The Sun.
London, England, 1859-02-24 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 24, 1859.

in improving the position of the officers themselves.
We have no reason, however, to suppose that any
general alteratiOn on the subject of widows' pensions
is intended ; and in the present state of the service
we think that the benefits conferred upon the
widows of officers in the higher ranks ought not to
be withheld from the widows of seamen who have
risen by merit through successive stages of promo-
tion to the rank of warrant officers. We think that
in fairness this payment should be retrospective.
The cost involved is £19150.
PROMOTION OF WiRRANT OFFICERS.

27. In the circular (No. 121) of the Lords Com-
missioners of the Admiralty, dated the 14th of June,
1653, it was stated that, " as a further mark of their
approbation of the merits of this deserving class of
officers, my lords are pleased to direct that warrant
officers of exemplary conduct, who have distin-
guished themselves by acts of gallantry and daring
in the service, be considered eligible to hold com-
missions in her Majesty's fleet, in such rank or
position as their lordships may deem them, after
undergoing an examination, entitled to receive and
competent to flit and all warrant officers so pro-
moted will be granted respectively the sum of £lOO
as an outfit." -We anticipate the best results from
the occasional promotion'of a warrant officer to the
quarter-deck; at the same time we are ready to
admit that the promotion should only be granted
for distinguished service combined with exemplary
conduct ; and it should not be limited to the war-
rant officers, but should be open, in the case of very
signal and extraordinary services, to any seaman in
your Majesty's navy.

PROMOTION OF PETTY OFFICERS.

28. There is also a point relative to the promo-
tion of petty officers which'sleserves attention. We
have been assured that seamen have occasionally
refused the warrant in consequence of the expense
necessary to provide a suitable outfit. We think
that the principle of giving a gratuity to a
warrant officer on his promotion to the quarter-
deck is equally applicable to the case of a petty
officer promoted to the warrant. But we under-
stand that since our commission was issued this
subject has been reviewed by the Board of Ad-
miralty, and £l6 assigned by a recent order for
this purpose.
29. Such are the measures which we have ven-
tured to recommend to your Majesty with reference
to the mode of manning the navy in time of peace.
They appear to us the best than can be devised for
improving the condition and raising the character
of the seamen in the Royal Navy; and, aided by
frequent visits of vessels of war to the different
mercantile ports of the United Kingdom, will
render the service more popular, and tend to effect
the object which we have in view—namely, the
speedy and efficient manning of your Majesty's
ships.
II.—MODE OF MANNING THE FLEET ON AN EMERGENCY.
30. We now propose to consider the means which
exist for manning the navy in case of an emergency;
how far those means can be relied upon ; what ad-
ditional measures it is desirable to adopt ; and in
what way the merchant seamen can be rendered
more readily available for the service of the coun-
try, if required.
31. The law now contemplates obtaining men, in
addition to the small reserves which already exist,
if any emergency occur and voluntary enlistment
fail, in the following manner—viz.,
1. An embargo prohibiting merchant vessels from
going to sea.
2. A bounty inviting seamen to enter your Ma-
jesty's service.
3. A proclamation compulsorily requiring the
service of seafaring men in classes, according to age
or generally.
32. The evidence of the witnesses, with scarcely
an exception, shows that the system of naval im-
pressment, as practised in former wars, could not
now be successfully enforced. We speak, not of
any objections to that system which may exist in
our minds on the score of humanity or justice, nor
of the political excitement to which, in the opinion
of some witnesses, the revival of that system would
give rise, nor of the strong and determined opposi-
tion with which, according to others, it would be
met; we speak rather of difficulties arising from
the altered circumstances of the times. The sailor
who wished to avoid impressment would have much
greater facilities than formerly for desertion in
foreign ports, and for escape after his arrival at
home. The improvements in gunnery, also, have
effected a complete revolution in naval warfare,
and have rendered it absolutely necessary that our
vessels should in any future war be manned, not by
a promiscuous collection of untrained men, such as
impressment formerly provided, but by seamen who
are practised gunners.
33. The French system, by which every seafaring
man is liable to serve on board a ship of war during
a term of years, and is bound to come forward when
required, could not be successfully applied to this
country, where the relative proportion between the
merchant seamen and the navy is so different;
added to which it would be open to many of the
objections which affect the system of impressment.
34. The ballot has been suggested, but we think
it is open to most of the same objections, and that
it would fail to provide any great number of men
on an emergency. The ballot for the militia would
act on the whole adult population, out of which
probably not more than 100,000 would be required
at one time ; the ballot for the navy, on the other
hand, would act upon a much smaller body of men,
of which a much larger proportion would be re-
quired. Again, the ballot for the militia would fall
on a resident population ; the ballot for the navy
on a floating population, a large portion of whom,
when their services were required, would be absent
from the country.

