The Sun.
London, England, 1860-05-15 00:00:00

bolts as it was required by the builders. So far as we have
gone we have found only two or three vessels in which this
fraud has been committed, and I am therefore disposed to
attribute it not to the contractors, but to some of the work-
men who may have bean introduced into the , ards under
the pressure of the period. That question sef the bolts was
brought under the notice of the Admiralty only about two
months ago, since which time I have ins iluted inquiries
with a view to taking such legal proc,eelir gs as may raise
the whole question, and, if possible, bring to light the guilty
parties. What the noble earl said about the Surveyor of
the Navy is not applicable to this Case. At that time great
exertions were being made in our dockyards to fit out ves-
sels rapidly; there were "a number of vessels to be built, and
contracts and specifications to be, drawn up, and the Sur-
veyor of the Navy, as he was then called, could not himself
visit the private yards and inspect the works which were
going on there. He was much more usefully employed in
overlooking the great works which were going on in our
dockyards. All he could do was to employ the best men he
could get as inspectors. With the advice and concurrence
of the superintendents of the different yards he took the
best leading men and workmen, and sent theta to the dif-
ferent contractors' yards to inspect the work which was
going on there. That I believe is the system which has
always prevailed, and I know no better one which could be
adopted. If you are building a house you must trust to
the clerk of the works, and if he chooses to connect him-
self with the contractor and permit him to put in bad tim-
ber, you aro quite helpless until you find it out some time
afterwards. In the same manner, in the case of build-
ing a ship, if the man or men whom you appoint as inspec-
tors enter into connivance with the builders—l do not say
that that was the case in this instance—but, if they do, I
do not see what resource you have or by what means you
can protect yourselves. The noble earl complains that the
Surveyor of the ,Navy is not a practical shipwright.
That question has been discussed over and over again. We
have had shipbuilders as surveyors of the navy, and
naval men have complained of them, that though they could
build a ship they knew nothing about fitting it, and that
the vessels which they constructed were not suited to go to
sea. In the last arrangement which has been madethe Ad-
miralty took this course. They appointed a practical ship-
builder to attend to the construction of the hulls, a practical
engineer to look after the machinery, and a naval man to
act with them and to be guided by their advice. So far as
I can learn, although, of course, great improvements may
still be made, and I think naval architecture is making very
rapid progress, the ships which have been built under this
system are very satisfactory. The Channel fleet has, as your
lordships are aware, been at sea in one or two gales, and it
has been tried, although not very seriously, yet enough to
enable naval officers to judge of the qualities of the ships of
which it is composed. As soon as it arrived in port.l wrote
to the captain of each vessel, and asked him to tell me what
he thought of her and. of her behaviour while she had been
under his command, and what, if any, improvements he could
suggest in her build. Upon the whole, the reports which I
have received in reply are most satisfactory, and do groat
credit to the builders of these vessels, because they show that
they are very efficient ships and have under somewhat diffi-
cult circumstances behaved very well. Therefore, I think,
in opposition to the view of the noble earl, that the system
which we have got is, upon the whole, a good system. The
reason for changing the title of the Surveyor of the Navy
to that of "Controller of the Navy" is, to show that he is not
actually a shipbuilder, but that he is to overlook the ether
two departments, and to bring the practical knowledge of a
seaman to the technical information of the shipbuilder
and the scientific information of the engineer, and by the
combination of the three to give to naval men the assurance
that they will have placed under their command the best
ships that can be constructed. It is impossible that any of
these officers should give to the dockyards the practical in-
spection which is necessary, and, therefore I had intended
to -connect with the department of the Controller an officer
who should visit the dockyards, see what is going on, and
communicate with the Admiralty more readily than can be
done under the existing system. The reason why I have
yet made no such appointment is, that a commission upon
this subject has been moved for in another place, and I
thought that it would be better and more respectful to Par-
liament to wait for its report than at once to carry out my
own idea. (Hear.) It has been said that many of these gun-
boats were constructed of green wood. That, however, is
not the worst, for in many cases not only was the wood
which was used green, but the sap was not properly re-
moved from it. That was a much greater fault, because it
was hardly to be expected that in private yards there should
be a proper supply of seasoned timber; but the material
which was used might in all cases have been properly pre-
pared for use. In order to prevent similar occurrences in
future, we have laid dosen a rule that when any builder ap-
plies to the Board of Admiralty for a contract for building
ships, the Board shall send a person to visit his yard to see
what stock of timber and what slip accommodation he has
got. By watching the quantity of timber they kept, and by
giving the contracts to those builders who kept the largest
quantity of suitable timber, the Admiralty hoped to secure
the use of proper materials in the construction of their
vessels. The iron-coated vessels which are now being
built are not vessels in which the green wood materially
enters, the timber that is used for their sides being foreign
timber. The gunboats to be put up this year will be sound
and well-seasoned and of a somewhat better class than those
we now possess. They will be able to take a part in our
colonial service, in which their employment will often save
the country the expense of maintaining the larger vessels.
