The Sun.
London, England, 1857-07-21 00:00:00

tinople. As far as he understood the papers which had ,
been submitted, he gathered that the terms whioh we
had accepted at Paris were not nearly se advantageous I
as those which had been offered at Constantinople. At
Constantinople we demanded a impensatien for certain i
inhabitants at Herat, and we peremptorily demanded
the dismissal of the Prime Minister. Both these points
were conceded at Constantinople, but they were not in- '
silted upon at Paris ; while by the 12th article of the
Paris treaty England gave up a right which at Constan-
tinople she was not asked to concede. That being so he
asked how the house could be justified in sa • oning
the expenditure of this 500,0007,. The only plea on
which it could be justified was that Ferukh Kban, the
Persian ambassador at Constantinople, had not full
powers. In the event of such a statement being put for-
ward however, he begged to remind the house that Lord
atford de ltedcliffe, writing to Lord C -rAndon on t e
2d Jan. said tha —" Wei e lis Ex el n. ye accept the
whole of our terms he would engage eest upon those I
being immediately complied with ne further dernate's
should be made." Thus showing that, in the opinion of
Lord Stratford, Ferukh Khan possessed full powers.
Moreover, he (Lord C. Hamilton) found that on three
separate occasions Ferukh Khan himself stated that he
was armed with full power. This was a commercial
country, and he begged to repeat in plain terms the ques-
tion which he already asked—what bad this country
gained by the expenditure which Parliament was now
called upon to sal ction ?
Sir C. WOOD thought that it would be very inexpe-
dient at the present moment to resuscitate the debate
upon the Persian war. However, the questica which a e
noble lord had asked would be easily answered. What
we had gained by the war was the exaction of a promise
from Persia that tahe would perform the solemn engage-
ment which she had broken—not again to occupy
Herat, as engagement the performance of which all
persons who were acquainted with the interests of
India cons'.dered to be indispensable for the safety
of our 'empire in the East. Quitting that subject,
then, and referring to the questions which had le en
raised with respect to the transport of the troops to India
and the defences of the country, he must say that he ad-
hered to the opinion which he had before expressed, that
it was undesirable to employ Queen's ships in conveying
troops, but that it was far better to employ-transports
for that purpose and Queen's ships in providing naval
assistance in the ear. The hon. gentleman who last
spoke adverted again to the question of sending troops
in sailing or steam ships. The average time taken in the
passage to Calcutta by the fe.stest sailing ships, starting
at this period of the year, was from 90 to 100 days.
Now, he had the times eiccupied by auxiliary screws
in that passage. They were bound by contract to
perform that passaeee in 74 days ; but the first per-
formed it in 107 days ; the second, the Tynemouth,
in 121 ; the thirds the Robert Lowe, in 100 days ; and
the fourth in 9Q dtegs. He had stated the other right
that some cli-PPeoi ships had been taken up for the
conveyance o 4 troops, and the owners were willing to
be bound to pay heavy penalties if they did not beat
the scr ships starting a.; the same time. There-
fore ',et certain advantage of employing screw ships was
nose ee, great as bad been represented. He must remind
tale house, too, of the exceeding difficulty of finding coal
tar so urge a number of vessels. Tne Government bad
rstores at the Cape, but they bad been largely drawn on
by the steam vessels proceeding to China. Large addi-
tional stores had been sent out ; but, taking into consi-
deration the two circumstances, that starting at this
time sailing vessels were as quick as steam vessels, and
tbat there was a possibility of the supply of coal falling
short, he thought the East India Company had done well
in determining in reference to expedition to send a por-
tion of the troops in sadingvessels. With respect to the
question of defence, it was quite true that be admitted
the other night that there were not at present in com-
mission. sufficient line-of-battle ships fit to carry troops
to India, but he did not therefore admit that there were
not sufficient in commission for the defence of the
coast. He agreed with the honourable member for
Tynemouth that it was not likely the people of this
country would awaken some morning and find their coun-
try invaded. War did not break out in that way, aid
if the country was always to be prepared to meet the
utmost amount of force that might be brought against
it, where would be the possibility of attaining—what
it was the aspiration of the country to accomplish—a
peace establishment and peace estimates? (Hear,
hear.) It was perfectly impossible and absurd to suppose
that in the midst of profound peace the country should
be as ready to meet an attack as it would be in a time
of war. In estimating the amount of preparatisa
necessary to be made the probable danger must be taken
into account. A man might be knocked down in the
streets of London, but every person would not on that
account walk the streets with a revolver in his pocket.
