The Sun.
London, England, 1860-02-15 00:00:00

THE NAVY _ESTIMATES.

The Secretary of the Admiralty now informs us
that, up to a certain point, " there is no difficulty
in getting men." In other words, the ships actually
in commission are " wholly manned," the number
of seamen required for the current service of the
fleet is complete, and, except for the supply of
casualties, there is really no room for any consider-
able accession of strength. The pinch comes when
we get to our reserves. The new force—the Royal
Naval Reserve—from which so much was antici-
pated, " has certainly up to the present time not
fulfilled the expectations which were raised." So
we are now told upon the best authority; but the
explanation of the failure is rather curious. The
terms offered are sufficient—indeed, " very hand-
some," as the men themselves acknowledge ;
but the very allurements of the bait only make
them more • shy of taking it. Sailors, we are
reminded, are " fine, noble, hearty creatures,"
but they have one remarkable quality. They are
the most suspicious of mankind, and if there is one
thing of which they are more suspicious than Reedier
it is the Board of Admiralty. Accordingly, they
believe they are going to be " kidnapped," " sent
off to China," or entrapped, at any rate, into actual
service without a minute's warning. The conse-
quence is that they will not enter for the reserve,
although the supply is so abandant and the condi-
tions so acceptable that, if they could but be relieved
of their misgivings, there is every reason to suppose
they would " flock to the force." It is hard to deal
with such suspicions, no doubt, and very unlucky
that our Admiralty should have so bad a name ; but
has everything-been done in the wayof assurance
which might be done? Sir Charles Napier remarked,
that if the example were but sot by a few thousand
men-of-war's men, the merchant seamen would
promptly follow, and the reserve be speedily filled
up. Sir J. Elphinstone, too, made an observation
which seems exceedingly reasonable. The navy
has neither recruiting officers nor recruiting offices.
Even in Portsmouth itself there is Ito regular office
for the enlistment of seamen; and how, then, are
the advantages of the service to be popularly known ?
Why should not some of the active petty officers of
the navy take up the duties of recruiting sergeants
for a time? The experiment could do no harm, and
it is lamentable to see thousands of men standing
aloof from a service which they would gladly enter
if they did but appreciate its terms.
The gist of the Estimates before the house is,
that before the end of the year we shall have out
of the means to be thus provided a force of 60 line-
of-battle ships and 46 frigates, besides a goodly
array of smaller vessels, and 4 of the new iron-
cased rams or batteries. To man these vessels
85,000 seamen and marines will be held available,
so that our 13 millions of money will for once pro-
duce a satisfactory return. Whether the same
amount of strength might not be attainable at a
less expense is another question, and one which we
hope may some day be agreeably solved. At pre-
sent the duty of Government is perfectly simple,
and Lord C. Paget expressed the opinion of the
country in terms which nobody can impeach. "It
is the wish," said he, " of the people of this nation
that their navy should be well and efficiently main-
tained; that the country should be under no
alarm ; that, whatever might happen, the people
might be able to say—' We are safe under the
protection of our navy." To these assertions no
one will demur, and that is why these Estimates
are freely voted. Most s'neerely do we hope that
the obligations thus imposed upon us may be dimi-
nished in extent by a better understanding with
our neighbours, and a more judicious economy of
our means, but in the interval security and confi-
dence are cheaply purchased even at this enormous
price.— limes.