OUR STANDING RESERVES.
35. We therefore postpone the question of com-
pulsory service until we shall have first examined
what is the character and amount of our present
reserves, to what extent they can be relied upon in
case of emergency, and whether we can suggest any
new reserves. The present reserves consist of-1.
The marines on shore. 2. The coastguard. 3.
The naval coast volunteers. 4. A small body of
short service pensioners.

THE MARINES

36. The marines are a useful and efficient body of
men, second to none in the service of the State ;
they are excellent troops, both as artillerymen and
infantry, and are at the same time capable of per-
forming many of the deck duties of a ship of war.
There is, however, a limit beyond which they can-
not be conveniently increased, for it is necessary to
their efficiency that they should spend a large por-
tion of their time afloat. There is ordinarily a re-
serve of 6,000 marines in the home ports, ready for
active service afloat. We think that this force
might, with great advantage to the State, and
without impairing its efficiency, be increased by
5,000 men, who• would be well fitted to garrison
the seaports in time of peace, and when required to
serve at sea they could be at once embarked, and
their place in the seaports supplied by the regular
army or the militia.

THE COASTGUARD.

37. The coastgQrdisafOiCeCitpable of affording
a very efficient reserve of seamen for your Majesty's
fleet. It can be assembled with ease and rapidity,
and may be relied upon in case of danger. When
in 1856 this force was transferred from the Customs
to the Admiralty, it was in contemplation, we un-
derstand, under the provisions of the statute 19th
and 20th of Victoria, cap. 83, to increase it to 10,000
men, all efficient and fit for service at sea. Its num-
bers are insufficient for the protection of the revenue
and for the discharge of those duties for the preser-
vation of life and property in case of shipwreck
which by a recent statute have been assigned to the
coastguard. We are of opinion that it might with
advantage be raised to 12,000 men. This addition
to the force would occasion an increased expenditure
of £116,525 per annum.

NAVAL COAST VOLUNTEERS.

38. There is also a body of men enrolled under
special conditions, entitled the " naval coast volun-
teers." The evidence, however, leads us to think
that no great reliance could be placed upon them
for manning the fleet in case of an emergency.
They are not seamen in the true acceptation of the
term, but boatmen, fishermen, and alongshoremen.
They are tolerable gunners, and would be useful
for coast defence, or for service in port ; but they
know little of the duties of a seaman on deck, and
many of them are not capable of going aloft. But
the most serious objection to them is the limit of
distance—namely, 100 leagues—to which they can
be carried from the shore; so that the operations
of a fleet might be seriously impeded by having a
few naval coast volunteeers on board some of the
ships composing it.

SHORT-SERVICE PENSIONIRRS.

39. Lastly, we have the short-service pensioners
—seamen who have retired after 10 years' service
on a pension of 6d. a day. Hitherto the men that have
so retired are few in number, and we do not antici-
pate that any large reserve of men will ever be ob-
tained from this source. The advantages to the
seaman of continuing in the navy until he gains his
full pension and the privileges of admission to
the coastguard are so great that we think that
there will never be any great number of seamen
the
close
of
useful,
a
who will be willing to acpept the short service
pension. Such a reserve would, however, be ex-
tremelyiafr to shoulddiaebgarbee faonuyn dlanrgeceesnsua
number
ybeart
of good men.

