The Sun.
London, England, 1861-12-21 00:00:00

THE NAVAL _RESERVE.

A numerous and highly-influential meeting of
British shipmasters and owners was held yester-
day, at the London Tavern, for the purpose of testi-
fying the approval of the persons present of the re-
cent order issued by the Lords of the Admiralty
for the organisation of the Naval Reserve. The
chair was taken by Richard Green, Esq. ; and on
the platform were IV. S. Lindsay, Esq., M.P.,
Alderman Salomons, M.P., R. W. Crawford, Esq.,
M.P., R. D. Mangles, Esq,, M.P., C. Wigram, Esq.,
W. Phillips, Esq., &c.
The CHAIRMAN, in opening the proceedings, said
that, having always taken a deep interest inthe esta-
blishment of the Naval Reserve, he felt proud and
happy to see the officers of our mercantile marine
occupying their present proud position. The object
for which thepresent m.eetingfiad been called would,
he was sure, be acceptable to bor Majesty in her afflic-
tion, for it would let her Majaty see how ready were
the officers and seamen:of4e mercantile marine to
rally round the Crown co-4el'ence of the British flag.
(Loud cheers.) Theyhia'all read the rules which
had just been issued, and the first observation he
should make respecting them was that he should
prefer to have the Naval Reserve called the Royal
Naval Volunteer Force, so as to assimilate them more
closely with the volunteers on shore. By the rules
mercantile commanders would rank with lieutenants,
and subalterns with subalterns, "with," not" after,"
not under. (Hear, hear.) As to rank both would
be equal, but on duty somebody must be first. He
for one thanked the Admiralty for placing the mer-
cantile marine in so honourable a position. The
second clause referred to the qualification. Ship-
masters must have a certificate of competency from
the Board of Trade, and must have commanded a ship
of not less than 500 tons for not less a period than two
years. Officers of such ships would have the ranks of
lieutenant and sub-lieutenant of the reserve. The
obnoxious point of the examination had been with-
drawn. The restriction of 45 years would be reduced
to 35 years. The next was a very valuable clause.
Masters of merchant vessels afloat, although above
the age, would be enrolled as honorary members of
the reserve. He was glad of this, because he did not
see why a man, because he was a little old, should not
have a finger in the pie. During active service pro-
motion would be exactly the same as it was in the
Royal Navy. He now came to the uniform, which
looked very fine, and no doubt would be tolerably
expensive. He hoped the common sense of our mer-
chant captains would prevent them wearing their
fine clothes too much in common. They might wear
them on board their own ships, but they must wear
them on duty, and so they should take care and not
wear them out too soon. (Hear, hear.) He was
sorry to see that the patterns were already being
exhibited in the office of the Shipping Gazette. The
drill would occupy 28 days each year, and having
paid a visit to the drill ship he could tell his
hearers that the work was more fun than anything
else. He trusted that, in addition, commanders
would have as much drill as possible on board
their own ships, so that any ship might in time be-
come a little man of war. (Hear, hear.) He be-
lieved that if they did so they would very soon be
able to give a good account of the Yankees. (Cheers,)
The allowance to officers would be respectively 10s.
and 75., which was most liberal. It was not to be
looked upon as wages, but as an allowance for ne-
cessary expenses. He had been asked whether an
officer of the naval reserve could be taken from his
ship at a foreign port. He believed there need be
no apprehension on that head, as he felt sure the
Admiralty would never be guilty of what must be
looked upon as an act of piracy. The intention, he
believed, was, that when all the other reserves,
coast guards, dockyard riggers, and pensioners had
been called in, and the country was in the extreme
of danger, then the naval reserve would be called
on, but not until then. And as these amounted to
26,000, there was no fear of the naval reserve being
called out except in time of the greatest peril. The