The Sun.
London, England, 1868-09-23 00:00:00

ba. STAN,

WELD ON

'HE NAV.A.6
DITUBE.'

Cdr.Stansfeld addressed a crowded meeting of his oell-
- at Halifax on Monday evening, when ho
particular attention to the great expenditure in naval
affairs. The hon. gentleman said that in order to
reduce the estimates, some of the ex-officials on
the Liberal side of the boasts took a novel but
successful course. They met and discussed the ques-
tion, and the conclusion they came to was that mere nibbling
at estimates was useless, that mere criticism, if not useless,
was not sufficient, and that they ought to grapple with
something more, that they ought to enunciate a counter
policy of economy, from which counter estimates should be
simply a matter of deduction, as a matter of course. The
programme they propounded was this :—A large reduction
in these foreign squadron; in those ships which hardly
constituted any portion of our real fighting power, and a
consequent reduction in the number of men ; the devotion
of their shipbuilding energies to the construction of the
most powerful machines for cffence and defence, which
science could devise or mechanical skill construct,
which should be, as it were, units which could be multiplied
in time of necessity, and a resolute reduction of the over-
grown list of superior officers in the navy. Mr. Stansfeld
contended that they were successful in the case they under-
took, and quoted in proof thereof the speech and estimates
of Mr. Cory, the present First Lord of the Admiralty.
The views he had expressed had not been taken up lightly.
They all knew that if they looked at the history of manu-
facturing and commercial businesses that there were what
ho might call rises and falls. They were constructed by
men of energy and of practical knowledge, but It PM
not often that they lasted for many generations. A pro-
gressive town like Halifax might afford some exceptions,
but it was not often that they lasted in that flourish-
ing condition through succeeding generations. The ten-
dency of largo undertakings, whether private or public,
was that the expenses outgrew their fair proportion to the
refurns ; there was a staff gradually becoming too nume-
rous if not too highly paid; the premises were constantly
being enlarged, the plant became unwieldy, and the
machinery out of date. Now, in those manufacturing
districts, where progress was so rapid and continuous, men
knew how to adapt themselves to their circumstances.
They brought in new blood in time, they wrote off year by
year to the deprecatory account the value of their
machinery, which rapidly depreciated, as new and im-
proved machinery was ready to take its place. There was
a great analogy between this and the public interests,
especially the spending departments. These departments
wanted new blood from time to time. They had bad some
new blood, and had made some steps in the right direc-
tion, but that was not enough—the machinery was out of
date, and the premises were too large, and they had, what
was more difficult to get rid of, the habits and condition
of the past. Ho had always said the reformed House of
Parliament would enable them to deal with these ques-
tions, and he had always believed that one of the first steps
that the reformed House of Commons would take
would be pure administrative reform, especially in the
great spending departments of the State. What was
required were more searching and less timid question-
ing; a less sensitive regard to the habits and conditions
of the past; and more force. All ihesa elements were
provided by the stir which was already made in men's minds
by the political advance which had been accomplished.
The expenditure in these departments had been loose and
illogical, unintelligent and enormous, and it was absolutely
necessary that it should be reduced, but mere pruning and
saving would not be sufficient to effect the reduction
which they would rightfully demand. Policy controlled
expenditure, and policy in the administration was alone
sufficient to accomplish the ends they had a right to
expect. lie had shown them what he believed in one
great department would be the policy of the future, and
they had a right to expect it from the new Liberal party
and the new Liberal Government attaining to power, under
the leadership of a great and earnest man and true econo-
mist like Mr. Gladstone, and it was his firm belief that they
would not be disappointed.

THE WEATHER TABLE.-THIS DAY.