40. But there can be little doubt that a large
reserve of short service pensioners could be formed
out of the marines, if the principle were extended
to them. The discharges from the marine corps
under the Limited Service Act will commence in
the present year, and it will be a great misfortune
if those valuable men are allowed to separate with-
out any measures being taken to connect them with

the service of the country. A corps of several
thousand might be formed in this manner, and we
strongly recommend that it should be done. At the
same time we think that the pensions should be
paid, in the case both of the seamen and of the
marines, only in the United Kingdom and the
Channel Islands, and to the men in person, so as to
insure their speedily coming forward when required.
We have included in our estimate the pensions of
5,000 short service pension marines, amounting to
£45,625 per annum.
41. Besides the 4,000 seamen whom we propose
to have in the home ports, there would be Et reserve
force of 11,000 marines, 12,000 coastguard men, the
short service pension seamen, and the naval coast
volunteers. Of these the seamen in the home ports
and the embodied marines would be immediately
available for service in the fleet ; the short service
pensioners, as well seamen as marines, in the course
of a few weeks or less. Of the coastguard probably
8,000 or 9,000 could be collected within two or
three days, ready at once to man your Majesty's
fleets ; the rest would remain on shore, some to
bring forward with rapidity detachments of volun-
teers as they arrived and became disposable for
service, others as depot officers, to discipline the
pensioners, enlist men for the navy, create new re-
serves, and be the maintaining and connecting links
of a system which is intended not only to meet a tern.
porary emergency, but to provide a continued defence
in the event of the continuance of the war. This
force, amounting to about 30,000 men, exclusive of
the naval coast volunteers, would go far to
meet the first outbreak of a war, but the difficulty
would still remain how to provide for the rapidly
growing demands of a continued contest, how to
man the ships which must be put successively in
commission in order to maintain the navy at a war
standard.

VOLUNTEER RESERVE FORCE.

42. Looking to the very large naval armaments
which we were forced to maintain in former wars,
amounting at one time to no less than 147,000 men,'
it seems desirable that we should be able to add to;
the reserves, of which we have spoken, a further'
force of from 20,000 to 30,000 seamen well trained
in gunnery. The problem to be solved is, how far
it may be possible to obtain from the mercantile
marine and the seafaring population of the kingdom
a volunteer force of seamen all trained in gunnery,
who could be relied upon to come forward when
their services were required.
43. We have considered a great variety of schemes
which have been suggested to us by persons who have
long devoted their serious consideration to the sub•
ject, and, having determined on a plan which ap-
pears to us best suited to attain that object, we
have examined the witnesses most capable of giving
an opinion on its practical efficiency.

SHIPPING INTEREST.
44. While we had principally in view the object
of our commission—viz., the defence of the country
—we have endeavoured to promote the welfare of
the merchant service, believing that for the success
of any scheme for a reserve to be drawn from that
service it is most important to enlist its feelings on
our side. The earliest and most disastrous conse-
quences of war will fall upon the shipping interest.
On them the greatest ulterior difficulty will be im-
posed of carrying on their business during the con-
tinuance of hostilities. Under any system of defence
the necessities of the navy must withdraw seamen
from the merchant service, and raise the rate of
wages. If, then, by timely precautions during peace
we can diminish the probability that war will occur
at all—and to this end nothing will conduce so
much as a knowledge on the part of foreign Poweils
that our defences are impregnable—if we can secure
that, on the outbreak of war, the Channel and
neighbouring seas shall be at once rendered safe for
ships and cargoes homeward bound—if we can
abolish or modify the risk that the employment of
seamen will be abruptly suspended by embargo or
interfered with by impressment—if we can attach
the sailor to his country, and prevent the disposi-
tion which has hitherto prevailed of seeking ser-
vice under other flags—the owners of our commer-
cial marine will reap the greatest advantage. To
them, therefore, we look with confidence for a
cordial and patriotic co-operation in promoting,
during peace, a system which is intended to
accomplish these results.
MERCHANT SEAMEN'S FUND.