What were the circumstances of the country at the pre-
sent moment 1 It had lately emerged from a great
continental war, and he had a suspicion that the great
Powers were unwilliug to involve themselves in
-war again. There was as litt e danger of
war between this country and any European Power
as there had been at any time during the last
forty years, yet the country was in a far
better state of preparation than at any period during the
last AO years. Though there were not sufficieet ships in
commission fit to carry troops to India, still there were
a considerable number of the finest screw ships in a state
of forwardness, with a view to being c-rnmissioned if
needed ; there were sailing ships iu dlftrant ports, and
there were, in .reover, in commission, eight ate im line-of.
battle ships called bloc's ships, which the country never
bad before at any time. These last might not be fit to
cruise in the Atlantic, but they were powerful for home
defence. The hon. arid gallant admiral said that vessels
kept better in commission than in ordin cry. That was
an entice mistake. When he was Secretary to the Ad-
ralty in 1836 it was thought necessary to increase the
number of vessels in commission. There were then a
number of vesels called "advanced ships," being ves-
sels in some state of [ reparation, and on examination it
was found that the tanks of the ships bail gone to decay
and that the rigging was rotten. The Government then,
instead of having to commence with empty vessels and
getting fur them whatever was necessary, had first of all
to get the decayed things out and then start de novo.
Those ships were in some degree filled up, and decay
was the consequence, for it was the free circulation of
the air that preserved the ships. Tberfore, if the Go-
vernment kept the ships in the way proposed by the
hen. and gallant admiral they wouli oily be wasting
away the ships, which would not be found in time of
war so serviceable as they would under the system now
pursued. Of course, if war threatened it would be the
duty of the Government to bring the ships into a more
forward state ; and, as a few weeks were sure to elapse
between a quarrel and hostilities, there would be ample
time to prepare them. With respect to men, let the num.
ber now maintained be compared with the number during
any period of the last 40 years. At one time in that period
when there was the greatest apprehension of interruption
of peace, the number of seamen and marines voted was
43,000 ; the number this year voted vees, together
with the addition recently proposed, 50,000, being
7,000 more than were voted at a time when for the
la,t 40 years the apprehe sion of war was the greatest.
He thought neither the house nor the Government
could fo,. reproached with having neglected to provide
ample means for the defence of the country. He had no
doubt the house would authorise any expenditure
which might be requili`e in order to place the nati >nal
defences in a state of efficiency, but be thought her
Majesty's Government would not be justified in calling
upon the redintry to make sacrifice which were not absc-
letely necfssaiy, inasmuch as such preparations had
been made as would be sufficient to meet any env-rgency.
Ile bad not yet adverted to the naval reserve which had
been rec..nt:y established—the coastguard and coast
volunteers. The first of these forces had been organised
by the present Government The establishment of coast
volunteers had been proposed by the right hon. member
for Carlisle (sir J. Graham), but during the war the sug.
ge.tion had not been carri-d out. He (Sir C. Wood) was
happy to say the enrolment of those forces had been
succsssfut beyond his warmest expectations. He had
asked for 8,000 men for the coastguard, of whom
5,700 were seamen, and 2,300 civilians, who would, he
hoped, be gradually replaced by seamen. He found from
a return he bad received to-day that the whole 8,000
men had been raised with the exception of seven. (Hear )
He had asked the house to vote as many men as he
thought be could obtain is the course of the year, but
men had corns in much more rapidly than had been ex-
pected, and three months after the vote had been sane-
tinned there was only a deficiency of seven men out of
8,000. (Hear) During the war some 2,000 min,not in
all cases the most efficient, had been drau,hted from the
Coast-guard into the Baltic fleet, and they had formed a
solid and steady nucleus for the crews of the different
ships. At this moment, bocce, er, if it were necessary,
he could put on board ship 5,000 picked seamen, many
of them wearing medals, clasps, and the legion of honour,
most of which distinctions had been gained during the
late war. With regard to the Naval Coast Volunteers,
it had not been found possible in several districts to call
out that force ; but up to this time more than 1,200 men
lied been called out and trained, and he was sure the
house would be happy to bear that the greatest
tea li-
nees tied been evinced to enter that branch of the public
service. They had in that force a body of men who
would be prepared upon any emergency to defend the
shores of thiti Country. If the crews of the block ships
were transferred to sea-going ships the coast volunteers
would be available for manning the block ships, and he
ventured to say that so far as coast defences were con-
cerned the country had never at any f, rmer period been
so well prepared as it was at present. (Hear.) He was
glad the hon. member for Norfolk had brought this sub
ject under the notice of the house, and had afforded him
(sir C. Wood) the opportunity of making a statement
which be thought could not fail to be satisfectory to the
house and to the country. He hoped that, when next
year he proposed an addition to the number of the Coast-
guard and of the coast volunteers he should receive the
support of the hcuse in strengthening a reserve force,
which was as cheap and efficient as any to which they
could have recourse.
Admiral DU.NCOMBE believed that the ships to be
engaged in conveying troops to India would be taken up
by the East India Company and ex whined by Admiralry
inspectors, and be wished to impress upon the Govern-
meat the importance of employing none j but first-class
o
ships in this service. He had before him a f do, ships
already taken up, and he found among them the Robert
Lowe, of only 100 horse-power, another ship of ce ►v 150
horse-power, and sailing-ships of 600 or 700 tons. He did
not think the efficiency of the troops would be promoted
by embarking them in ships of such a description.
Admiral WALCOTT said, the First Lord of the Ad-
miralty bad stated that sailing ships were best adauted
for the conveyance of troops from England to Calcutta,
but, as three weeks must elapse before many of those
ships could be despatched, it was scarcely likely they
Would Arlin at Point de Gallo before the monsoon set