Reference has been made to the timber in our dockyards.
To a great extent that timber consists of foreign oak and
teak, which are all'well seasoned. Of Eng'ish oak there is
not a suffieient supply in the market to meet the wants of
the dockyards ; but there are certain purposes for which we
are obliged to use that article. We are anxious to obtain
timber from all parts of the world. Your lordships may not
all be aware that last year there were added to our navy 17
ships of the line, nine frigates, three corvettes, and seven
sloops. If we had gone ea building at that rate the whole
of our seasoned timber would have been exhausted. But as
regards our present operations, we aro putting vessels on
the frames rather to season them than to launch them with
the rai idity wo have lately done. My lords, I know of no
other point to which I need now advert. I have stated why
"we cannot give the information now asked for with respect
to every gunboat, but only as to those of them that have
been examined. But in the statement which will be pro-
duced the words " not examined" will be entered against
those vessels which have not undergone inspection. One-
half of the mortar-boats are built of iron. As to the wooden
mortar-boats, we have not yet gone over the whole of them,
and are not, therefore, able to state what is their condition.
The Marquis of TOWNSIIEND said it had been reported
that the workmen, in driving the copper bolts through the
timber of the gunboats, had cut off the middles of the bolts,
put them in their pockets, and sold them for 6d. or ls.
apiece. It anything could make our seamen tremble on
board ship it would be the suspicion that they,had beensent
to sea in vessels made of rotten timber, and held together
by such deceptive fastenings. If we must continue liable to
such frauds, it would be bettor to dispense with copper bolts
altogether, and revert to the old trenail. He trusted that a
searching inquiry would be instituted into these disgraceful
transactions, and that somebody would be made responsible
for them.
The Earl of HARDWICICE was understood to agree to
the verbal amendment of his motion, as suggested by the
First Lord of the Admiralty.
After a few words from the Earl of SHREWSBURY and
TALBOT,
The Duke of SOMERSET said there was a Board of
Construction in former years, but it did not exist now. The
members of the Board of Admiralty used to take part in the
construction of ships, but that system was not found at all
to work well, and it was then determined to make the sur-
veyor responsible for giving advice in such matters. At
present, when the board thought more line-of-battle ships
or other vessels were required, they sent to the surveyor,
who called in the practical men under him to prepare the
lines, and then his advice, together with the plans, was
submitted to the approval of the board.
The motion as amended was then agreed to.
ROAD ACROSS HYDE PARK.
Earl DIXIE presented a petition from many inhabitants
of the districts north and south of Hyde-park, to the west of
Edgeware-road in the former case, and of Sloane-street in
the latter, begging for some more direct oomnaunication than
at present existed between the distriets lying to the north
and south of Hyde park. Re said the grievance of which
tchateiopentiottihonererths complained,
pi)
mplin. inee,, the want of any such corarauni-
k-lane, and especially the want of a
carriage-roadoP:n at all hours of the day or night, was a
subject whicklad frequently been brought before the House
of C°lallwais, and in 18,55 a committee which sat upon the
subject of metropolitan communications a tiocnlsa
class ';f
in
nfhavour
of such k road,pracliitnang ictoimninunthe
first
fa
thestrecommended for adoption. The ev:idence ofeM;. Peme nr-
es
nithorne before the committee we:, strongly in its favour.
Since that time an enormous Increase had been made to the
population on both sides of Hyde-park, and on the south side
many important public institutions had been erected. There
was the South Kensington Museum, there was the new
garden of the Horticultural Society now progressing, the
projected Exhibition of 1862, and various hospitals. The
pel:catnit,iorneejasminionwg
thatabsiatinedetiforn s
one properly omsuggesting anbylpart.iculngtar
o
the board which had charge of such matters. They wore
anxious, however, that, whatever was done, the sanctity of
Rotten- row should be preserved, and that nothing should
be done to interfere with that ride. Every plan that he
had yet heard suggested included a tunnel under Rotten-
row. It was, moreover, not desirable to make a public road
in two close vicinity to Kensington-gardens.
Lord EBURY thought everybody would concur that
this road across Hyde-park was absolutely necessary; and
the necessity of a more direct communication between
the north and south sides of St. James's Park was also
quite etident. At present the whole traffic .which came from
Piccadilly or Oxford-street, and went to Belgravia, had to
go round by Charing-cross, and there to encounter all the
traffic coming
from the east end of London, and all that
was going over Westminster-bridge. He regretted that
when the footbridge was made in St. James's Park, two or
three years ago, a carriage Toad was not constructed, which
might have done without injury to the gardens. Lord LLANOVEE said it must be admitted that there
were hardly any of the great throughfares in the metro-
Polls capable at Present of accommodating sufli-
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