45. Among the many suggestions that have been
offered to us, none have been so strongly or so ably
advocated as the re-establishment of a compulsory
merchant seaman's fund; free, indeed, from those
objections which caused the old fund to become
insolvent, but still a compulsory fund. It has been
urged that the seaman who reaches the age of 60,
is generally destitute, and obliged to resort to the
parish for support ; that it would be a great in-
ducement to young men to join the sea service if
they saw seamen in their old age well provided
for; that the seaman, who squanders his hard-
earned wages within a:few hours of his discharge,
would never miss the deduction of one shilling a
month from the large amounts which he frequently
receives ; and, above all, that the prospect of an
adequate pension in old age would be a strong
inducement to the seaman to continue in the service
of his country, instead of resorting to a foreign
flag for employment.
46. There are doubtless many arguments in
favour of a compulsory merchant seaman's fund;
but, on the other hand, strong objections must be
anticipated on the part of those who would regard
it as a special tax levied on their own trade. Nor,
indeed, would it effect the object which we have in
view; it might retain the seamen in the country,
but would not provide trained men for the navy.
We are not unmindful of the advantages which
would result from providing an adequate pension
for seamen in old age ; but we think that it had
better be done by means of a voluntary self-sup-
porting fund. This object we have kept in view in
the plan which we venture to recommend to your
Majesty for adoption.

PROPOSED PLAN.
47. The force we require must be composed of
trained seamen, and, as the necessity for such a
reserve is urgent, it must, in the first instance, be
recruited from adults. But the enlistment of adults
b'y pay and pension is in many respects undesirable,
for the adults have not had the advantage of early
training, and are consequently not such valuable
men as those who have been trained from boyhood ;
and the pension, if only commensurate in amount
to a short period of service, would not be ade-
quate to the support of the seaman in his old age.
Your Majesty will, therefore, perceive that for the
future maintenance of the force we propose to rely
in a great measure on boys trained specially for the
purpose, in conformity with the practice which has
been adopted in the navy with so much advantage.
48. That the force may be ready in case of
emergency it must be selected from men who will
never be long absent from the ports from which
they hail. It appears from the returns that have
been furnished to us that the coasting trade of this
country employs 63,000 men, including masters.
The returns do not comprise watermen and others
who might be made available for the purpose. If
we add the Baltic and Mediterranean trades and
the voyages to the North American and other ports,
including the seamen employed by the large steam-
packet companies, we shall have not less than
100,000 men who are never absent for any length
of time from the ports of this country.
49. We propose that not less than 20,000 such
men, as in point of age, ability, character, and per-
manent connexion with their respective ports may
appear most suitable for the purpose shall be
selected from this number. This new body of men
might be called the " Royal Naval Volunteers."
50. The inducements which we propose to hold
out to seamen to join this force will be,
1. A payment at short periods.
2. •A pension at the age of 50 to 55.
3. Payment for time spent in practice.
4. Admission to the coastguard.
5. Participation in the benefits of Greenwich
Hospital.

On their part they would engage to practise gun-
nery, and to serve in case of emergency ; and condi-
tions would be framed to secure their coming for-
ward to join the navy within a very short period
after their services were required.

MODE OF SELECTING THE FORCE AT FIRST.

51. The marine department of Board of Trade
has, by recent statutes, been invested with exten-
sive powers and duties, and is thrown into very
intimate connexion with the whole of the merchant
service. Every seaman who engages for, or is
discharged from, a foreign voyage may be said to
be personally known to the Board of Trade, through
the Registrar-General of Seamen, the shipping
masters of the Local Marine Boards, and the officers
of the Customs. We propose that the assistance of
these officers should be made use of in selecting the
required number of men from the short voyage
trades. Their acquaintance with the men would
enable them to select those who would best answer
the purpose in view. Those who were selected and
accepted the terms offered would go on board the
district coastguard ship for medical examination
and approval generally. Their actual engagement
would rest with the captain of the coastguard ship,
and he would make such arrangements for training
in gunnery the men who required it as the Govern-
ment might think from time to time expedient,
suiting as far as possible the convenience of the
men with regard to time.
52. After the men had returned to their ordi-
nary avocations the Registrar-General of Seamen,
through the shipping masters, would at all times
be acquainted with their present occupations, and a
complete statement of those in port, and of the
times when the return of the remainder might be
looked for, could always be promptly furnished.
53. The shipping masters would be a ready mode
of communication between the coastguard officers

and the volunteers. The periodical payment could
be made at the shipping office upon the authority of
the coastguard officer. The shipping master would
distinguish, by some obvious mark, the discharge of
a volunteer from ordinary discharges. The ip-
ping masters should have power from the Admiralty
to give definite information to the men as to the
pensions and other advantages to which they will
become entitled in case they shall be called into
actual service.

