The Portland daily press., 1898-03-11
KEEP PACE With RUSSIA.
50 ali English Journals Advise
Government.
ENORMOUS NAVAL ESTIMATES PRE-
SENTED In HOUSE OF COMMONS.

Mr.. Goshen, First Lord of the Admiralty
| Addresses the House-Estimates Arc
| None Too Large If England Is To
| Retain Its Supremacy.
| London, March 1o.-In the House Of
Commons today the first lord of the adj
miralty, the Hon. John 6. Goshen, in
presenting the naval estimates pointed
out that with the outlay on naval works
| the expenditures amounted to the collos-
sal sum of 25, $4,000 pounds, which hs
in some quarters.
| Mr.. Goshen said that the navy was in
transitional state, to which many of
the admitted deficiencies were due. More
over, he added, the government was in
PRODUCING a series of improvements The
| Jubilee displays had been great, but they
| had not reached the ideal standard.
| Referring to the Channel squadron, Mr..
Goshen said it was the most powerful
ever gathered, its duties being not only to
parade the channel, but also to engage in
| offensive operations in time of war.
| Mr.. Goshen dilated upon the quiet ana
unostentatious increase of the British
fleet in China waters by four vessels from
other foreign stations, as being an in
stance of the naval preparations. Later
Mr.. Goshen said he hoped the admiralty
would not be too hardly pressed to COM
municate its plans, but he assured the
House that in the distribution Of cruisers,
for instance, the admiralty had considered
carefully the protection of every trade and
every food supply route, and he trusted
that "if time darkened" the admiralty
would have the confidence of the House,
and the admiralty would be found doing
| its duty.
! Touching on the increase In the person.
mel Of the Iavy, Mr.. Goshen said there
was no lack of recruits for the navy. In
fact, he added, only one in eight boys
were accepted and the supply Of stokers
was also improving.
| Mr.. Goshen denied that the navy was
undermanned, declaring that every vessel
which took part in the jubilee review was
| as fully manned as it would be in war
time. He said thare was shortage of
officers, but he explained that could be
| easily remedted.
Touching on the building programme,
Goshen said he would defer furnishing
particulars regarding the proposed new
way ships in order to keep foreigners in
| the dark concerning their plans, but he
could say that the battleships and cruisers
| would be adapted to the special circum-
stances which the paS6 year feFealeu III
various parts of the world.
Mr.. Goshen then deplored the recent iu-
dustrial struggles, and appealed for an
| increase of pay for the British seamen OF
the merchant marine. He said that from
| false economy or impossible conditions on
either side British sailors and ships We're
ousted by foreigners, then "God help us.
He concluded eff peace shall again
reign in our centers of industry and
maritime institutions and il the nation
| that calls herself mistress of the seas re-
asserts herself by an increase OF merchant
seamen then the nation may look for
ward in confidence that If there be peace
it will be peace with honor, but if it is
war, whioh God forbid, it must be war
crowned with victory (Applause.)
Mr. Allen, Radical, advocated greater
efforts and moved an amendment that
greater provision be made for manning
the fleet
Rear Admiral Lord Charles Beresford,
seconded the amendments urged larger
reserve of men and suggested that Great
Britain should bay all the vessles now
building in England for other countries.
The House rejected Mr.. Aliens amend
ment. Many members urged an increase
in the naval reserve. Chas Dixie, radi-
cal, said: Everyone must feel that the
circumstances are such that we might
find ourselves at war with an European
power and that there is some risk that
two or other European powers might
be disposed t. seize the opportunity to
make demands we would be indlsposed
to comply with. The position OF our
navy compared with those of other ma
tions, Is worse than it was two years ago.
Mr.. Goschen, in a general defense of the
estimates, said he thought 1T would be
better in time of crisis to complete and
organize available vessels and resources
than to devote their energies to building
vessels not to be ready for three years.
The other powers, he argued, would meet
yTith the same difficulty as themselves.
Great Britain was still able to send
more ships to sea at short notice than
any other nation. If there mad been TWO
or three first.class battleships for sale in
England, he would probably have asked
for money to purchase them, but there
was none such for sale. Russia had made
great industrial progress, but the other
powers we're still compelled to have re-
course to England, the United States or
Germany.
Mr.. Goshen said he did not think that
even those who had denounced the esti-
mates as ''the estimates OF procrastlna-
tion,' would suggest that England
| should give orders for armor to the Unit
| ed States at this juncture. daughter
With regard to the suggesglon OF tne
honorable member of the coast OF Dean
! (Sir Chas. Dilke), that the government
should raise recruits for the naval re-
serves In Newfoundland and the colonies,
he said there were great administrative
difficulties in the way. The discussion
then dropped
II ia said in the lobbies that the Russian
Imperial Ukase ordering the disbursement
of 90. 900, 900 roubles as extraordinary ex-
Denditure for the construction of war
ships will cause the government to make
a considerable increase in the naval esti-
mate.
The morning papers all urge the gov
ernment to keep peace with Russia, but
no alarm is expressed, since it will take
Russia years to build the new vessels.
| The Times gays: 1.-The words OF the
| first lord of the admiralty (Mr. Goshen,)
| is not the sort of language British min
isters lightly use. We understand it at
home and hope it will be understood
a5road.'
BRAN ON BOARD THE FULLER.
A.