The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-30 00:00:00

Total effective naval force afloat, 54,()43
The reserve would consist of :
Veteran ablebodied seamen and seamen gunners,

from 46 to 56 years of age, in the Coasteard and
Royal Naval Coast Volunteers . .
Ablebodied seamen and seamen gunners in the
merchant service, from 31 to 46 years of ap 37,000

7,000

;serve

41,000

With 51,643 well•trained bluejackets afloat, sup-
ported by 15,000 marines, or 66,000 met in all, the
" wooden walls of old England" would be better
manned than they have been hitherto, and our first
line of defence would not only be secure from sur-
prise but also from aggression, while the know-
ledge that England could, when necessary, send
forth 95,000 sail9rs besides her marines, or 110,000
sea warriors, better trained and no less brave than
those who fought under Nelson, to uphold the
honour of her flag on every sea, would give greater
weight to her voice of peace in the councils of Eu-
rope, and convince continental Powers of the folly
of attempting to compete with her upon the ocean.
Assuredly, with such an organisation, no one
would fear invasion, and it only remains to be
seen whether it can be accomplished without mate-
rially increasing the estimates. The present num-
ber of officers and men, without counting boys,
and exclusive of the Coastguard and Naval Volun-
teers, is 34,542. The increase therefore to 40,000
men would, in reality, be no more than an addition
of 5,542 men, who, at the average expense of
£56 12s. a-head, would cost the country £313,677.
The cost of the two classes of naval apprentices
would be £349,308, making the total cost to the
country of the suggested scheme £662,975. But
from this must be deducted the savings that would
accrue from adopting the proposed system. There
is the cost of 5,542 boys at present in the fleet, and
who, from being mixed up with the men, cost £2O
a-head.

The saviug under this head would be i 110,840
Reduction of Coastguard, &c., from 9,000 to 7,000 161,769
Suppression of bounty money to volunteers 22,000
Abandonment of Lord C. Paget's scheme, esti-
mated to cost
Raising men, as by last year's estimate

200,000
4,374

Total economy by adopting the scheme 498,983
Total cost of carrying out the scheme

Net cost of the scheme £163,992

It is, therefore, for taxpayers to determine whe-
ther it is worth While to increase the estimates by
less than £170,000, in order to secure a regular sys-
tem for manning the nary in future, and to leaven
the mercantile marine with men-of-war's men, who
will in due time break down the prejudices of mer-
chant seamen against the Queen's service, and also
to have the power of manning the floets of England
with nearly 100,000 well-trained seamen and naval
artillerists whenever it may be. necessary to do so.
It may be objected that tire scheme could not
come into complete operation for the next 30 years,
but any regular organised system must necessarily
be of slow growth. The maritime inscription, al-
though dating more than half a century, has only
begun to show its utility within the last few years.
The entry of naval apprentices might begin at once,
and men who took their discharge without pansions
to go into the merchant service might be induced
to form the reserve by prospect of a Government
pension after a shorter term of service, at some
future time, so that by the end of the next 10 years
the plan might be got into working order and have
shown good fruits.—l am, sir, your obedient ser-
vant, AN ENGLISHMAN.