PLAN FOR ITS FUTURE SUPPLY.

54. Having thus obtained, in the first instance,
by careful selection from adults now in the merchant
service, the number required to constitute this body,
we recommend that the following provision be made
for its future supply :—We propose that school
ships should be established in the principal com-
mercial ports, capable of accommodating from 100
to 200 boarders in each ship, of whom 100 should
be supported by the State.
55. The boys should be of respectable parentage,
strong, and healthy ; and if any difficulty arose as
to the mode of making the selection we doubt not
that the inspectorslmployed by the Committee of
Council for Educalion in Great Britain, and the
Education Commissioners in Ireland, would readily
assist in obtaining from the different schools
throughout the United Kingdom the requisite num-
ber. We have reason to believe that by this means
the whole number would be readily obtained, and a
considerable stimulus given to the cause of educa-
tion. These boys should be sent for approval, medi-
cally and otherwise, to the coastguard ship, or the
naval surgeon should attead on board the school
ship to admit them.
56. Besides these 100 boarders the school would
be open to all children residing at the ports. These
last would be day scholars, and would contribute
weekly. The school would also be open to other
boarders, whose expenses, however, would not be
defrayed by the State, and they therefore would
probably net be numerous at first.
57. While in the school the boys should re-
ceive not only the requisite instruction for the
merchant service, but also some of the peculiar in-
struction requisite for the navy, gunnery, &c. ; and
those of them who went into the merchant service
would probably have the opportunity of revisiting
a school ship occasionally when their own ships
returned to port, so as to keep up the instruction
they had received.
58. We propose further that the school ships, as
they would be intended to train boys principally
for the merchant service, should be placed in a
great degree under the direction of the civil branch
of the Administration—i.e., the Registrar-General
of Seamen, and through him, under the Board of
Trade. This would be the more convenient because
if day scholars were received the ship must always
be moored in the port with ready access to the
shore, while the coastguard ship would probably
be sometimes absent on duty. The military part
only of the training would be dependent on the
coastguard officers, and there ought to be no diffi-
culty in the Registrar's receiving such instructions
as would obviate the danger of any inconvenience
arising between the two branches of the service.
59. When the time of training in the school ships
had expired the boys should be inspected, and those
whom the inspectors placed at the head should
have the option of going, if they preferred it, and
if fully qualified, into the Royal Navy. This option,
however, would apply only to a limited number,
according to the wants of the navy ; the majority
would probably go into the merchant service.
60. We further contemplate that when the system
has been fairly established and has proved success-
ful in practice it may be found desirable to unite
the training ships for the navy with those for the
volunteer force, and to raise boys for both services
on board the same ships. We anticipate, as the
results of such an arrangement, greater economy
in regard to the training ships, and the creation of
those kindly feelings between the boys destined
for the two services which it is of the utmost im-
portance to encourage.
61. But, speaking exclusively of the school ships
for the volunteer force, we will assume that the
number of boys nominated and approved by the
naval authorities would be 1,200 annually, and that
as many more would be furnished from the sea-
ports, so that in all 2,400 boys would be supplied
annually by these school ships to the maritime
occupations of their country.
62. We conceive that the shipowners would be
willing to take in each year the whole number.
The great increase which has recently taken place
in the number of apprentices encourages us to be-
lieve that well-trained boys would be highly valued
by the shipowner, and we, therefore, propose that
the shipowner should during the engagement make
for the boy a contribution to the fund of which we
are about to speak. This contribution would be
only a small return for the cost of the boy's educa-
tion. While the apprenticeship continued the boy
would not be under the obligations of the volunteer
force, but would be as available in every respect
for his employer as any other apprentice.
63. The Registrar of Seamen would undertake
the management of the indentures of the boys to be
trained in the school ships, as he now does of boys
apprenticed through the shipping offices ; he recom-
mends that they should be sent at 13 years of age
under articles to the superintendent of the school
ship, with a covenant of assignment ; the schooling
to be one year, the subsequent service four years.
64. At the close of the apprenticeship the habits

