The Sun.
London, England, 1857-05-19 00:00:00

engaged—that she was not overmasted—that she had
not too much top weight, and that her commander was
almost inclined, when she arrived at port, to ask permis-
sion to land 20 tons of ballast out of her. The statement,
therefore, which hadformed the foundation of the question
he alluded to was a pure fabrication from beginning to end.
(Hear.) They should remember that steam machinery
was undergoing improvements every day. The screw
was now being generally introduced, instead of the pad-
dle. To adapt the machinery to the screw considerable
alterations were necessary • and during the period of
transition it was possible that some difficulty might be
experienced, and occasionally accidents take place. But
some hon. gentlemen seemed to think that whenever the
machinery of a steam-ship broke down, the fault was
chargeable to the Government. The fact was, that the
whole of the machinery for the fleet was made in private
yards. Not a single engine constructed was constructed
by the Government ; therefore when an accident hap-
pened, and the machinery broke down, the blame, if
blame there was, attached, not to the Government,
but to those by whom the machinery was constructed.
The next item of expenditure in these estimates was
"stores," and the largest charge under that head was
for timber. The amonnt charged for timber in 1856
was precisely the same as in 1852 ; but as during the
war it was necessary to provide for a continuous
supply of timber, and as it was impossible to say how
long the war was to last, and contracts had been entered
into extending over a number of years, until those con-
tracts expired no very great reduction could be expected
in the charge for timber Another item of expense was
coals, which was altogether new of late years. Great
pains were taken to keep that charge as low as possible ;
but the substitution of a steam for a sailing navy must
necessarily make that always a very heavy item. A con-
siderable expenditure had been incurred in works in the
dockyards. This also had been occasioned by the intro-
duction of steam. They were obliged to provide the
means in the yards of supplying defects and repairing
accidents in the machinery, and as this was a much
more expensive kind of work than orcl,nary ship build-
ing. requiring a higher and more expensive kind of
skilled labour than ordinary ship building, the charge
under this head was also necessarily increased. It should
not be forgotten, also, that the nominal horse-power of
the navy had grown enormously of late, and now.
reached the aggregate of 102,000 horses. With regard
to the dockyards themselves, they were not yet
in that state which the requirements of a navy
such as that which this country must always maintain
demanded, and were not what might be expected as
compared with the dockyards of other maritime nations.
Last year be visited the yard at Cherbourg, and found
that the works there would place anything we had in any
of our yards altogether in the background. They were
blasting immense places out of the solid rock, and con-
structing two inner basins, as large as all our basins put
together, and he believe I the Cherbourg yard was as ex-
tensive as Portsmouth, Devonport, and Keybarn com-
bined. The area of the Cherbourg basin; was 180 acres,
while the area of the basins atKeyhara was only 34 acres,
and all the works were in proportion, and in the most
complete state of efficiency. It was impoisible, therefore
that repairs and other works could be executed with the
Caine facility as in those of France. There was a time,
be remembered, when the yard at Keyharn was
thought altogether unnecessary ; but his right hon.
friend (Sir J. Graham) had nevertheless extended it and
hal done wisely in so doing ; but last year, when be
(Sir C. Wood) went down to examine, he found it
far too small for its purpose, and bad given orders for its
futtber extension. The alteration and enlargement of
the docks had been rendered necessary by the change in
the construction of the ships. Snips were built now much
larger than formerly, and some merchant ships were built
considerably longer than those in the Queen's service,
and for seine of those vessels it was necessary for the
Government yards occasionally to provide accemtnoda-
tion. He found the other day a dock constructing in a
private yard 400 ft. long. but they had nothing of the kind
in the Government yards, and when those large vessels
were taken up by the Government, as troop ships or other-
wise, difficulty was experienced it, finding dock accommo-
dation for them when requisite. When they chartered the
Himalaya, two years ago, they had to deck her, bat they
had no dock long enouV, and the consequence was that
they had to pull down and rebuil&one of the docks atKey-
ham, the newest) and we hail. When the 31errimacfrigate
came over last summer it was found that there were only
two docks in all our dockyards into which she could be
taken ; and for many of our own large ships the only
place where dock accommodation could be found was at
Keyharts. This state of things could not of course be
permitted to continue. It was quite clear that our doeks
must be lengthened and enlarged sufficiently to admit
that class of "ships of the line now building, and which,

for the purpose of gaining increased power, were much
longer than we formerly used to build them. Sailing
ships and paddle steamers might be repaired without
taking them into dock ; but it was almost impossible to
repair a screw ship without taking her into dock. The
introduction of screw steam vessels in the British navy,
therefore, had rendered a large addition to the dock ac-
commodation in our Governineot yards absolutely neeas-
sexy. He had now gone through the principal items of
expenditure eeneected with the naval service, and the
reasons why the amount he proposed to ask for was
required. There was some slight increase which he
had omitted to mention, on account of the higher
price of provisions and souse other smaller items
of additional charge, which he would explain
when the votes to which they applied were proposed. 'He
had laid before the house a general view of the state of
the naval service, and of the expenditure which would
be required to maintain it in an effective state during
the current year. He had 'compared the state of our
navy with the state of the navies of other maritime na-
tions—he might perhaps say our rivals; but whether
rivals or not, we could not permit them to beat us in. the
force and efficiency of this; important branch of mili-
tary service. They might beat us in the number of men
they could befog into the field, but he should be sorry to
see the day when we were not in a condition to sand out
a fleet on the instant that should be equal to meet-any
emergency, and maintain the honour and character of
the country. He proposed the same number of men for
the year which bad been voted for the first four months,
viz., 53,750 men and boys, including marines.
