The contingency, at all t...
The Times, 1824-08-14T00:00:00

The contingency, at all times possible, of a difference with one or more foreign Powers, ought to induce the people of this country to keep an eye oll the general admini- stration and actual condition of the marine of Englan(l. We are aware thas so often as this most critical subject is broached in either House of Parliament, the etiquette seeins to be either to exclaim against all discussion, or to drown inquiry, by a deluge of assurances and boastings about the " excellent and efficient state" of the navy at present,as compared with former periods of its history. The iThingpasses well enough in Parliament, where Miilisters of 2U ranks have extensive credit for the accuracy and autho-. rivy of their official statements, and where it is not so easy ,torevive a debate, when once got rid of. Out of Parliament, however, an Englishman is at liberty to doubt some portion of what cornes from persons in office. We have seen printed ccomunts, and received many verbal ones, which would greatly dispose us to recommend the institution of a grave and independent inquiry into the number and efficiency of otr' existing men of war, and into the regulations boy which the supply of tirmber, as well as the buildting and repair of ships in His MAJ E STrY'S dock-yards, have Lbeen governed since the peace of 1814. Is the oak ,now fuvpished to us, felled in winter or summer ?-felled, %ve vnean, withoat being previoiisly stripped ? Is. -ny c6isi8. t cderable numbet of our ships of the line aTected by the dry rot ? ThIe Admiralty told Parliament that the dry rot had been completely got under, and for the first time: we know that au assertion' of such a striking nature would be apt to put dotn all further disputatibn in the House of Commons, being the purpose for which, of course, it was designed; but what we are desirous of hearing is, whlether the assertion was a true one. Is it true that the whole of our threc-deckers are fit to be sent to sea ? Could the Nel- son, or the Howe, if necessary, be commissioned for service without an expensive sepair ? Is the Genoa fit to be a sea- going slhip, or the Queen Charlotte, or the Ville de P,aris, or the Dreadnought, or that fine-looking vessel the Prince Re- gent ? Rep irt says that all,or nearly all, the above ships are, more or less, decayed alreatly, though all are new since the peace, or have been repaired for enormous sumns of money. If so, it is fit-it is but honest-to apprise the nation of what they have to trust to. Another irnportant question is- why should the gross number of British ships of the line be so far short of what they were at former crises ? 'They are at this moment, we suspect, not so namerous as at the commencement of the war of 1793; wlhile other Maritime l'owers, in addition to those whiiel we had theni to en- countcr, are pushing their marine force to a formidable ex- treme. Spain, indeed, is extinct; bu- Rassia increase; in vigour and confidence; aud thc United States arc mature ih both. If it be affirmed that our shiips at the present day are larger anid maore powerful, though less numerous, than before ; so, we reply, are those of foreign nations. Upon the whole, we are anxious onily that the truth should be arrived at, and that errors of manageilent, where they exist, should( be abandoned. The spirit of iirprovement, wc have no reason to suppose altogether dormant where its activity would be most required; but office is obstinate, frequently capricious-given sometimes to favourite and unhappy influenices-and( slow, of necessity, in the receipt of novel impressions. This question of (fry rot ouglht to he set at rest; not by flippancy or snappis,mess, or assur- ance .for the subject is a v'ital one: our greatness as a q4- tion is involved in it; and vw>. have a right (the people have) to be thoroughly satisfied upon every point which cancerns our maritime power. There seems to be no reason why the number and( rorce, as well as materials, of British men of war, ought not to be prescribed by a vote of Par- liament, as they are by the Coongress of the United States; or as the amount of the seamen, marines, and soldiers, are annually by our owIn Legislature.