acquired, the inducements of pay and promised
pension, and the knowledge that four years' contri-
bution had been paid for him by the shipowner to
the pension fund would, we think, as a general rule,
draw the sailor at once into the body of volunteers.
65. In some cases, however, youths of 18 might
prefer to go for a while on the long voyages. We
propose, _therefore, that the Board of Admiralty
should authorise the -shipping master, when each
apprentice comes out of his articles, to offer him
immediate entry into the volunteer corps, and also
in a certain proportion of cases to give leave of ab-
sence for a specified time. In the latter case the
claim to pension would revive if the sailor at the
expiration of the leave returned to the short
voyage ; but his annual pay would not be allowed
during the period of his absence. By an ar-
rangement of this kind the whole number of
men in the volunteer force would be larger than
the number paid for, and in case of war it would
be in the power of the Crown to call on the
men, wherever they might be, to join her Ma-
jesty's vessels on their respective stations. A simi-
lar leave might also be given to adults now serving
in the long voyages and who might be willing to
join the volunteer force.
66. We think also that probably some youths
would he deterred from joining if it were obligatory
upon them to continue in it for life, and especially
in the event of their becoming masters or mates
in the merchant service. We propose, therefore,
that at the end of each period of five years it shall
be in the option of any one to withdraw, and that
the same option shall arise when a youth obtains
the certificate of the Board of Trade and becomes
master or mate of a merchant ship. The only
penalty on any one who retires will be the loss of
his claim to a pension, unless he elect to continue
the necessary contribution out of his own funds.
This permission to retire will admit of a larger
number of the whole merchant seamen of the coun-
try passing through the force, and so becoming
trained in gunnery, while the country will not be
charged with, any additional payment on that
account.

PENSION FUND.

67. We, will now speak of the pension fund, to
which allusion has been already made. We pro-
pose that it shall be self-supporting. We attach
the greatest importance to this point, for, although
the annual contributions of the volunteers are to be
paid by the State, yet we wish to admit to the
benefits of this fund every seaman, whether in the
navy or in the merchant service, who may think
proper to contribute. We believe that the volun-
tary contributors, probably not numerous at first,
would become more numerous as the advantages of
the pension to the volunteers became known, and
especially after the influence of the school ships in
raising the character of the service had become per-
ceptible. And in proportion as the fund became
general would the service be more and more closely
attached to and united with our system of maiktime
defence. The machinery for managing such a fund
is already in existence at the Board of Trade, and
we propose that, accurate tables having been pre-
pared by some' competent actuary, stating the
pension to which each man will be entitled
in proportion to the amount of his con-
tributions, the contributors should have the
guarantee of the State for the due payment of
their pensions: We also recommend that a married
man, when he became entitled to his pension, should
have the option of taking either the full pension, or
a smaller one, according to the table, payable on
his own and his wife's lives.

ANNUAL PAYMENT AND CONTRIBUTION TO FUND.

68. The next point to be considered is the amount
of the annual payment which will be sufficient to
induce the seaman to join the volunteer force, and
the amount of the contribution which it will be ne-
cessary to pay to the pension fund for the purpose
of securing to him an adequate pension in old age.
69. We have examined the Registrar-General of
Seamen, the shipping masters, and other witnesses
on these points, and we have come to the conclusion
that an annual payment of £5 is that which we
ought to recommend, desiring to obtain for this
force the very best men in the merchant service.
This sum must be tested by actual experimont, and
may hereafter be either diminished or increased
according to the result. We are also informed by
the actuary, to the National Debt office that . an
annual contribUtion of £1 from the age of 14 would
secure to the seaman a pension of not less than £l2

at the age of 50, of £l5 at from 52 to 53, and of
.EIS at 55. We therefore propose that £5 be paid,
either quarterly or at other short periods, to the
seamen in person, so as to secure their appearance
at short intervals. We propose also that the State
shall contribute to the pension fund £1 per annum
for every man in the force. But during the time
any one of the boys shall be under articles in the
merchant service the shipowner shall contribute
the £1 annually to the pension fund for him, in
consideration of the education which the boy has
received on board the school ship.