Admiral vv...lLcorr said he must congratulate, the
right hon, baronet on the intelligent, clear, and straight.
forward statement ho had made. In his opinion, there,
was not a branch of expenditure which the nation
felt more disposed to support than that for the navy,
provided, however, that the funds were properly admi-
nistered. He had heard with great satisfaction the' pro-
position in reference to the evolutions of a squadron of
the fleet ; and he thought that 12 sail of the line should
be kept in constant active service, and this would keep
the officers perfectly alive in the management of the Ships
at teen, and well acquainted with their duties in actiou.
In 1845, at the suggestion of ono of the most distin-
guished men in the service—he referred to Admiral
B ,wee—two ships of the line were required to be
placed in an efficient way and prepared for sea.! On
a Monday the order was received at Davenport to place
the Calcutta in order, and on the following Wednes-
day the provisions and stores were on board,• and in
every way she was within 48 hours prepared eo go_
to sea. This showed great alacrity amongst the, men
and officers. With regard to the continuance service
men, he hoped the Government would in the arrange-
ments made with them deal in a spirit of fairness.
And he. trusted that the bailee would maintain the
efficiency of the navy, for upon it depended the preven-
tion of di'aster, and the supremacy of England and Eng-
land's security. With respect to the ceastguard men, of
whom there were 5,700, it was useless to talk of these
men being wade useful at a moment's notice—for they
never could be useful if always kept on shore—a certain
portion ought to he kept at ,ea and frequently exorcised
in the performance of their duties. He should to glad to
know whether there would be a uniform for the navy 1
Also, whether there would be any alteration in the terms
of the Mutiny Act which would place the seamen on the
same footing with the saldier ; and as to naval cadsts,
he hal received an assurance that a ship would be se-
lected to receive them. .They ought -to be trained and
prepared for their duties. Formerly the captains hhd the
nomination of midshipmen in their own hands, and then
they performed the duties of parents by losahig after
and instructing them, but now the young men" were left
* themselves.
Sir C. NAPIER said that a,lthouele the slim rf
8,000. 0001. was a large sum to vote for the navy at the
present time, yet, after- what the right hon. baronet t
pressed, he could not think that the estimates ought to
be reduced one farthing ; on the contrary, they were
much too low, for the defences of the kingdom were not
in a fit state. Again, while England had 42 sail of the
line, France had 40 ; and if a war should take place,
this country bad not the means of manning the navy
properly. He thought the number of the men was a great
deal too low, and if a war took place, it would be quite
impossible to send au efficient fleet to sea. He was happy
• to find that the Governrneet, after 25 or 30 years' ct,nsi-
de:a tion, had at length taken the coast-guard under the
jurisdiction of the Admiralty ; but that was-not all, We
ought to have efficient shine efficiently manned, instead
of the old ships which were now on duty on the coast ;
far if a war were to break out, we should have to call in
all the ships now ou duty and pay them Off, and issue
cornmisaions for now ships. Moreover, a ship does nut
wear the less from being in commission, but, on the con-
trary, wears longer tban'a ship in ordinary. Of the ma-
rines he must say. they were a most efficient set of men,
whether ashore or afield. What he would advise was,
that hall the marines allowed on board should corns'
ashore and garrison the seaports,; that the Admiralty
should make up the number aboard with able seamen ;
and then, in case a war were to.
springup, with the
coast-guard and the volunteers they could man the fleet
efficiently. For example, take a shin with a crew of
800 men, including officers and marines. Of these he
would send half the marines ashore—th,t was 100 men;
he would then complete the ehip with able seamen,
which would give them 700 seamen aaoarl. In case' of
a war the ships might be doubled, and with the help of
the coast-guard and the volnnteere manned in the nour,e
of a week, making airiest efficient fleet. The First Lord
had told the house that France had 40 ehips, and we
only 42. France was equal, therefore, to us in ships,
and superior in the means of manning them ; she had Au
army of 300,000 or 400,000 ale , n and we had but2oo,ooo.
What would the ceneequenee be were a war to spring upt
Why, the re would be an invasion immediately. That
was a consideration which ouoht to strike every roan in
the house and the country. Ile warned the house not
to expect such victories as they bad had over the French
during the last war. There was a thing which he had
heard that might be true ; at all events it was singular.
When the British fleet was manned for the Baltic, the
Admiralty received only 400 British seamen from the
merchant service. If that were true it was not the con-
dition a which the service ought to be. The right hon.
member for Carlisle (Sir J. Graham) passed an act when
he was in office, empowering the Admiralty to call out
the ,nen by po)ilematicn, and to offer them a bounty to
eater the service. He did not know how it would work,
bat if it were tried in peace, and if liberal terms were