The Sun.
London, England, 1860-06-13 00:00:00

SAVINGS BANKS.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER postponed
until Friday week any proceedings respecting savings bank
moneys.

BRITISH OCCUPATION OF PALERMO.
Mr. D. GRIFFITH asked whether it was the fact that
the British admiral in the Mediterranean had sent marines
on shore to occupy the fort of Castellamare at Palermo; and
if so, whether the occupation was to be merely temporary
and for the purpose of facilitating negotiations ?
Lord PALMERSTON said that an arrangement had been
agreed upon between the Neapolitan commander and Gari-
daldi to the effect that, pending their negotiati ns, Castella-
mare should be occupied by the British admiral. Recent
occurrences, however, led the Government to believe that
this occupation had not taken place.
THE ADMIRALTY.

Admiral DUNCOMBE rose to move for a select commit-
tee to inquire into the constitution of the Board of Admi-
ralty and the various duties devolving thereon. He had not,
he said, any intention of censuring any Board of Admi-
ralty, past or present, in making this motion. He merely
wished to suggest certain alterations, with a view of
strengthening the naval administration of the country. He
believed that successive boards having so short a tenure of
office had acted on the maxim that " Now brooms sweep
clean," and had all exerted themselves as much as possible.
However, whether it was on account of our shortcomings in
the Crimea, the failure of our transport system, or the rotten
gunboats, every one was aware that the doings of the Ad-
miralty had recently been the object of severe censure in
the public press. With regard to the transport system, as a
committee had been granted he did not mean then to allude
to it, and the, same remark would apply to the rotten
gunboats, which were also to be inquired into by a
committee. An hon. member had asked leave to
bring in a bill to regulate piers and harbours,
and the Secretary to the Admiralty had opposed it on the
ground that the board was already overworked. This he
thought was prima facie evidence of the necessity of in-
creased strength. In 1832, when Sir James Graham was
First Lord, he abolished the Navy Board, but that was
thirty years ago, and it must be admitted that within the
last six or eight years certain classes of our ships had so
amazingly increased, as had also the difficulty of pro-
curing men for the navy, that there was a new necessity for
increased supervision in every department of the Admiralty.
What he would propose was in the first place that the First
Lord should be Minister of Marine, on the same footing as
the Minister for War, and should of course be a member
of the cabinet. He thought that the Board of Admiralty
should be entirely naval, in saying which he meant no dm-
paragement to the civilian members ; but havina* been
himself in that position for several months, he could say
that he should have had great difficulty in deciding many
of the questions that came before him had he not had some
knowledge of naval matters. (Hear, hear.) He would give
the controller a seat at the board. That functionary had
present could order ships
in his department the greatest outlay of money for ship-
building, machinery, &c•,and at
board might only know that the Algiers had been
atondbethbueilt without the board knowing anything about it,
launched and the Princess Royal had been laid down
through merely seeing the announcement in the papers.
(Loud cries of "Hear, hear.") He believed also that the
scarcity of timber had grown without their knowledge
through the excessive building of ships of a particular
class, which used up all the timber of a large scantling. By
his plan all the departments at present under the control-
ler, ship-building, machinery, &c., would be brought
directly under the cognisance of the board. He thought
that at present the controller was overworked, and that
he should have under him a board of construction, to be
composed of three persons, the most competent that
could be found. With such an institution they
would get rid of the present endless complaints about the
lengthening of ships—and this put him in mind of the
Princess Royal. He should like to know what
had been the expenditure on that ship since the noble lord
the Secretary of the Admiralty had hauled down his pen-
nant. The expenses of our screw fleet had been enormous,
especially through straining at sea. His opinion was that
although steam must of course be used when expedition
was required, yet that in such cases as the voyage to Lis-
bon, which was, in familiar language, merely a man-of-war
cruise, the ships might have gone under sail, and not have
incurred the strain arising from the forcing such enormous
masses through the water by means of the screw. An other
cause of complaint, and which required investigation, was
the building of the steam rams, which he believed would
be of no more use than the old Trusty, which. had just
had a shot sent through her sides. lie believed that