70. Assuming that these inducements are suffi-
cient to obtain recruits in time of peace, the vital
question still remains, whether the men will come
forward to discharge their obligations with fidelity
on the outbreak of war ? We have examined this
question with the anxious care which it demands. In
the material inducements, especially in those which,
like the pension, are prospective, in the penalties
against desertion to which those who did not come
forward would be liable, and in the moral influence
which due selection and regular training will sup-
ply, we believe that sufficient security will have
been taken. That security must mainly depend on
the personal knowledge of the men on the part of
officers of the coastguard, by whom they are to be
brought forward whenever the emergency arrives.
We believe that by local information in respect to
the men employed in the coasting trade, and
through the shipping masters in respect to those
employed in foreign voyages, those officers can
obtain such a knowledge as will enable them to
select the right men ; and by their communications
with them, whilst under training, or when coming
forward to receive their periodical certificates, will
be able to maintain that knowledge. The experi-
ence of the late war showed that in almost every
instance the pensioners readily came forward to dis-
charge their duty, and that the militia volunteered
for service abroad, incurring thereby a greater sac-
rifice than any seaman would make by serving in
your Majesty's fleet. We have examined on this
most important point the witnesses best qualified
to give us their opinion. Their evidence is strongly
confirmatory of the view which we have expressed.

71. Much also will depend on cordial co-opera-
tion between the Admiralty and the Marine De-
partment of the Board of Trade. As we have
already observed, that Board is now in the posses-
sion of powers which did not exist in former wars
—powers conferred for the benefit of the merchant
service, which could never be more justly exerted
than when employed in conjunction with your
Majesty's naval officers to insure the safety of the
commercial flag.

COST OF THE PROPOSED PLAN.

72. It only remains to estimate the cost of this
scheme. It appears from the evidence of the
Registrar-General of Seamen, and of the Account-
ant of the Board of Trade, after an examination of
the cost of the Marine Society's ship in the Thames,
and of the Ackbar at Liverpool, that the expenses
of the schoolships, including the establishment of
masters and officers, will average from £24 to £25
for each boy, or for the whole 1,200 boys £30,000
per annum, say, however, that the charge will be
£40,000.
73. Assuming then that the number of school-
ships would be 12 ; the number of boarders main-
tained and educated at the expense of the State
1,200 ; the number of volunteers in the short voyages
20,000, and on the long voyages with leave 5,000 ;
assuming, moreover, that about one-third of the
-whole force would on an average be trained for one
month in each year at a cost of £5 per man ; the
annual cost of the scheme will be as follows, viz. :
1. School ships £40,000
2. Annual'payment, £5 to 20,000 men lOO,OOO
3. Contributions to the pension fund for
25,000 num
4. Training in gunnery about

Total

74. This is the computed annual charge when the
system has been fully established, but in the first
one or two years the expense for training the men
will probably be greater than that at which we have
placed it, from the necessity of rendering the force
as soon as possible efficient. While the force is
recruited from adults instead of from boys, the
same annual contribution will not secure the same
amount of pension. What the difference will be
must depend on the ages of the recruits. It will be
necessary, therefore, either to diminish the pension
in the case of the adult, or to contribute a larger
amount than £1 annually for him to the pension
fund. The Accountant of the Board of Trade has
shown us that, in regard to the question of enter-
ing boys at 14, or taking adults at 30, the addi-
tional contribution to the pension fund in the latter
case would equal the whole cost of the schoolships
in the former case.

