 4.
Patents—South Kensington.
Open free daily.
Royal Institution--21, Albemarle-street. Various objects.
Daily, 10 till 5.
Royal Military Repository—.Woolwich. Models of forti-
fications, cannon, and warlike appliances. Daily, 10
till 4.
Royal Polytechnic Institution-309, Regent-street. Scien -
tific, with lectures. Open daily, till 10 p.m. ls.
Soano's-13, Lincoln's-inn-fields. Antiquities, curiosities,
and pictures. Open Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fri-
days in April, May, and June ; and Wednesdays, from
February to August. Admission on application to the
Curator

Models and inventions.

Society of Arts—John-stroet. Adeli,hi. Inventions, pic-
tures, curiosities &c. Daily: admission by member's
order.

South Kensington—Cromwell-road. Open on Monday;
Tuesdays, and Saturday; 10 till 10, free; on other days
10 till 4,5, or 6. 6d.
Tower of London—Ancient armour, &c. Open daily, lf
lill 4. ls.