75. The foregoing estimates are founded on the
assumption that the volunteer force is to be limited
to 25,000 men, of whom 5,000 are to be absent with
leave on the long voyages. The plan, however, is
not limited to these numbers, but can be extended
as occasion requires; and in this case there will be
an additional expenditure per annum for every ad-
ditional 10,000 men on the home station of from
£75,000 to £BO,OOO ; and for every additional
10.000 men on the distant voyages of £lO,OOO only.
76. It is most important that those upon we are
to rely should be thorough seamen, trained in gun-
nery, and qualified for immediate service on board
a ship of war. At the same time it is desirable
that all classes of the maritime population should,
as far as possible, be made available for the defence
of the country. It will, therefore, be worthy of
consideration, whether the force might not be
formed in two divisions, with open promotion from
the one to the other. The first division would be
recruited from seafaring men in the merchant ser-
vice already trained, or prepared at once to undergo
training in gunnery, and ultimately from boys
trained in the schoolships, and men trained in the
second division. The second division would b e
recruited from the resident seafaring population,
and would receive a smaller rate of pay. This
would supply to us a large additional force at a
comparatively small expense. We contemplate
that the second division would rapidly absorb and
extinguish the present force of naval coast volun-
teers, by giving to the regular reserve the same
men on terms more acceptable to themselves, and
rendering them much more available for the Crown
in case of an emergency.

ADMISSION TO GREENWICH HOSPITAL.

77. Two questions still remain to be considered
with reference to the volunteer force—viz., the
admission of its members to Greenwich Hospital
and their promotion to the coastguard. We think
that the privilege of admission to Greenwich Hos-
pital would be a strong inducement to the merchant
seamen to join the volunteer force, and that such
an application of the funds of that tstitution
would be strictly in accordance with the intentions
of its royal founders. We have examined into the
working of the hospital only so far as was neces-
sary for the objects comprised within the terms of
our commission ; but we have satisfied ourselves
that the advantages of the hospital may be far
more generally distributed. The funds amount
to about £140,000 per annum; to this we propose
to add the freight-money received by officers in
your Majesty's service, the present application
of which is open to objection ; so that there
would be an income of about £150,000 available for
the purposes required. We are of opinion that with
this addition and under judicious arrangement the
hospital would be found capable of receiving all such
worn-out and disabled seamen as would be fit
inmates of an hospital, whether they belonged to
the Royal Navy or to the volunteer force. Men
who have adequate pensions for their support, and
who have families or friends to take care of them,
are better in their own homes than in any esta-
blishment of this description.

PROMOTION TO THE COASTGUARD.

78. It is through the coastguard that we propose
to connect the volunteers with your Majesty's naval
forces. From the coastguard the petty officers of
the volunteer force will be principally selected
when the two bodies are called out for active ser-
vice. We, therefore, recommend that during peace
intimate relations should be cultivated between the
two forces. With this view we think that men
who have served for a certain period in the volun-
teer force should be eligible for promotion to the
coastguard. Any objection which might be enter-
tained in respect to the safety of the revenue would
be sufficiently guarded against by the selection of
the best men, and their employment as coastguards
men in a different part of the coast from that in
which they had previously lived. It would be an
inducement of the strongest character to the mer•
chant seamen to join the volunteer force.
79, We do not intend that volunteers should be
promoted to the coastguard in preference to seamen
in the Royal Navy, but we think that the casualties
in and the retirements from so large a body as
12,000 men, if they are to be kept always in a full
state of efficiency, would be generally greater than
could be conveniently supplied from the navy. We
think that arrangements of this kind, judiciously
carried into effect by the naval officers in command,
will tend to create a unity of action in the two
forces, and to establish a good understanding be
tween the Queen's and the merchant services, and
thus to rivet together the joints of a system, on
whose good practical working in the time of need
the safety of the country will so materially depend.
RECAPITULATION.

80. The following statement will exhibit to your
Majesty the whole amount of reserve which will be
at your Majesty's disposal, assuming that the coast-
guard and naval coast volunteers are raised to the
full amount contemplated for those forces iespec:
tively before ow commission was issued, and that